Field Notes: Assassin Bugs (Patreon)

We have a new episode coming up about assassin bugs. Producer Gabriela Quirós and the Deep Look team headed to Folsom, California, in July to film the assassin bugs living on a patch of tarweeds.

An owlet moth caterpillar and an assassin bug face off on a tarweed plant. (Josh Cassidy/KQED)

Assassin bugs use their sharp mouthparts to stab the caterpillars of owlet moths to death. But do the assassin bugs have an accomplice? Sticky droplets all over the tarweeds could be a clue.

“They’re covered in a resin that smells like lemons,” said Gabriela. “When we were done filming, my hair was covered in the stuff, which acted like a thick hair gel. It wasn’t a bad look and it smelled great.”

The team filmed first thing in the morning, when assassin bugs are most likely to be out hunting, and in the evening, when caterpillars devour the tarweeds’ flowers.

Josh filmed tarweeds at night, when owlet moth caterpillars come out to eat the plants’ yellow flowers. (Gabriela Quirós/KQED)

Marissa Sandoval, the associate producer on this episode, is a biologist who is starting her doctoral program in entomology at UC Davis this fall. She helped Gabriela and Josh find assassin bugs and caterpillars on the tarweeds. (Gabriela Quirós/KQED)

This episode premieres next Tuesday, Sept. 28, but Patreon supporters will get a sneak peek this Friday!