Masked Hunter Nymph (Camouflage Bug)
Scientific Name: Reduvius personatus
Order & Family: Hemiptera (Order), Reduviidae (Family - Assassin Bugs)
Size: 17 to 22 mm (approx. 0.7 to 0.9 inches) as adults; nymphs vary in size but are generally smaller.
Natural Habitat
Typically found indoors in dusty corners, attics, and basements where they hunt other household pests; outdoors they live in wooded areas, under bark, or in leaf litter.
Diet & Feeding
Carnivorous predators that feed on bed bugs, earwigs, carpet beetles, sowbugs, flies, and other small anthropods.
Behavior Patterns
The nymph stage is distinctively covered in a sticky substance that collects dust, sand, and lint, providing effective camouflage against predators and prey. They are patient hunters, waiting to ambush unsuspecting insects.
Risks & Benefits
Benefits include controlling populations of undesirable household pests like bed bugs and moths. Risks are minimal, but they can inflict a painful bite if handled or threatened, comparable to a bee sting, though they do not transmit disease.
Identified on: 2/12/2026