Thanks! Tracy yes there are assassin bugs that are black, but any bug like this that you find in the house should be removed. Assassin bugs bite, and one type actually spreads disease. I hope that's not the kind you found but check the picture in the link below. These are generally good in the garden. They eat caterpillars and other insects that eat plants, but as you can see from the picture, they also will eat others that you want in the garden, like little pollinator bees. This one kept my eggplant clear of caterpillars. Now that it's gone, hopefully some of the bees can have a chance to pollinate the flowers now! But they don't belong in the house, and shouldn't be handled. Here is a link that might be useful: Kissing Bug

Informative post kc. I now realize that I do probably have them here on my milkweed, and I think that I was thinking I had Milkweed Beetles instead. Now that I am looking into the matter, I see that there is a "Large Milkweed Bug", a "Milkweed Beetle" and then this "Milkweed Assassin" which all have similar coloration and live on Milkweed. Of course, I guess the difference is that the Assassin is eating the caterpillars and the others are only eating the Milkweed. I'm going to be looking at my Milkweed more closely now. Milkweed Beetle--http://www.cirrusimage.com/beetles_red_milkweed.htm Here is a link that might be useful: Large Milkweed Bug

I've never had ambush bugs in my garden, but have the related bee assassin bugs (Apiomerus crassipes) and I deal with them merely by watching for them and snipping them in half with my garden scissors when I see them. As with any predatory insect, each individual gardener must make their choices based on their goals for their garden's ecosystem. One of my goals as a gardener is to be welcoming to bees and other pollinators. While assassin bugs and other predatory insects generally are welcome in my garden, I don't tolerate the presence of bee assassin bugs and wouldn't tolerate the ambush bugs either. While both will feed on other insects and not solely on bees, I like having the bees in the garden so tend to kill pests that prey on them. There is no pesticide you could use to kill the ambush bugs that would not harm other desirable insects including the bees.

They appear to be Leaf Footed nymphs, and below is a link showing pictures and identification: We used to see Wheelbugs(assassin bugs) in our garden and around the house(never indoors though). They had an early nymph stage that appeared orange, but only the far rear abdomen as orange, with the forward half on the thorax and head black. http://thecitrusguy.blogspot.com/2012/06/you-put-your-leaf-foot-in.html