ARBICO Organics® Assassin Bugs

Zelus renardii

Hardworking Generalist Predators That Do A Big Job On A Wide Variety Of Insects!

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General Pest Control In Gardens, Fields, Orchards and Greenhouses.

The Leafhopper Assassin Bug, Zelus renardii is a hardworking ambush predator and excellent addition to any growing area. Contrary to what their common name suggests, they are generalist predators that feed on a variety of small to medium sized plant pests including aphids, mealybugs, caterpillars, thrips and more.

Assassin Bugs begin feeding immediately after hatching, however, they cannot actively hunt prey until they reach 2nd instar. As they mature, they produce resin on their legs that allows them to trap prey and feed as they move. They kill prey by piercing with their rostrum (beak) and injecting a digestive enzyme. This allows Assassin Bugs to rapidly kill prey that is much larger than they are.

Life Cycle: Assassin Bugs live approximately 2 months, which allows them to provide ongoing pest control in the release area. It can take up to 10 days for eggs to hatch, so take that into account when planning your Integrated Pest Management program. Assassin Bugs begin feeding as soon as they emerge. Once they reach 2nd instar, they will actively hunt for prey and continue to do so as they mature into adulthood. With adequate food supplies and a suitable environment, they may lay eggs and reproduce in the growing area. They are likely to stay in the treatment area until their food sources have diminished making them a suitable alternative to ladybugs in warmer climates.

Note: Assassin Bugs molt multiple times as they grow. The shed skins may resemble dead Assassin Bugs, but are not evidence of noticeable die off. Check the release area for live assassin bugs periodically and contact us if you have questions or concerns.

Temperature Considerations: Zelus renardii is tolerant to adverse temperature/humidity levels and has shown effectiveness in hot climates. Temperature and humidity have not been shown to inhibit colony establishment or feeding.

Quantity discounts available for orders of 10 or more of any individual size.

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Related Information:

Blog: Backyard Assassins - Assassin Bugs, Zelus renardii

This Product Controls These Pests or Diseases: Soft-bodied pests including leafhoppers, aphids, 1^st and 2^nd in-star caterpillars, mealybug, thrips, whitefly and various mite species.

Assassin Bugs should not be used alone for infestations of spider mites. They are excellent when used in combination with other mite predators suitable to the growing environment.

General Releases: Once Assassin Bugs begin emerging remove the eggs from the container and hang or place egg clusters within foliage in areas with high pest populations. Release preventatively or at the first sign of an infestation. Eggs usually hatch within one week of receipt.

If they arrive hatching, gently tap hatched Assassin Bugs onto foliage or nearby areas. Follow steps above for placing unhatched egg cases.

Row Crop Releases: Once Assassin Bugs begin emerging place egg clusters on both ends of each row and one in the center of each row.

Heavy Infestations: In the presence of high pest pressure release 500-1,000 eggs weekly in no more than 2,000 square feet. Wait for Assassin Bugs to begin emerging prior to release. Release 5,000-10,000 eggs per acre every other week after initial releases to supplement the predator population through the growing season.

Free 2nd Day Shipping. There is a $10 fee to upgrade to Overnight shipping. Assassin Bugs are shipped as eggs. Egg clusters are attached to small pieces of cardboard packaged in plastic containers.

Cannot Be Shipped To: AK,HI,GU,PR,VI

What's In The Package: Assassin Bugs are shipped as egg clusters attached to light weight cardboard. They may arrive hatched out, particularly in the summer months when warm temperatures in transit accelerate the hatching process. If this occurs, release as soon as possible into a growing area.

Reviews

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Assassin vs. Whitefly

May 16, 2022 | By Margeaux Mernick

The first time I ordered these helpful little assassins, I wish someone had told me not to use the sticky strips at the same time! I had a whitefly infestation and didn't realize the Assassins might hatch overnight and also be attracted to the sticky strips! Result: a lot of dead Assassins-lol. Second time around was a charm though and the little guys are keeping the aphids and white flys under control. Yay!!!

THEY ARE THE BEST

May 2, 2022 | By Greg

I can't tell you how much I love these guys. They answer the phone right away. THEY KNOW THERE SHIT!VERY POLITE VERY HELPFUL. Assassin do there job and FREE second day shipping

The Comfort Feeling

Mar 30, 2022 | By Mary

There is a special feeling knowing that when I harvest everything I put on my table is safe, nutritious, and yummy and that out in my garden are little watchdogs making sure that we enjoy our harvest. You have great service. When I called for more information your staff was friendly and supportive.

Highly recommend!

Dec 4, 2020 | By Scott Lovitt PharmD.

Assassin bugs are thriving in my 200 sqft greenhouse! Highly recommend Arbico for beneficial! Always arrive alive....also, assassin bugs don't all hatch at the same time, they hatch over a week or so to spread out the timing.

Only thing controlling caterpillars

Nov 11, 2020 | By Kirsten Love

I got these a long time ago for whiteflies. Recently found 3 or 4 adults on my passion flowers apparently helping with the destructive caterpillars. Nothing else seems to touch the caterpillars and these healthy assassin making a nice home.

Garten Crew Leader

Nov 2, 2020 | By Markus Wullimann

We got the eggs in good shape and we can see a difference in the greenhouse. What bothers me the most is that I have to ask for a receipt every time we get an order in. It is the same for this order, I didn't get a receipt yet and need it as soon as possible. I will change to more stars as soon as I get an automatic receipt for our orders.

Owner Response: Thank you for your feedback Markus. We have reached out to customer service and noted your accounts to confirm we have everything set up correctly.

Assassin bugs

Oct 30, 2020 | By Fran Thompson

I was sent 2 containers although I had only ordered one. One container had unhatched eggs in it and the other had several dozen tiny bugs crawling around. I opened the lid and set the container on the ground under my severely aphid infested squash plant. The card of unhatched eggs I hung near the plant. Within two days there were thousands of tiny aphid carcasses covering the ground! "Assassin" is the perfect name for these voracious little guys. I will definitely order these again the next time I see aphids.

Assassin bugs

Sep 17, 2020 | By Ethan

They arrived in 2 containers dated almost a month apart. The ones dated in July had already 80% hatched And a lot of them were DOA. The other cards hatched fine and have put a dent in the aphid population. Bugs get a 10/10. Arbico gets a 6/10 on this one.

Owner Response: Hi Ethan, Thank you for your feedback. Our live delivery guarantee covers insects that have arrived DOA. Because the Assassin Bugs molt (like spiders), there are often dead looking parts in the container. Please contact customer service if you would like to discuss more at customercare@arbico.com.

Exactly what my garden needed

Sep 13, 2020 | By Kortney

My tomatoes were suffering big time from aphids and other pests that were putting holes in my almost ripe tomatoes. I received my order very quickly and they also sent extra! I was able to also focus on my roses since they sent bonus bugs. My tomatoes produced so many healthy plump tomatoes after putting the good bugs out. Thank you!

Assassin Bugs

Jul 25, 2020 | By gary Jamison

I ordered 250 Assassin bug eggs. The guidance said that they work better at higher temps than ladybugs which I have successfully used in the past for an aphid infestation. When the bug eggs arrived they were mostly hatched and the bugs were massed inside the container. The massing made it difficult to distribute the bugs to my several gardens. I did place the cards with the eggs in several locations hoping for the best. I would say that the assassin bugs were somewhat successful but not as thorough as the ladybugs were in the past. In the future I will use ladybugs.

Healthy

Jul 24, 2020 | By Tina

Healthy bugs arrival outdoors but next day they move out of habitat would be better indoors but oh well. Even put good bug food didnt stay in garden they spreading out

Assasin bugs suppress brown tail moth catepillars

Jul 8, 2020 | By Dorothy

Released 100 Assassin bugs last year and catepillar population definitely less. My trees are healthy and not defoliated. Will buy every year to keep brown tail moths in check

bugs

Jul 2, 2020 | By Arax Krahling

I tried these twice- the first time it rained after I placed them in my trees and the second time I still haven't seen any assassin bugs around. I'm not sure if they ever came out. some of the papers are still hanging with the dots on them after a couple of weeks so not sure about this product.

Assassin bugs

Jul 1, 2020 | By Chikae Ishikawa

When I received the assassin bugs, most of them seemed dead. After I released them in my garden anyway, I have not seen any bug. Not very happy with how it turned out.

Owner Response: Hello Chikae, If you ever see viability issues on arrival, please contact us as soon as possible. We will likely request a photo of what you are seeing, but we can reship or refund you when issues arise.

We love these little guys!

Jun 24, 2020 | By Cher

We buy Assassin's along with predator mites to battle our yearly garden mite infestation. We have a small yard with adjoining neighbors who do not/will not treat for mites so they just crawl on over to us every summer. To keep our sanity and be able to enjoy our tiny property, we purchase several mite predators, including these little guys. Typically, I will get several containers, half are already hatched/hatching with food supplied in the containers and the other half arent quite ready to make their debut yet. I like this because we have multiple stages of growth going on at once. They look like tiny spiders when you first release them and then you might not see them again for awhile, but they are there! By the end of the summer you will see adults hanging around your plants. We had some last year that we saw constantly on our marigolds and they are kind of cute and personable. I know, its weird to like bugs. They eat all kinds of pests and thats really the bottom line. They work. Great company, ships on time and in sturdy packaging. Worth the cost. We purchase from them for several months every summer and they have enabled us to enjoy our yard and have a thriving garden. Highly recommend Arbico

Thrilled with the results.

Jun 13, 2020 | By Rebecca Barocas

This year has been particularly bad for aphid infestations. I have purchased other beneficial insects, but they fly away quickly. I released two batches of these insects into my garden. On the plants with the worst infestations, I started to find the white husks of aphids. The speed in which the assassin bugs did their work was impressive indeed. Within a fairly short amount of time, I found evidence that they had spread through much of the garden. I'm ready to order another batch to keep the aphid control going. Very satisfied with the results.

Devoured by ants within minutes

Jun 11, 2020 | By Jake

Within thirty minutes of hanging the hatched nymphs they were wiped out by ants. I have no idea if some managed to make it but I have my doubts. This doesn't seem like it is worth the price, considering that half were dead when they arrived (which I expected).

Not great

Jun 9, 2020 | By Eric Harryman

First order super successful. Last order for 250. Not very many were alive. Maybe 25

Great Product

May 31, 2020 | By RF

Working great! I had a huge problem with aphids last year and saw some already this year. These easy to use bugs worked great, no more aphids! I will be purchasing again if needed later in the season.

Great

May 21, 2020 | By Nick laurita

two tubs arrived one hatched one not. Was able to have immediate release then over the next week and a half the next group hatched for a slow release it was great

Great product.

Apr 11, 2020 | By Karl McCament

Egg cards arrived on time and started hatching in 2 days.

Great Product

Mar 31, 2020 | By Adam Salcedo

I ordered these assassin bugs to eat aphids that were on a newly planted Rusty Backhaw. They arrived promptly. Some of the little guys had already hatched and within a few days, no more aphids. I highly recommend this product.

assasin bugs

Mar 29, 2020 | By george doby

finally after nearly 3 weeks they hatched out. put each strip on a different tree around my garden. just checked this morning 3/29/20 and most of the egg chambers didn't have the cap on them so presume they have ahtched. no sight of the bugs themselves tho guess i'll have to wait.

Assassin bugs

Mar 27, 2020 | By Roger Westover

Great product, great company

Assassin bugs

Feb 11, 2020 | By Joanne Stick

My last order of 1000 was a disappointment. Not many of the eggs actually hatched.

Assassin Bugs

Dec 12, 2019 | By Al

I'm really impressed with how well they worked. I was having some serious caterpillar problems and these guys really cleared them out. I'll be using them again.

Seems effective on seed bugs(true bug)

Sep 27, 2019 | By Jason

Tried these on a new comer to this area, seed bugs. Not much is known about them, so I thought I would try assassin bugs combined with triple threat nematodes to break cycle. Seems to work and have seen a big decline in population. Might take a couple more treatments, but I believe the bugs will be eradicated.

Best!

Jul 21, 2019 | By Rob Tialavea

Best quality products & absolute very best cutomer service. Thanks Arbico!

Bug

Jul 6, 2019 | By Jack Fleming

All good so far. ..

Assign bugs

Jun 26, 2019 | By Alan timan

Haven't seen any assassin bugs in garden

Owner Response: Hi Alan, It can take up to 2 months for hatched assassin bugs to reach adulthood. Prior to that, they remain quite small and harder to spot. If you have concerns about viability, you can call us at 1-800-827-2847.

Alive and well

May 14, 2019 | By Demetri Vlachos

The assassin bugs arrived alive and healthy and ready to eat!

Cultivation Manager

Apr 9, 2018 | By Serge Manna

I have been using Assassin Bugs now for two years on our farm. We have had excellent results. The fact that they go after caterpillar eggs alone is a huge benefit to any farm.

Owner Response: Thanks for the positive feedback! We are working to make them available as soon as possible.