Assassin bugs [Wikipedia] are vicious predators that feed on Arthropods. They’re family Reduviidae and order Hemiptera. They have these raptoral legs that they snatch prey with, and a rostrum which they stab into their prey and suck their innards out. Ambush bugs are a type of Assassin bug, and they cleverly lie in wait for their prey in insidious hiding spots, to assassinate their prey when they least expect it.

One of the insects in this family has possibly the coolest name for an insect - the Corsair Assassin Bug (a species of Assassin that scuttle across the ground and run down their prey)!

Their deadly reach extends beyond mere Arthropods. They can suck the blood of rodents with immunity, and even have the audacity to hunt humans! They crawl up on a human’s face while they’re sleeping and suck the blood from our lips or eyelids! Because of this Assassin bugs are sometimes called kissing bugs. Beware, mammals… this predator may soon decide that insects aren’t enough to satiate their voracious appetite, and then you’ll be the next course!

Here’s a sonnet celebrating Assassin Bug greatness (forgive the broken meter):

Among the trees and brush and woods I hunt,
On Arthropods I prey, and my own kind;
Seize you with my raptoral legs in front,
Suffer my sharp rostrum piercing your mind.

Egg, nymph, adult, all are fearsome stages,
Simple development ? Quite far from it;
Prey I can on insects from all ages,
And even mammal slayings I commit.

Reduviidae is our family name,
Ambush bugs share our formidable skills;
The fiercest of Hemiptera we claim,
For we perform the lion’s share of kills.

Tasty hexapods in nature beware;
Surely your innards will be my next fare!