Well, Hello There!

If you're trying to rear some Gulf Fritillary caterpillars on your passion flower vine, but the caterpillars seem to be doing a disappearing act, check the leaves.

You might find some assassin bug nymphs. 

They look like little cartoon characters as they prowl the leaves, looking for prey.

That prey includes caterpillars.

These assassin bug nymphs, as identified by Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, are memorable.  The nymphs (family Reduviidae and genus Zelus) on our Passiflora have beady eyes, narrow necks, needlelike beaks, long legs, and I swear, a perennial quizzical look. They're beneficial insects when they eat leafhoppers, aphids and other pests. They're good to have in your garden.

They're not so beneficial when they eat other beneficial insects like lacewings.

Or, when they eat the larvae stages of Gulf Fritillaries (Agraulis vanillae)--if you're trying to rear a few of these beautiful reddish-orange butterflies.

We've seen adult assassin bugs grab spotted cucumber beetles, inject a lethal saliva, and then suck their bodily fluids with their long feeding tube (rostrum).

We haven't seen one actually prey on a Gulf Frit caterpillar, though.

Yet.

Assassin bug nymph on the prowl. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Assassin bug nymph on the prowl. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Assassin bug nymphs crowd a leaf of a passion flower vine. Note the yellow Gulf Fritillary eggs on the leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Assassin bug nymphs crowd a leaf of a passion flower vine. Note the yellow Gulf Fritillary eggs on the leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This is the prey they're seeking. This is a Gulf Fritillary caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This is the prey they're seeking. This is a Gulf Fritillary caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)