Masked Hunter Nymph (Camouflaged)
Scientific Name: Reduvius personatus (nymph stage)
Order & Family: Hemiptera (True Bugs) / Reduviidae (Assassin Bugs)
Size: Nymphs range from 3-15 mm depending on their developmental stage; adults reach 17-22 mm.
Natural Habitat
They are often found indoors in attics, basements, and dusty corners, as well as outdoors in woodpiles or beneath loose bark.
Diet & Feeding
They are predators that feed on small arthropods like bed bugs, silverfish, woodlice, earwigs, and flies.
Behavior Patterns
The nymphs have a unique behavior of covering themselves with dust, lint, sand, and debris (as seen in the image) to camouflage themselves from both predators and prey. They are ambush predators.
Risks & Benefits
Benefits: They act as natural pest control by eating other household pests like bed bugs. Risks: While generally avoiding humans, they can deliver a very painful bite (comparable to a bee sting) if handled or threatened.
Identified on: 2/19/2026