Assassin Bugs (Wheel Bugs)

Here's a garden lesson I learned the "hard way". I saw these little nymphs all close together on a cantaloupe vine in the garden. What was my first instinct? To kill the little buggers...

Because I felt like they look like they all hatched at the same time and they looked like they were on a mission. Little did I know they were on a good mission... as I would come to learn.

We went to our favorite local hardware store/garden center (Naylor's) and I quizzed our contacts there. I told Butch about it and he walked me over to a photograph hanging on the wall -- lo and behold, the little buggers were beneficial insects.


Here's another photo of an assassin bug on our little brown-turkey fig tree (it's not terribly clear, but still). Want to learn more about them and see what the adult wheel bug looks like?
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/category/true-bugs/assassin-bugs/