Masked Hunter

Natural Habitat

Found indoors in houses or outdoors in wooded areas and gardens; often found in dusty areas or near cracks and crevices where prey hides.

Diet & Feeding

Strictly insectivorous; feeds on soft-bodied insects like bed bugs, flies, termites, lacewings, and earwigs using its piercing-sucking mouthparts.

Behavior Patterns

Nocturnal hunters; nymphs are known for 'masking' themselves by camouflaging their bodies with dust, lint, and debris to hide from predators and prey.

Risks & Benefits

Beneficial as they prey on household pests like bed bugs; however, they can deliver a very painful bite to humans if handled or threatened, though they do not transmit diseases.

Identified on: 6/28/2026