Nymph of an assassin bug

7272.        Greetings! We have found this bug inside an electronic device box we’ve had for over 5 years. I likely came from the couch on which the box was sitting or from the storage cabinet it has been for years. I needed a USB hub and got the device out of storage. As I was putting it back in the box to store the device again, I noticed the small creature crawling on one of the side-lids of the box. At first, it looked like a peck of dust but the legs and mechanical movements stood out. Is it something I should be worried about (pest control, moisture problems, etc.) or perhaps even a health hazard (bite, and/or disease)? Saint-Constant, Quebec

 

Number 7272. This is a nymph of an assassin bug known as a masked hunter (Reduvius personatus; Hemiptera/Heteroptera: Reduviidae), a cosmopolitan species often found indoors and reputed to have a very painful ‘bite’- see Masked Hunter Detailed Information .