# Assassin Bugs



## Trenor (Jun 17, 2016)

I got four of these guys as freebies with a recent tarantula purchase. They seem pretty cool so far and I really enjoyed watching them take down a Dubia nymph. Since I was not expecting them, I currently have them on a topsoil/coca fiber mix and I gave them the plant for some cover. 

I looked up a few posts but since I didn't have a scientific name I wasn't sure if the information applied to the bugs I had. What is the best way to keep these guys? Any tips or information is appreciated.

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## Hisserdude (Jun 17, 2016)

Those are some sort of Platymeris species, can't really tell what species until the little guys mature. They can be kept communally, however with the nymphs you can expect a certain amount of cannibalism when keeping them together. Your setup looks good, just keep them well fed, moist, and maybe separate, and you should be good.

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## Trenor (Jun 17, 2016)

Thanks for the information. I've tried to keep food available for them and maybe that will help keep them from eating one another.


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## Tenevanica (Jun 17, 2016)

I've been wanting to keep _Platymeris sp. _for long time, but they're so damn expensive! I think it's great that you can keep them in colonies too! Good luck with these, and I'm glad more of the T people are embracing insects as well!

Here's a pretty basic care sheet: http://www.bugnation.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=386&t=262&sid=f5681174463ad5117615a91e0e47a68c

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## Trenor (Jun 17, 2016)

Tenevanica said:


> I've been wanting to keep _Platymeris sp. _for long time, but they're so damn expensive! I think it's great that you can keep them in colonies too! Good luck with these, and I'm glad more of the T people are embracing insects as well!
> 
> Here's a pretty basic care sheet: http://www.bugnation.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=386&t=262&sid=f5681174463ad5117615a91e0e47a68c


Thanks man. If they do well and hatch eggs I'll be glad to hook you up. Or if I decide these are not my thing I'll send these to you.

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## Tenevanica (Jun 17, 2016)

Trenor said:


> Thanks man. If they do well and hatch eggs I'll be glad to hook you up. Or if I decide these are not my thing I'll send these to you.


That sounds great! Thanks for the offer.

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## Lucanus95 (Jun 17, 2016)

Judging by the color, this is Platymeris rhadamanthus

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## Dovey (Jun 18, 2016)

Wow, when I saw your post title, I thought you might have Triatoma sp., and my heart started racing! I live in the Sonoran Desert and am terribly allergic to those cunning wee beasties - but even people who aren't sensitized to their bite suffer horrible itchy, burning, raised welts while they are asleep in bed here. It's high season for indoor incursions, and I live in fear and toss my room every night, mattress and all. Seriously, we have rattlesnakes, widows & recluses, coral snakes, and very pushy gila monsters, but these are the only fellow residents I truly fear.

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## Dovey (Jun 18, 2016)

Is that a late instar, or do they retain that amazing color for life?


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## Tenevanica (Jun 18, 2016)

Lucanus95 said:


> Judging by the color, this is Platymeris rhadamanthus


I believe all _Platymeris sp. _have that color if they're young enough.

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## Tenevanica (Jun 18, 2016)

Dovey said:


> Is that a late instar, or do they retain that amazing color for life?


I haven't kept these, but I believe they only keep that red color in the early instars. The adults are even more stunning however!

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## Trenor (Jun 18, 2016)

Lucanus95 said:


> Judging by the color, this is Platymeris rhadamanthus


Ah cool, Those look pretty awesome when they are older.

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## Lucanus95 (Jun 18, 2016)

Tenevanica said:


> I believe all _Platymeris sp. _have that color if they're young enough.


There is a difference in leg coloration between 3 species (if we assume mombos are not biguttatus. There are people claiming that mombos are just variation of biguttatus). P. rhadamanthus has dark coloration on the joints whereas in mombos only the base of the femur is dark. P. biguttatus has entirely black tibia. It's easy to spot the difference when you keep all 3 species.

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## Introvertebrate (Jun 18, 2016)

Lucanus95 said:


> There is a difference in leg coloration between 3 species (if we assume mombos are not biguttatus. There are people claiming that mombos are just variation of biguttatus). P. rhadamanthus has dark coloration on the joints whereas in mombos only the base of the femur is dark. P. biguttatus has entirely black tibia. It's easy to spot the difference when you keep all 3 species.


Do you care for all 3 species the same way?


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## Trenor (Jun 18, 2016)

Well, I was looking over the tarantula table and noticed one of mt newly acquired assassin bugs (Platymeris rhadamanthus?) was molting. Not one to miss a photo op I broke out the camera and got a few photos. I might have to rehouse these guys soon the way they are growing.
Enjoy:
Molting.





Close up Molting.





After molting.

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## Tenevanica (Jun 18, 2016)

Introvertebrate said:


> Do you care for all 3 species the same way?


Yes, the care for all three (or four? Or five? No one really knows how many _Platymeris _species are in the hobby.) species is the same.

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## Lucanus95 (Jun 18, 2016)

Introvertebrate said:


> Do you care for all 3 species the same way?


Yes, I keep all 3 species in the same way as well as for Psytalla horrida.

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## Dovey (Jun 19, 2016)

Yes, more room! I vote to rehouse. Fantastic photos you take, btw...your photo thread is magnificent.

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## Trenor (Jun 19, 2016)

Dovey said:


> Yes, more room! I vote to rehouse. Fantastic photos you take, btw...your photo thread is magnificent.


Thanks, that is kinds of you to say. I do like to take photos.  I also think, I need to move then to a large enclosure. I've been looking at what I have here for Ts and so far I haven't found one I like. I might hit up the hobby store and see if they have some clear plastic ones that are shorter with more floor and plant room.

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## Dovey (Jun 19, 2016)

Since developing a fancy for insects & arachnids, I've never entered a Michaels or Hobby Lobby with the same eyes! If only their merchandizing depts. knew what we were searching  for...that would be a lively purchasing meeting.

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## Trenor (Jun 19, 2016)

Trenor said:


> Thanks, that is kinds of you to say. I do like to take photos.  I also think, I need to move then to a large enclosure. I've been looking at what I have here for Ts and so far I haven't found one I like. I might hit up the hobby store and see if they have some clear plastic ones that are shorter with more floor and plant room.


I grabbed a nice 16oz deli cup and re-housed them today. I might be slightly over feeding them but I'm worried they might go 'Hunger Games' on me. Here is a shot of the new enclosure.





Are these guys getting ready to shed or do they darken up after a certain point?





This guy got some food

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## Lucanus95 (Jun 19, 2016)

Alternatively you can keep them in 16 oz cups (I get mine from dollar tree) with a piece of egg flat. Makes cleaning easy and it becomes handy when you end up with 50+ nymphs hatching out at once. LOL

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## Tenevanica (Jun 20, 2016)

Trenor said:


> I grabbed a nice 16oz deli cup and re-housed them today. I might be slightly over feeding them but I'm worried they might go 'Hunger Games' on me. Here is a shot of the new enclosure.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Nice, I love the way the enclosure looks! They do darken up when they get old enough, but it's also possible they're getting ready to molt. After getting used to Ts that take years to mature, it's nice to have something that matures in only a few months, isn't it?

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## Tenevanica (Jun 20, 2016)

Lucanus95 said:


> Alternatively you can keep them in 16 oz cups (I get mine from dollar tree) with a piece of egg flat. Makes cleaning easy and it becomes handy when you end up with 50+ nymphs hatching out at once. LOL


I don't see that working for me. This genus requires high humidity, and I don't see how you could retain humidity without a substrate. Plus, the eggs will easily desiccate without a substrate. That might work for the nymphs if your room humidity is high enough, but I don't see them being very productive in a setup like that.


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## Lucanus95 (Jun 20, 2016)

Tenevanica said:


> I don't see that working for me. This genus requires high humidity, and I don't see how you could retain humidity without a substrate. Plus, the eggs will easily desiccate without a substrate. That might work for the nymphs if your room humidity is high enough, but I don't see them being very productive in a setup like that.


Looks like you've never kept these before. They actually get wing rots and die if they are kept in humid environment with little ventilation. These guys get all the moisture they need from their food so only eggs require moisture to hatch.

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## Lucanus95 (Jun 20, 2016)

Trenor said:


> I grabbed a nice 16oz deli cup and re-housed them today. I might be slightly over feeding them but I'm worried they might go 'Hunger Games' on me. Here is a shot of the new enclosure.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's the normal color for 2nd instar. The yellow bands on the legs will eventually turn orange as they grow. They are definitely not close to molting by the way.


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## Tenevanica (Jun 20, 2016)

Lucanus95 said:


> Looks like you've never kept these before. They actually get wing rots and die if they are kept in humid environment with little ventilation. These guys get all the moisture they need from their food so only eggs require moisture to hatch.


I haven't kept these, you're right. I've considered it, but haven't done it yet. Anything will die if kept in humid stuffy conditions. From my understanding, these require high humidity with, of course, good ventilation. I've talked to some vendors who have informed me that their nymphs get stuck in their molts if they're not kept humid enough.


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## Lucanus95 (Jun 20, 2016)

Tenevanica said:


> I haven't kept these, you're right. I've considered it, but haven't done it yet. Anything will die if kept in humid stuffy conditions. From my understanding, these require high humidity with, of course, good ventilation. I've talked to some vendors who have informed me that their nymphs get stuck in their molts if they're not kept humid enough.


I never water mine and keep them in bone dry condition yet I don't experience much mismolts (out of hundreds of nymphs I only get 1 or 2 mismolts). You should try keeping these guys and see for yourself. They do well in dry condition.


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## Tenevanica (Jun 20, 2016)

Lucanus95 said:


> I never water mine and keep them in bone dry condition yet I don't experience much mismolts (out of hundreds of nymphs I only get 1 or 2 mismolts). You should try keeping these guys and see for yourself. They do well in dry condition.


They do well in moist conditions as well apparently. Everyone I've talked to who's kept these (with the exception of you) has told me that dry conditions are a death sentence. So, you're saying that the nymphs and adults can survive in dry conditions? The eggs have to be kept moist though. In fairly certain of that. Do you separate the eggs?

If I ever tried these I'd be keeping them moist, if anything because my house is very dry. (hydrometer says 17% in my living room) It's a bit calming to know they can survive dryness though. I wouldn't have to worry about keeping the humidity constantly up.


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## Lucanus95 (Jun 20, 2016)

Tenevanica said:


> They do well in moist conditions as well apparently. Everyone I've talked to who's kept these (with the exception of you) has told me that dry conditions are a death sentence. So, you're saying that the nymphs and adults can survive in dry conditions? The eggs have to be kept moist though. In fairly certain of that. Do you separate the eggs?
> 
> If I ever tried these I'd be keeping them moist, if anything because my house is very dry. (hydrometer says 17% in my living room) It's a bit calming to know they can survive dryness though. I wouldn't have to worry about keeping the humidity constantly up.



Yes, nymphs and adults don't need to be watered as long as you don't starve them for too long. Clearly the person who've told you dry condition is death sentence for them has never tried keeping them dry (either that or they are referring to eggs since eggs do require moisture). I'm sure they do ok in humid condition though as long as good ventilation is provided. However I don't like this method because it makes it hard for me to clean up dead bodies of prey. 

In case you are wondering how I keep them, I keep my smaller nymphs (1st ~ 3rd instar) in 16 oz cups in groups of 10~20. Once they molt to 4th instar I put them together with the adults, which are kept in large critter keeper with two pieces of bark inside along with a small container with moist substrate for adults to deposit eggs in. Eggs are collected every once in a while and are moved to 32 oz cup with moist substrate inside. This becomes handy when you have a large colony because when you don't want more nymphs to hatch you can simply take out the container and only place it back in when you want more nymphs.

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## Trenor (Jun 20, 2016)

Lucanus95 said:


> That's the normal color for 2nd instar. The yellow bands on the legs will eventually turn orange as they grow. They are definitely not close to molting by the way.


Two of the 4 have molted but the others have not yet. The ones that molted turned black in the photos. The others are still red like they were when I got them. The molts are so wispy they look like misquotes.

Thanks for all the info on these guys. They have been pretty neat so far.


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## Hisserdude (Jun 21, 2016)

Lucanus95 said:


> Looks like you've never kept these before. They actually get wing rots and die if they are kept in humid environment with little ventilation. These guys get all the moisture they need from their food so only eggs require moisture to hatch.


Hey, does this go for Melanolestes picipes as well? I've been keeping my nymphs pretty moist, the eggcartons keep getting moldy though and I actually lost a nymph that drowned in condensation as I accidentally overmisted it's container.  If I could keep them really dry that'd be great, if not it's not much of a problem, just a little inconvenient.


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## Lucanus95 (Jun 21, 2016)

Hisserdude said:


> Hey, does this go for Melanolestes picipes as well? I've been keeping my nymphs pretty moist, the eggcartons keep getting moldy though and I actually lost a nymph that drowned in condensation as I accidentally overmisted it's container.  If I could keep them really dry that'd be great, if not it's not much of a problem, just a little inconvenient.


Unfortunately corsairs didn't do well in dry conditions for me

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## Hisserdude (Jun 21, 2016)

Lucanus95 said:


> Unfortunately corsairs didn't do well in dry conditions for me


Ok, I'll keep them moist then, thanks for the info!


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## Trenor (Jul 13, 2016)

It's been a while since I have posted to this thread. I noted several of them molted in the last day or so. Grabbed a few shots testing out the camera in my new phone.


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## Trenor (Jul 29, 2016)

They are starting to get the orange leg bands and are a big enough size to really go after the food. They are pretty neat to watch.

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## Trenor (Aug 8, 2016)

I about had a heart attack when I saw this earlier today.





I thought one of them had went cannibal on the other but it was just in the process of molting. These guys have put on some size. Here is a photo of the same one when it's carapace has hardened.





It's been neat to see these guys grow. How big do they get over all?

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## Tenevanica (Aug 9, 2016)

Trenor said:


> It's been neat to see these guys grow. How big do they get over all?


About 1.5 to 2 inches in body length.

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## Trenor (Sep 13, 2016)

Well, another molt and They are getting bigger.

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## Lucanus95 (Sep 14, 2016)

Wow, they've grown a lot! You have subadults there. You'll see adults in the next molt

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## Trenor (Sep 17, 2016)

Lucanus95 said:


> Wow, they've grown a lot! You have subadults there. You'll see adults in the next molt


Nice, I'm thinking of rehousing them soon. They are starting to outgrow their deli cup. If I want them to lay I'll need to include moist substrate right? Are there anyway to know if they are males/females?


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## Praxibetelix (Sep 17, 2016)

In A. cristatus, the female is quite a bit larger than the male. She also has a rounder abdomen than the male.

I do not know if the same holds true for other assassins...


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## Trenor (Sep 17, 2016)

Cool, when they molt again I'll post some photos and maybe we can figure out what they are. Thanks for the info.


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## Lucanus95 (Sep 18, 2016)

Unfortunately I don't know how to sex nymphs, but sexing adults is quite easy as long as you can flip them over to see their last segment

Female






Male

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## Trenor (Sep 18, 2016)

Thanks for the information. I'll wait for them to reach adulthood then I'll see what I have. Hopefully, I'll end up with a good mix.


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## Introvertebrate (Sep 19, 2016)

The individual segments of the abdomen are more distinct on the male.  There also appear to be more segments.

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## Trenor (Nov 20, 2016)

Well, they molted and I have rehoused them. I've still not got around to sexing them yet. 

Here are a few quick photos from my phone. I'm going to have to take some with the Canon soon.

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## bigjej (Nov 20, 2016)

Good work!

Lucanus95 - Do you have any photos of your setups and colonies? Are all the ones commonly sold to hobbyist (reds, whites, horrids, etc) kept similarly? 
I also recently started keeping a few and have been given such varied info.


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