Orange spotted Assassin Bug

[Francesco]

Hello everyone,
last Saturday, 9th of December, I have got an Orange Spotted Assassin Bug (Platymeris sp Mombo). I have purchased it in a show in Hamm (Germany). I have decided to buy just one to learn first about its needs before having a full colony. I think it was well fed when I got it cause it pooped a liquid stuff the next day.
My first question is whether they can they live alone?
I placed it in a terrarium (30x20) with coconut fiber (1cm) and several hiding spots (at the moment just cardbord). I have added a heat cable around.
However, it has never eaten till now (mealworm and darkling beatle were provided). I am thinking the heat cable is not enough.

To help, I would like to transfer it in smaller 1L (32oz circa) plastic container. It is higher than wider though. I would add inside coconut fiber and cardboard for hiding and walking. The heating will improve surely.

Any advice? Fell free to tell me whether I am doing something really wrong and why

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

If it isn't eating, it probably just isn't hungry. You'll get to watch them eat more when you have a colony.

You aren't doing anything wrong, but make sure you don't keep the enclosure too moist. They don't like excess humidity.

I must say, that's a very unusual Platymeris specimen. Its spots look nearly white, but the markings on its legs are red and appear to be reduced. If you get more specimens, can you get them from the same source? This might be a different variety.

 

[Francesco]

Thank you for your answer.
Unfortunately, I don't think I can get more from the same seller. I took it in this big show and I don't have a card from the seller.
I was actually pretty worried about the strange discoloration on the upper wings.
About watching them feeding, I am only interested to keep the animal happy and learn as much as possible about keeping them.
I was just worried because it is been at least 8 days it has not eaten anything.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

8 days isn't much time at all. They can probably go months without food.

I wasn't actually referring to the discoloration on the wings. That's dried feces from another assassin, happens pretty often in my colony. Whenever I see that I usually take the bug out and carefully scrub it off with a moist cotton swab.

Anyway, this bug definitely doesn't look like normal P. 'mombo'. Even if you can't find more like it, if it's a female it's probably mated before and should lay fertile eggs. If you look at the assassin from the side, is the end of its abdomen smooth and tapered or does it have a bump that gives is a squared off shape?

 

[Francesco]

I will check about the gender of the bug. I can try to take a pic in case.

It was written Platymeris spec Mombo on the box. It would have been amazing to ask now the seller.

I keep you updated about it.
Thank you again

 

[Francesco]

What do you mean that you clean it yourself? Are you not worried that it will sting you?

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

It's fairly easy to handle them by pinning them down and grabbing them by the thorax so they can't reach you with their proboscis. Or you could use forceps, which is definitely safer.

Either way, the bug is going to be spitting venom, so don't put your face too close if you decide to do this.

 

[Francesco]

It finaly ate its first mealworm. I will try to determine the sex of the guy I have now.

 

[Francesco]

If you can, please try to sex it.

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

The abdomen pictures are too blurry. I wonder if that's a hybrid marked as a "mombo"

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

That's definitely a female. Keep her well fed, perhaps with a little heating and she'll most likely lay dozens of eggs.

She looks sort of similar to this wild individual photographed in Ethiopia, but a hybrid is probably more likely.

 

[Francesco]

I hope she is mated. I got it a couple of weeks ago. Would she be fertile? The seller was keeping them all together.

Yes, it looks very similar to that picture, with the red marks on the legs and the yellow spots on the wings.

Here there is what the seller wrote on the box.

 

[Fruchtpudding]

If you got yours in Hamm the seller is probably Jörg Bernhardt (searching his name on google should bring up the site). Did he have a bunch of other inverts at his desk? Mostly roaches and true spiders? If so that would be him. And if not, at least he currently seems to have P. sp. Mombo available so you could get more from him if you want to start a colony.

And if that female is more than a few weeks adult she'll certainly be mated. She should start producing eggs soon too. They are rather large, shiny brown/black and have a brighter cap. Check the moist parts of the substrate for them, they are pretty easy to spot.

 

[Francesco]

Yes, there were few invertebrates on the desk and I got mine over there. I can find him online and ask him directly.
Thank you very much for the tips.

 

[Francesco]

To trig egg laying I have placed some cocofiber in a metal cap (5 cm in diameter). The cocofiber on this cap is relatively wet compared with the one of the all setup.

 

[Francesco]

Hello guys,
quick update. I asked Jörg Bernhardt whether he sold me the yellow spotted assassin bug in Hamm, but he was not.

However, I got from him few Psytalla horrida. He was extremely nice, I was very happy.

Moreover, I have found some eggs in the Platymeris spec. substrate. I hope they are fertile. Anyone knows whether they lay infertile eggs if not mated?
Thank you
Francesco

 

[Francesco]

Another update. I see two very very small Platymeris. She was pregnant. I will see soon how they look like. Now they are too small to say anything.

By the way, I have seen from real some Platymeris biguttatus and some other normal Platymerys spec Mombo (now P. rhadamanthus) with orange spots. They looked smaller then my Platymeris. Might it be a Platymeris laevicollis with yellow spots? Or maybe an ibrid?

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

Platymeris laevicollis is smaller than biguttatus and mombo, so probably not. Hybrid animals are sometimes larger than both of their parent species, so the fact that it's larger might reinforce the possibility of a hybrid.

It could also be a completely different naturally occurring species or form, but I doubt such a thing would be collected, imported and enter the trade undocumented and unnoticed.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

I found something pertaining to this mystery... someone is selling something called "Platymeris cf. guttatipennis "Kenya": http://www.enimalia.com/it/altri-invertebrati-vendita

The name implies that it might be a new variety imported from Kenya. Here's a picture comparing it mombo, as you can see it looks very similar to your specimen.

 

[Francesco]

Yes, it does. I have a lot of babies now. I hope that I will get around 20 to adulthood. Unfortunately, inbreeding would be inevitable. Thank you very much for the info.