# Native (US) Assassin Bugs



## Arachno Veteran (May 18, 2009)

I'm curious - Does anyone keep Native Assassin Bugs in captivity?
I would think they would be a lot safer than those crazy African species?
Venom less potent, etc. And I'd love to see some pics, if you have 'em.


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## cacoseraph (May 18, 2009)

i have tried a toad bug, bee assassin, and what was probably a Zelus or Sinea sp.

all failed... wouldn't take the roaches i offered. i want to try again with tiny pinhead crickets and fruit flies




toad bug (REALLY hard to get good pics of)





zoom http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b287/cacoseraph/insect/bug/toad/003b.jpg
if toad bugs were bigger (well under a cm for that one) i think they would be awesome pets!  they look like little tiny toads when they hop around 


bee assassin (Apiomerus sp.)





http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b287/cacoseraph/hunt/insect/assassin/wl_20070512_assassin03b.jpg

i actually grabbed the apiomerus out of the air 









and i know ppl who try to keep and breed / captive hatch the large native predatory water bugs.  Arthrohabdus or whatever


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## Matt K (May 18, 2009)

From what I can gather, almost all US Native assasin bugs are extremely hard to keep in captivity.  Many of them have specialized diets, etc.  The African ones will eat just about any bug and are less demanding on temps, etc.
There are a couple of neat-o books out there on the subject....


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## cacoseraph (May 18, 2009)

the native assassins aren't that hard to keep... you just have to have the right setup. obviously i didn't =P

scientists keep them all the time in labs, breeding and everything

i have read a number of papers that detailed to greater or lesser extent keeping Phymata, Zelus, Sinea... i think some of the thread legs... and i think maybe one or two other species.  virtually all of their setups would get them yelled at here, too. just petri dishes and paper towels a lot of the time


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## Arachno Veteran (May 18, 2009)

cacoseraph said:


> i have tried a toad bug, bee assassin, and what was probably a Zelus or Sinea sp.
> 
> all failed... wouldn't take the roaches i offered. i want to try again with tiny pinhead crickets and fruit flies
> 
> ...


That Toad Bug is really cool! Even though he's tiny. Hey, at least he wouldn't need much tank space!


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## cacoseraph (May 18, 2009)

Arachno Veteran said:


> That Toad Bug is really cool! Even though he's tiny. Hey, at least he wouldn't need much tank space!


in fact, i kept "losing" it in the setup i was trying it in... then it croaked (hehe, i'm punny)


and i proudly admit i giggle-shrieked when i found it. i didn't even know such a bug existed before i found it  


if you could get a colony of little hoppy, googly-eyed bugs going it would be AWESOME!  especially if you had a water feature involved and made it look nice   i don't know if they are conspecifically tolerant or not, though.


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## What (May 18, 2009)

I was keeping Apiomerus flaviventris for awhile, they took very quickly to roaches, but I could not get them to reproduce...

The enclosure was simply a communal delicup with paper toweling as the substrate and structure.


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## cacoseraph (May 18, 2009)

those are the screaming yellow and red ones?

ah, yes it is 

http://images.google.com/images?q=A...ent=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi


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## Matt K (May 19, 2009)

Toad bugs are totally cool. :clap:  I have not had those though....


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## Arachno Veteran (May 19, 2009)

*Native Assassins*



What said:


> I was keeping Apiomerus flaviventris for awhile, they took very quickly to roaches, but I could not get them to reproduce...
> 
> The enclosure was simply a communal delicup with paper toweling as the substrate and structure.


Communal delicup - that's good! lol  a 32oz. size I presume?
Looks like those Bee Assassins aren't that big
Are you keeping any native Assassins now?


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## Craig (May 19, 2009)

Last year I had an apartment that was pretty high off the ground (5th floor). 

I had a really large tree next to my bathroom window. I also did not have a working screen on my bathroom window. Numerous assassin bugs (not cone noses) came in my bathroom via the tree. They actually did quite well there. I let them live there the whole time I was at this address. I am not sure what they ate but they thrived there. I am wondering if it was roach nymphs. 

Interesting eh?


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## Arachno Veteran (May 19, 2009)

Wow, Craig - that is cool. The only time I ever came across one, was after hours of leaf flipping in the woods.


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## What (May 19, 2009)

Arachno Veteran said:


> Communal delicup - that's good! lol  a 32oz. size I presume?
> Looks like those Bee Assassins aren't that big
> Are you keeping any native Assassins now?


The ones I had were all between 3/4" and 1", with 5 of them in a 16 oz delicup(I dont recommend it, was a bit of an experiment). I was feeding them 3x a week, and never had any cannibalism.

I was thinking about keeping one or two of the local Apiomerus sp(looks to be the same as Caco's above), but I did not have any collecting gear with me and had to settle for a photo:


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## Arachno Veteran (May 19, 2009)

What said:


> The ones I had were all between 3/4" and 1", with 5 of them in a 16 oz delicup(I dont recommend it, was a bit of an experiment). I was feeding them 3x a week, and never had any cannibalism.
> 
> I was thinking about keeping one or two of the local Apiomerus sp(looks to be the same as Caco's above), but I did not have any collecting gear with me and had to settle for a photo:


Oh, man - He's a beauty! How much? I'll pay cash :drool:  ...I know, you didn't have a jar with you. Ah well, maybe next time?


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## Craig (May 19, 2009)

Arachno Veteran said:


> Wow, Craig - that is cool. The only time I ever came across one, was after hours of leaf flipping in the woods.


For what ever reason I have noticed more further north in Illinois as opposed to where I grew up (approx. 2 hours) from Chicago. They seem to be difficult to find further south here. I live in the city of Chicago now, and I have never even seen 1 out here. Actually I really do not see too many insects (except for flies etc.) at all. I'll have to post some pictures of the assassins that lived in my bathroom. I did notice when I tried to handle them they were pretty skittish.


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## Acro (May 25, 2009)

Ive kept all 3 species of african assassin bugs and the native Wheel Bug.  Wheel bugs are one of the larger native US assassin species and I was able to raise a large group form nymphs to adults.  They were able to breed and produce eggs that did hatch.  Unfortunately I did not have fruit flies or pin head crickets available to keep the nymphs alive.  I have known other people who have been able to breed wheel bugs too.  So if you want to give native assassin bugs a try, I would strongly suggest Arilus cristata.


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## pandinus (May 26, 2009)

i'm just suprised it took the wheel bug till page 2 to get mentioned. they are the biggest assasins ive ever seen even if their color is not all that impressive


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## cacoseraph (May 26, 2009)

i really want to keep wheel bugs! i just might be in their range when i move to IL. if i can't find some myself i still want to trade for or buy some


i honestly don't understand why they aren't more popular.  they might not be as colorful as the african Plat's but they are SO crazy looking!


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## Arachno Veteran (May 26, 2009)

*What about Zelus, etc.?*

I've been thinking more along the lines of Zelus Sp. - Zelus luridus, etc.
And Apiomerus Sp. -Apiomerus flaviventris, Apiomerus spissipes, Apiomerus crassipes crassipes, and many others... it's been hard finding someone who has any to sell...


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## cacoseraph (May 26, 2009)

zelus are kinda little and scrawny. i like their legs, though!  i think they are going to require having drosophila and true pinhead crix to feed them.   we need to see if they will feed of prekilled

have you seen the thread leggeds?  er... Emesinae
http://bugguide.net/node/view/213/bgpage
one of those genera has a species that can get to >=2" BL iirc


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## Pulk (May 27, 2009)

Triatoma rubida (Portal, AZ)






unknown (Portal, AZ)






Empicoris sp. (Encinitas, CA)






Rasahus thoracicus (Encinitas, CA)


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## Arachno Veteran (May 27, 2009)

*Comments & Tips Please?*

Hi Guys,

Thank you very much, Pulk, for those pics.
So I got the "Langtry TX" variety of Assassin and Ken threw in a freebie.
I'm a little confused... I guess the "Langtry TX" may be a conenose? I know I should be using the Latin names here... And the freebie looks like a leaf-legged version... But, in any case I'll post the pics & maybe someone can provide some guidance? The pics are just quick & dirty, sorry.


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## Arachno Veteran (May 27, 2009)

*Continued*

*sigh* Having trouble uploading the images
For instance: What should I be feeding this guy? I offered a few drops of honey, a few of pure maple syrup, a couple of small sprigs of Zinnia and Lavender.


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## zonbonzovi (May 27, 2009)

Sweet- you found some.  I love the flags on the lower legs.  Enjoy!


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## cacoseraph (May 27, 2009)

the leaf foot might be a leptoglossus

i am kodak bugguiding here, though... so i can only get up to like 50% confidence but...

http://bugguide.net/node/view/158437/bgpage

i am going to google a bit and might edit in more info into this post

L. clypealis can be found in TX, apparently.
http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~sjtaylor/coreidae/Leptoglossus_clypealis.html
ah, easy to check this species 
link says they have a clypeus extending from the front of their head

it seems like leptoglossus are actual plant vampires, that is, they have to feed from live plants.  hope not, that is a bummer for keeping them


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## Arachno Veteran (May 27, 2009)

*leptoglossus*

Yep! That's him! Thanks cacoseraph! you got it -

:worship:


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## cacoseraph (May 28, 2009)

oh, i can't believe i forgot for so long!

i really want to keep masked hunters, as well!
http://bugguide.net/node/view/260837/bgimage


i think you could make the nymphs really funny depending on what sub you kept them on 









edit:
also, for the leptoglossus... i have seen references to some species eating seeds. i am guessing it is only seeds that are still plugged into their parent plant but you could try non-dried pine nuts. i don't think it will work, though... but if you have some lying around you could always check



edit2:
as for Triatoma vs other reduviids.  from what i have googled it is mainly a diffence in the shape of the beak. i was hoping for a more discrete difference, but it is a degree kind of thing apparently :/

bug feeding reduviids have a shorter, stouter beak
http://bugguide.net/node/view/135088/bgimage

Triatoma have a slimmer, more svelte beak
http://bugguide.net/node/view/198863/bgimage
http://entomologia.net/dicciona/triato.jpg
http://www.tulane.edu/~wiser/protozoology/notes/images/triatoma.JPG

i suspect it is one of those things that doesn't look that different to our now untrained eyes, but is actually pretty apparent once you look with proper eyes that see


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## ZoSoLp510 (May 28, 2009)

cacoseraph said:


> i have tried a toad bug, bee assassin, and what was probably a Zelus or Sinea sp.
> 
> all failed... wouldn't take the roaches i offered. i want to try again with tiny pinhead crickets and fruit flies


I've kept sinea, melanolestes and of course plat's ... all went pretty wild for wax worms... maybe try them? 

P>S>  I love those bee assassins! Wish I had them around here


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## cacoseraph (May 28, 2009)

heck yeah!

i have seen pics and i believe read that the feed on caterpillars and other worm form bugs in nature, so that makes a lot of sense 

plus, it is hard to find a less like, "offensive" feeder than a waxworm


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## ZoSoLp510 (May 28, 2009)

Yeah man, like I said, every species I've ever kept has gone absolutely ape $**T for them. Let me know how it goes if you ever try them again!


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## Arachno Veteran (May 29, 2009)

*Wow -*

How cool - Finally a forum for Hemiptera / Assassin Bug enthusiasts!  Yay!

Got Assassins?


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