Lately, I've been seeing these bugs aggregated right on the tomatoes and sticking their proboscis right into the tomatoes. The tomatoes shrivel up like prunes and many fall off. The yield has been minimal over the last 10 days, and before, was very generous.

I don't want to kill them if they're good bugs, but now I'm thinking they must not be. I am also frightened of them stinging me since there are so many of them, the adults fly, and I've heard the sting is very painful.

They start out as shiny red, double or triple segmented insects with spindly black legs, go through several different morphs, and the adults are brown-black with a little red on the hind segment.

Please help me figure out what they are. This first photo is of a red nymph and an adult. This is a side view of an intermediate morph with a protuberance on the back This one is a pair of intermediate morphs from the top

The other two ? not sure..

Those pics don't look like the assassin bugs that I have. They look more "hideous" (as the link in the other thread described them).

Assassin bugs are grayish and their nymphs are red. So, possibly, yes.

The nymphs of the leaf footed bug and the assasin bug look very similar to me (as do the nymphs of stink bugs, wheel bugs etc). My experience is similar to yours in that I usually see the leaf footed nymphs in large groups attacking a tomato or some other vegitable in my garden. On the other hand I have only seen the assasin bug nymphs by themselves or in pairs. The first time I saw them I could tell that they were assasin bug nymphs due to the slightly longer body, smaller head and longer "nose"- oh yeah and they were also sucking the juice out of a small caterpillar. Some means of identification are more definite than others.

You mention that the nymphs in your garden can be found in groups and that they are severly damaging your tomatoes. If that's the case, it doesn't matter what they will become, they are currently a pest and I would send them to the great beyond ASAP. I say as soon as possible because if they are leaf footed bugs they will get harder to kill as they get older and develop the ability to fly. They are very good fliers and I would go as far to say that they get agressive as they get older. I think that most of the agressiveness is for show and I have never been bitten by one, but when they reach adulthood they develop a rather hard exoskeleton that can feel like a splinter to a bare-handed attacker. I have also seen adults using their stingers(?) to pierce mature sunflower seeds and I imagine that it would be about like a needle if you were trying to kill them by hand. As a result I usually wear gloves when I go after the adults. Hope this helps.

Matt

these are the ones ya want in your garden!!! LOL
http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/entomology/ornamentals/beneficials.h tml

~Medo