You Can’t Unsee the Assassin Bug’s Dirty Work | Deep Look
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2025
- Under the bright yellow petals of a tarweed plant, an insect known as the assassin bug kills its caterpillar victim by stabbing it over and over. But does this perpetrator have an accomplice? Sticky droplets all over the plant could be a clue.
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---+ Why is an assassin bug called an assassin bug?
Likely because it impales its insect and arachnid victims with its pointy mouthparts.
---+ Is an assassin bug the same thing as a kissing bug?
No. Assassin bugs and kissing bugs are relatives, but they’re different from each other. They’re both part of a large family of insects called reduviids, known as the “assassin bug” family, hence part of the confusion. Kissing bugs and assassin bugs look similar to each other in that they have long mouthparts that they keep folded under their head when they’re not using them.
But they’re different from each other in their feeding habits. Assassin bugs, which are found around the world, live on plants and feed mainly on insects, for example, moth caterpillars and beetles and beetle larvae.
Kissing bugs make up a group of 150 species known as triatomines and found mainly in the Americas. Kissing bugs feed on the blood of humans, as well as that of many other domestic and wild mammals and birds. These insects can transmit a parasite through their feces that causes Chagas disease. The parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, may live inside the body for many years without causing health problems, but it damages the heart and digestive systems of 20% to 30% of infected people and can be deadly.
Even though its feces can make you sick, the bite of a kissing bug is usually painless, since the parasite injects chemicals so that it can feed undisturbed for several minutes. But a kissing bug’s bite can sometimes cause anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction that leads to shortness of breath, shock and death, if left unattended. An assassin bug’s stab, if you’re unlucky enough to step on one or you pick one up by mistake, will hurt. And both assassin bug and kissing bug bites can be itchy.
---+ What are an assassin bug’s mouthparts called?
Assassin bugs’ mouthparts are often referred to as the rostrum or beak.
---+ Is there anything good about the assassin bug?
Yes! Assassin bugs can help control agricultural and garden pests.
---+ Find a transcript on KQED Science: www.kqed.org/s...
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#assassinbug #tarweed #deeplook
I can tell Laura's grinning everytime she does it in character. 🤣
Me too 😆
You can hear her cheeriness wants to break through in some lines
I love her voice she’s amazing!!!
As happy Sherlock Holmes or smiley Moriarty?
Hahahahaha yeah
@@men_del12 I have to admit. When I was hearing the Moriarty voice she did I almost thought it was a new voice actor. I was going to throw a fit and march in a picket line. But then I looked at the credits and realized it WAS still Laura and everything was right in the world again.
I like how she's talking like a detective on a case for this one.
Kind of, it's a different narrator
Greatest detective of insect world
It's still Laura! But detective Laura.
detective Laura is on the case
@@KQEDDeepLook I would love to see a book from you guys
The big caterpillar smacking the assassin bug away with it's head was brutal.
that was the best part.
the music in the background is what really made the clip
We have Seth Samuel, our composer, to thank! Every Deep Look episode has an original music score.
that was my favorite part especially with the added sound effects
*B O N K*
The way she stays in character :o). I think this is my favorite episode of the show.
Wonderful! We all loved making this episode. So much fun and such amazing creatures. We have an episode in production right now on an assassin bug relative called the Kissing Bug BUT DON"T TELL ANYONE
MIss gurl?
@@KQEDDeepLook ummm did you mean to post that in a public comment section?
;->
@@KQEDDeepLook We don't kiss and tell :X
I recommend this channel to my teacher and now she always make us watch at least 1 of these videos daily lol m loving it.
That is awesome! #inspo
Ikr it's a very nicely illustrated educational channel.
Oh man, has to be one of the fun class
She strolled into my office like a warm summer breeze and I knew she would be trouble “you’ve got to help us detective, it’s the assassin bug, he killed my husband” I swore I would never return to the tarweed but paying jobs were hard enough to come by these days.
I see you’ve watched plenty of old time detective shows. 😂
Bug Noir
What some people will do for some sweet, sweet nectar.
@@livelybubbs6242 Insecticide.
The tarweeds looks like a sundew close up...... pretty interesting. Glad to know!
Death by lollipop hugging
"Here, we will explore true facts about the Sundyewr..."
We love zefrank! Did a collab video with him and PBS Nature a while back. th-cam.com/video/Df6f_jFWyAg/w-d-xo.html
I think so too
Reminds me of trichomes on dank bud.
Isn't it amazing how nature manages to create all kinds of symbiotic relationships with all kind of species? In this case, the tarweed plays the minefield whilst the assasin bug is the executioner/janitor to ensure tarweed's offspring survival.
Ikrrr
Then you have a tarantula with a kidnapped frog as pet, the frog engulfs intruders to protect the tarantula legacy, and the tarantula protects the frog iirc
When I was 6 years old, I caught this animal with my fingers, and it stung my finger, more precisely under the nail.
Today I'm terrified of this insect 😖
Oh god, *under* the nails!? Now that’s a terrifying experience
OUCH
It happened to me too!
Not terrified tho
Is they same as Stinkbug?
I Remember When I Saves One Of These Guys From A Swimming Pool And It Bit Me And Flew Away,So Rude I Just Saved It
"Just beneath the petals of this flower, a brutal murder is in progress"
Me: Yessssssss
Deep look *AND* true crime? Yes, yes.
💀 🐜 🕵️♀️
“Before it got whacked” 😂
Honestly I feel bad that most assassin bugs are always marked as "kissing bugs" and treated unfairly for it, when most of them have no interest in the blood of mammals.
Yeah. I'm sure all mosquitoes and wasps aren't bad either. But they all end up in the same lineup to the graveyard.
@@BLOODKINGbro Spiders too for that reason.
Hey not all of them are blood suckers, only a very few, remaining are feeding on the other insects only. We call it all IPM strategy
Nice pfp, reminds me of my home
@@AurelianSkies What? You kill your spiders? Enjoy those mosquitoes.
Wow that’s some great narration!
Glad you liked it!
Laura's wild, deep voice is even more memorable than her usual sweet "come on, class, have a look at this"-vibe.
I just love it when the caterpillar head butted the assassin bug
So now we know... Laura is a part time Insect Detective.
Now we want more of her adventures. 😀
The voice affectation was hilarious. She doesn't even sound like the same person.
I was legit concerned cause I thought they changed narrators!
I love this content! It’s so interesting! Keep it up!
Thank you so much!
@@KQEDDeepLook your channel is great
1:21 I spit out my water laughing when I thought I heard something else... 😂
I remember this sucker quite well, thanks to Dragon Ball Z's iconic villain who goes by the name 'Cell' - I stumbled across the reference and that led me to this, not that holy creature.
Makes sense, considering Cell was based on insects. He’s literally just a bipedal assassin bug.
That scene of Cell sucking the life out of the guy (also his body) traumatized me as a kid
@@Hyraladen for some reason I found it amusing as a kid...
@@Hyraladen yeah I can’t get that scene out of my head….😂
Me too😢@@roderickspencerjr.2482
“I really shouldn’t know this much about the tiny world”
Deep look - hehe
oh my god the Deep Look part of the whole thing including the narration is sooo amazing great job
I have to admit this wouldn't be the same without your narration. I give you a ten.
"I'm not a crazed gunman dad, I'm an assasin"
- Assasin bug probably
This Noir Detective style narration is fantastic. Love the fun ya'll have.
The 80s style action music makes this that much better 😂
Love this narrator, there's something sassy about her that I just love 👌🏼
Love how this video is portrayed like a crime documentary. Good work Laura.
So hard to pull off entertaining for both young and old, and this channel does it so well. This episode was a delight!
I especially love videos where you present symbiotic species. It's very interesting to see how plants sometimes develop mechanisms to fight herbivores. Wow I just noticed you're at 1,82M subscribers, I remember saying how I was astonished seeing your channel with just ~50k subscribers. *Keep* it up, I *Look* forward to seeing more of this type of videos.
Hey Laura and the deep look production team, amazing video especially the narration and storytelling! Hope to see more from this channel. Love from Malaysia Fans!
This narration is amazing, I love it!
Glad you enjoy it Alisha!
"Good work 47. The money has been wired to your account." -Diana Tarweed
I love this Noir-style episode! It was a dark and stormy night, when Laura blew into my office
Definitely the best narration yet. 😂💯
Awesome. I just photographed a very similar assassin bug hanging out on a flower in our garden last week. They're quite striking.
Very cool Troy!
The music, the voice over, the cut scenes. This is done perfectly
That was a very creative way of presenting this episode. I enjoyed it.
Tarweed: "Help, caterpillars are eating my flowers"
Evolution: "Do you want a defense mechanism against them? Perhaps some poison?"
Tarweed: "No. I want sticky traps to attract and kill small bugs so their corpses will attract another kind of bug that will take care of the caterpillars for me"
2:30 that didn’t work all the way..
Seth Samuel's work on the scores for this series is totally genius
there's no reason this video should be so good
this is gonna sound weird, but can we get a whole series of law and order: BUG ?
I always get goosebumps whenever i watch a insects videos
Don't mess with Tarweed.. it knows people. Dangerous people.
haha
I love that crime detective voice
I was really just waiting for her to say “The names Laura, Detective Laura.”
2:32 me when my sister tries to steal the last fry:
That was edited very beautifully and really insightful
2:30 Strike like a caterpillar, drink like a butterfly
-Mothhammad Butterfli
this sounds like a different narrator, but i love it too!
It's still Laura, but she is playing the role of insect detective.
love the subtle change of cadence to the narration for this episode!! haha
The commentary is so funny 😂😂😂
What a great video - that combination between: the story - the pictures - the music ... and the voice. Great work 😍😎🤗
Was on a permaculture farm one of these fellahs got stuck in my glove a bit me. It hurt but it was cool to see it there, its proof a good ecosystem.
It was mabye 75% the pain of a bee sting.
I love the narration on this one!
Bug ghost “ hey how you die “
Other bug ghost “yeah I was stabbed and had my insides sucked out by an assassin”
This guy is a peak evolution meme. Your food grew fangs that let them fight back? Okay, just grow a longer fang they can't even touch.
Probably the most underrated channel in this platform. Keep up the good work guys ❤️ :)
Laura talking like a detective really got me on the edge of my seat!! Now i want a show about bugs explained by a detective, specifically detective laura.
HI LOVE UR CONTENT GUYS
Hidden gem of TH-cam
Cattapillars that eat flowers:*exists*
Assassin bug: *IT'S MY TIME TO SHINE*
Omg the starting itself
It feels like I am into a mystery solving case !(mentioning zombies wow)
Edit : Thank you for this amazing video
I've watched endless hours of Nature Documentaries and Law & Order ...
Who knew I *needed* this blend!
You are making our producer Gabriela so happy right now....
Hi Tragoudistros.MPH. I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I produced this episode of Deep Look and did indeed have the voice of Law & Order detective Lennie Briscoe in my head as I wrote the narration. I loved watching actor Jerry Orbach bring detective Briscoe to life. -Gabriela
This was awesome! The character was really enjoyable to listen a good twist to education of nature.
I watch Casual Geographic & WATOP, and this is among their tier of quality! Now I'm subbed to 3 educators!
There was a certain species of caterpillars who are a threat level to wasps in Britain I think, that caterpillar knocking that assassin bug off the plant reminded me of that.
The caterpillar really WACKED the heck out of the Asassin bug.
I love the dope detective voice over
I accidentally skip an ad and I felt so guilty so I watched another without skipping. Gotta support this channel through it cause it's the least I can do! Keep up the great job as always!
So the plant has a defense system against caterpillars- I’m always amazed as to how nature is- and I can’t help but ask myself the question, what if the planet we live on is a living being?
I love how the video and commentary is made like a csi murder investigation ❤️
Truly unique and beautiful 😍
Now I want an "Overdrawn at the Memory Bank"-style whodunnit movie produced by KQED.
The sheer amount of wallpapers you could make with this series
1:56 actually it can still reproduce if it has no pollen, it just need to get the pollen from another plant. The eggs are just as important as the pollen.
Love that amazing relationship between plants and insects. Thanks Deep Look for the content
BTW: This relationship between two different organism is called symbiosis.
Haha the narration is all the more suspenseful and immerssive. "Before it got whacked."
The assasin bug’s so interesting, it made the speaker turn into a detective.
I love the narration and the way she stay in character!. Thanks detective laura!
Any insect that touches me I'll flinch and roll quickly
Assasin bug - " im the #1 hitman on this side of the Tarweeds"
Green caterpillar " not today " 🐛💪🤣
0:25
Did anyone else hear “outlet mall” when she said “owlet moth”?
Wow today I stumbled upon a very awesome TH-cam channel
Agent 47, we got a new victim: *Caterpillar*
"Let's review that crime footage again, shall we?" LoL
I see the tar weeds symbiotic relationship with the assassin bug keeps the business flourishing
0:24 those look exactly like trichomes on Cannabis flowers
the narration was so spot on. well done
i have to say the dynamic range on this audio was awesome
Bruh, this video really puts it into perspective how lowkey nature can be. While you're taking in the beautiful scene and enjoying the flowers, you could also by in the middle of a war and don't even know it 😂
Great content, production, sounds effects and narration. Keep up the good work
That caterpillar said not today get away from me (throws head) 😂
love the music, sound effects and narration, thanks detective laura!
You're very welcome!
1:23 scared me with that wording a little 🗿
If she isn’t the one solving my murder I’m not going
That scream kind of a sound thou. That caught me off guard not gonna lie.
Assassin bug: I ain’t saying nothing, you have no proof I ate the caterpillar
Thw world of insects is clearly a great inspiration for all horro movies. It is so fascinating and scary at the same time. Thanks Deep Look for all of your videos!
As they say, "Prepare for, unforseen consequences."
It took me a few seconds to realize your were talking like that on purpose. Lol !
I was like oh shid, is Laura heckin mad?
Great video as always! I love this channel and what you guys do, the photography is always incredible and with good and fascinating information. Also, i mean this with no unkindness, but i just wanted to inform you that the insect that was referred to as a snakefly(the one stuck on the tarweed) was actually a webspinner. It's totally understandable that these two insects could be mistaken for one another, as they look pretty similar in their overall appearance and color, but i just wanted to let you know. Anyway, once again, i really enjoy what you guys do, and i look forward to seeing more! Peace
Hey, the caterpillars were asking for it!
Detective Laura bringing out her inner Lisa Guerro
"Sucked dry" got me