Unbelievable Assassin Bug Wears Its Victims’ Corpses As Armour

Unbelievable Assassin Bug Wears Its Victims’ Corpses As Armour


Like a real-life version of the Predator — that’s barely a half-inch in size — the aptly named assassin bug wears the bodies of its victims like trophy armour after liquefying and consuming their innards. Disgusting.

After it’s made a kill, the assassin bug — which calls Malaysia home — injects its victim with a special enzyme that dissolves and softens its guts so they can be easily sucked out. And once all that’s left is the insect’s empty shell, the assassin bug attaches those exoskeletons to its back using a sticky secretion, piling them high to create a thick layer of protective armour that also serves to confuse its enemies.

It might seem like a ridiculous stunt, but imagine you were fighting a war and saw a soldier coming at you covered in dead bodies. You probably wouldn’t know what the hell was going on either.


[The Ark in Space via Neatorama]

Images: Mohd Rizal Ismail/Flickr


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