Any experience with Wheel Bugs?

[Hoolia]

I was wondering if anyone has kept wheel bugs or raised them from nymphs before? I purchased some a couple of days ago from someone who collected some nymphs nearby. Unfortunately some died in transit and two more died after arriving, acting normal, and even taking a meal. The seller doesn't really have any info for me as they can just source them from their area but don't keep them.

Is there something specialized to their care I'm missing?

Currently they are kept in separate small plastic sauce cups with holes in the sides and top with mesh attached to the top in order to allow them to hang and molt. All were fed a baby dubia and ate them voraciously but still 2 more died. Any thoughts?

 

[Arthroverts]

@chanda, @Salmonsaladsandwich, any ideas?

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[chanda]

I had a few wheel bugs a while back (2 males, 1 female) but they were already adults when I got them - and unfortunately, the female died before I got a chance to try breeding them. The two males survived for a few months, but I'm not sure that they actually thrived. Then again, as adults, I have no way of knowing how close they were to the end of their natural lives when I got them, so they might have died prematurely - or they might have already been on the way out. It is also possible that the shipping process itself - particularly if they were in transit for an extended period, were subjected to unusually high (or low) temperatures along the way, or got a little dehydrated in transit - might also shorten their lives.

When I had the wheel bugs, I kept them in tall (32 oz.) deli cups with ventilated insect lids (wire screen mesh) and bark/fake plants to climb on. Because they were already full grown, I did not need to worry about molting. They had good appetites (I fed them crickets) and were kept on slightly moist substrate (coconut fiber, sprayed a few times a week to moisten) - which they hardly (if ever) touched, preferring to hang out on the bark, the fake plants, or the underside of the lid.

If I had it to do over, there are a few things I would do differently - starting with keeping them in a much larger container (at least 2-3 gallon screen-top cage) that offered more/better hiding places, like cork tubes - and I would toss them all in and keep them communally. Based on my experiences so far with Platymeris biguttatus and Psytalla horrida, that seems to be a better way to keep assassin bugs. I have been keeping P. biguttatus for a little over a year now, have raised lots of them from nymphs, and have a thriving colony. I am just getting started with the P. horrida - but so far, things are going well and care seems to be very similar to that of the P. biguttatus. Granted, they are different species from wheel bugs and from opposite sides of the world, but they are still fairly closely related and seem to have similar requirements. The tall deli cups seem to be fine for keeping nymphs, but I suspect they are too small for the more active adults. Also, I've noticed how much assassin bugs seem to like good hiding places (cork tubes for the bigger enclosures, or egg crate seems to work pretty well for nymphs in the deli cups - though it does need to be replaced periodically) which I did not give those wheel bugs.

The other assassins I've kept - the California Bee Assassin, Apiomerus californicus, and a few assorted Zelus species - have been local (adult) specimens that I caught, kept for a few weeks to show my students, and then released back into their native habitat, so I have no long-term experience with them. They also seemed - at least for the short time they spent in my custody - to do best when provided with good hiding spots. If they were forced to be out in the open all the time - such as on a small piece of bark or fake plant - they didn't feed as well and sometimes didn't survive. They seem to be particularly fond of hiding places from which to ambush their prey. Also, the Bee Assassins - while they will sometimes take crickets or other bugs - seem to have a strong preference for bees, which are a bit harder to come by as a feeder.

I'm not sure if any of this is particularly helpful to you or not. There are a lot of reasons why some of your nymphs might not have survived, including possible shipping stress or trauma, being infested with parasites or parasitoids, or lack of moisture/humidity which might cause problems molting.

The reality is that wheel bugs - like many other bugs and spiders - lay a lot of eggs, but relatively few of those young survive to maturity. It's tough being a bug - and it is not uncommon for nymphs to die, sometimes for seemingly no good reason at all. I'm sorry for your losses, but I hope that the remaining nymphs thrive for you!

 

[Hoolia]

@chanda
Thanks for all the great info!

Interesting thoughts about hiding spots. I definitely will upgrade to some deli cups with egg crate for better hiding spots. I still will probably keep them separate just to keep the chance of cannibalism at 0 while they're still so small and delicate.

I already have an enclosure for them (hopefully, if they make it that far) when they reach adulthood. I found these animal enclosures which are terrible and way too small for what they say they are for, but awesome for bugs. http://biobubblepets.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/WonderBubble-Black-Betta-800x800.jpg

While I don't think I can get a solid answer, I do have a few theories at this point.
-Shipping damage: the fact that they ate after arriving and were lively I see this as pretty unlikely but still possible.
-Dehydration: Still possible, but they did eat and from my knowledge assassin bugs do get a good deal of moisture from eating, mostly needing humidity to molt.
-Parasites: No way of knowing but always possible
-Age: This is really what I think it is at this point. They are YOUNG, I think L1 by the looks of it, but could possibly be L2. An age I definitely would be worried about shipping/selling since that's the age most insects die for seemingly no reason.

Thanks again for your two cents, hopefully, I can update in a few months time with some adult pics.

 

[The Mantis Menagerie]

I kept an adult female for a while. I fed it crickets and roaches, and it laid a cluster of eggs. I am expecting them to need hydei fruit flies, but my colony crashed. I am keeping the eggs in hibernation until my new fruit fly cultures start producing.

 

[Hoolia]

@The Mantis Menagerie
Oh neat! Let me know how that goes! If you end up getting them to hatch is be interested in some nymphs if you decide to sell!

 

[Garetyl]

Please don't buy those Betta containers. By doing so, you're supporting the companies that make them.

 

[Hoolia]

@Garetyl
Oh, I'm aware! I got mine a while back second hand, none of my money went directly to the company. They're actually kinda hard to find at a reasonable price now and for good reason.

Honestly, if they marketed their product differently they could have had a really successful product on their hands. Especially with the rise in popularity fairy gardens and terrariums have had recently. But fish, birds, lizards, and hamsters? No way, they are garbage for them.

 

[Garetyl]

@Garetyl
Oh, I'm aware! I got mine a while back second hand, none of my money went directly to the company. They're actually kinda hard to find at a reasonable price now and for good reason.

Honestly, if they marketed their product differently they could have had a really successful product on their hands. Especially with the rise in popularity fairy gardens and terrariums have had recently. But fish, birds, lizards, and hamsters? No way, they are garbage for them.

Then you're good. As long as you're not supporting the Betta bowl industry, you've got a good enclosure there.

And I know how you feel. I've seen plenty of cages I'd love to grab as transport or hospital cages, but they're being sold as actual cages for birbs to live in.

 

[Brandon Thorpe]

This is my first post here, I just found this thread on google and had to jump in. Hope I'm not violating any rules, not making an introduction or something, but I'm raising my first generation of these. Parents paired up in captivity. I've raised a generation of Sinea Diadema as well. My oldest wheel bug nymph is only a 3rd instar, but I can't believe how communal they are. The Sinea had to be seperated, lot of predation, but so far the wheel bugs have been (I hope I don't regret saying this) easy. Catch fruit flies and share pre killed mealworms together. Fun species. Just now getting little bits of grey fuzz.