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

Cool photos! I have assassin bugs, but didn't know that's what they were. The eggs are a real treasure. Hope you have a child to share them with. We are short on tortoises this year, but really long on frogs...no doubt a result of our record rainfall. Speaking of which, it's only supposed to rain twice this week. Once for three days, the other for four.

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

Having been the victim of assassin bugs 3 times, I am definitely not a fan and kill on sight. They enter your house, bite and suck your blood while you sleep. You awake with very itchy bites that become sore and infected, swelling to 3" diameter. Look under pillow, mattress, box springs near head and food of bed, in between and under pillows of sofa, under bed sofa. Bites occur in between fingers and toes, on thighs. In Mexico and S. America they carry Chaga's disease - a handful of cases occur in U.S. annually - read about it.