Assassin Bug

Description:

Reduvidae; Harpactorinae, Reuter 1887. I think that the bug shown in my pictures looks like Euagorus plagiatus Burmeister, 1834 and it may well be exactly that. However, I have been unable to find a reliable scientific source to confirm its presence in the Philippines. Hence my rather lame duck Scientific Name: Harpactorinae cf. Euagorus plagiatus.

Habitat:

I spotted this Assassin Bug crawling around our vegetable plot. He looked quite sinister and menacing. In fact, I didn't like the look of him at all. So I had to remind myself that he was probably going to kill and eat some of the insects that were harming our plants and, of course, that would be beneficial. Everything seems to have its place in the greater scheme of things.

Notes:

No matter what this bug's correct name is, I didn't like the look of those thoracic spines and I certainly did not want to put my finger anywhere near his proboscidean beak !