← back to grid
uncommon
Corpse-carrying Assassin Bug
Acanthaspis petax
- Habitat
- Dry tropical scrub and forest floors of East Africa and Malaysia
- Body length
- 12 mm
- Order
- Hemiptera · Reduviidae
Weird but real
The nymph glues the drained husks of the ants it kills onto its own back, building a wobbling corpse-pile up to 20 bodies tall.
Why it's cool
It wears its victims as a backpack of armour and disguise — a tiny serial killer cloaked in the dead, fooling spiders and rival assassins alike.
