Assassin Bugs

[Trenor]

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

 

[Lucanus95]

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

 

[Tenevanica]

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

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?

 

[Tenevanica]

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.

 

[Lucanus95]

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.

 

[Lucanus95]

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

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.

 

[Tenevanica]

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.

 

[Lucanus95]

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.

 

[Tenevanica]

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.

 

[Lucanus95]

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.

 

[Trenor]

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.

 

[Hisserdude]

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.

 

[Lucanus95]

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

 

[Hisserdude]

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

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

 

[Trenor]

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.

 

[Trenor]

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.

 

[Trenor]

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?

 

[Tenevanica]

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.

 

[Trenor]

Well, another molt and They are getting bigger.

 

[Lucanus95]

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