Has anyone kept Giant water bugs?

[Stylopidae]

:worship: Holy god, Wade. :worship:

Now...ghetto rigging a mass rearing setup. What would you reccomend?

 

[Mr. Mordax]

I had at least one cannibalism . . . and several that just up and died . . . and one pair sharing the mealworm . Unless I had a pond in my backyard (difficult to come by in a studio apartment) there's no way I'll be able to rear more than 40 or 50. So, yeah, if I ever do get to sell these things, it will be in small quantities.

 

[dtknow]

I have access to tub ponds so could possibly raise a large number but I think they'd still end up eating each other. You could toss 100's of nymphs in, give them a few instars to grow and eat eachother, then remove whats left and sell it. They are native around here. One advantage is that in these ponds nymph sized food would be abundant and free. Just keep dragonflies out.

No cannibalism...but one nymph from the paired setups escaped. Saw him climbing and thought nothing of it but now he/she is gone. I guess lids are in order? I think he/she might have fell into one of the containers on the racks below.

How long till my adults start breeding? Any ways to egg them on? I haven't seen any signs of breeding yet.

 

[Tleilaxu]

Wow what are the enclosure pics? I would like to make a large setup but the filters I like to use leave the cover ajar and they escape, nothing is more startling than hearing something that sounds like a chopper flying over your head. One even landed in my bed while I was sleeping!

 

[Mr. Mordax]

At dtknow, I have no idea how long it takes the adults to breed. They'll probably get to it when they're ready. I like the idea of throwing hundreds of nymphs in a pond . . . sounds a lot easier than what I'm doing!

nothing is more startling than hearing something that sounds like a chopper flying over your head. One even landed in my bed while I was sleeping!

CREEPY! I'm glad Abedus herberti is flightless.

 

[Tleilaxu]

Really, then again I most likely kept Lethocerus americanus. Again pics of your setup if you will, I may try this again but I need to think on it.

 

[Mr. Mordax]

My setup, or Wade's? My adults are in a plastic tub with two rocks for perching places -- the same setup the grad student gave me.

My nymphs are in idividual deli cups with a hex bolt to perch on. I have to change their water at least every other day, more often if they accepted food.

But here's a cool closeup of an adult just for kicks.

 

[dtknow]

Iheartmantids: Are you sure? They've got wings so I'd imagine they can use them at that they'd be useful in areas of their range where streams dry out alot.

My adults are in a critterkeeper with a sand bottom. The tank is filled with a thicket of Najas and a bit of java moss. Also added a rock, but they seem to prefer hanging around in the plants.

 

[Mr. Mordax]

The grad student who did his work on them for several years said they never flew. That was kind of a key point in his thesis, because it pointed out that the different populations were isolated from each other. And when the streams dry out the adults just live in dense population centers (the adults tolerate each other with no problems).

 

[dtknow]

Interesting! Have you seen one pinned and spread? I don't think their back wings are much of anything so that may be the reason. Are the populations then quite genetically different? Do they ever try to migrate over land?

I wonder if these guys would tackle small crayfish? That would be impressive to see. While they are no good at catching fish(I'm guessing Lethocercus are better in that area) once they get a grip on the fish its over. Even with large fish they simply turn so the 4 free legs can grasp and restrain them too, and usually the fish stops struggling then.

 

[Tleilaxu]

Mine were utterly ruthless towards fish, and I heard they can even take ducklings.

 

[dtknow]

Wow! I'm not sure how big "ducklings" but little wood ducklings I could imagine getting pulled under by a very very hungry bug.

These guys are also voracious, but if it weren't for the fish being confined in such a small space they would have never caught them. They probably take stuff like dragonfly nymphs in the wild.

 

[dtknow]

Ok, another 2nd instar nymph, this time one kept seperately, decided to jump ship and climb out. I recovered it in a container of water below and he/she is now in a glass jar. Anyone else have this problem?

 

[Wade]

:worship: Holy god, Wade. :worship:

Now...ghetto rigging a mass rearing setup. What would you reccomend?

I think large a large plastic storage bin would work instead of the aquarium, which would make it a lot cheaper.

I'll post a picture later when I get a chance.

Wade

 

[Wade]

[

Ok, another 2nd instar nymph, this time one kept seperately, decided to jump ship and climb out. I recovered it in a container of water below and he/she is now in a glass jar. Anyone else have this problem?

What kind of cups are you using? I use 32 oz cups with a couple inches of water and have never had any get out. I have had them get out of smaller cups but only when the water level is within half an inch or so of the top, or else moss or something is there for them to climb up.

As to your other question about how long until they start breeding, I'm wondering the same thing myself. The adults I have now that are breeding were wild collected as adults last June. None of the captive bred adults I've reared so far have shown any sign of breeding, however. I wonder if they typically overwinter and don't start breeding until the spring. When I collected the adults, the stream was litterally teeming with them, but I didn't see any with eggs. In years past, I collected them in later in the summer, like early August, and did see males with eggs. So I'm wondering if breeding doesn't start until mid summer following a winter period.

Wade

 

[Mr. Mordax]

In response to the grad student question:

I've never seen one pinned, but it would be interesting. And as far as we know they can only migrate from place to place when a flash flood connects different water sources. That's they only time they go over land, too.

The basis of his study was seeing why the mountain bugs are bigger than the Cienna (sp?) bugs, but the genetic connections were all over the board.

 

[dtknow]

Wade: Interesting. So perhaps they need a winter period? I could get them outside to some cold temps if that may help. They are eating like crazy and seem to be getting a bit plump(if that is possible). Right now seems to be an odd time for nymphs...unless perhaps in the wild they overwinter in that stage and then take off the next spring. I'm guessing the adults you sent are a year old and just recently matured? Do you have location info on where they were collected?

Iheartmantids: Your adults were lab raised correct?

I've had them get out of paper drinking cups. Simply climb right up and out. Another one escaped from a glass vial of the type for slings(so I could view it better) and dried out in the corner of the room. That makes 2 escapee casualties. There was a single strand of moss that went about an inch away from the top but its still hard to believe he got out. I'll be moving them all to little jam jars and the like to stop them from doing more stunts.

Almost everyone has molted to 2nd instar now so providing no more other problems crop up I should be able to raise up quite a few.

 

[Mr. Mordax]

Mine were lab raised, yes. I also know that adults can produce several generations a year -- I think it varies from between three to five. Arlo (that's the grad student) says his can't climb smooth surfaces, but if you have their perch too close to the edge of the tank, they'll find a way out. When they run across land they sort of go in little scurrying hops. My first instars are currently in 4-ounce deli cups.

Also, it looks like the eggs develop quite quickly. My adults started laying the day I got them (December 8th) and my first hatches occurred a month later on January 7th.

 

[Wade]

Wade: Interesting. So perhaps they need a winter period? I could get them outside to some cold temps if that may help. They are eating like crazy and seem to be getting a bit plump(if that is possible). Right now seems to be an odd time for nymphs...unless perhaps in the wild they overwinter in that stage and then take off the next spring. I'm guessing the adults you sent are a year old and just recently matured? Do you have location info on where they were collected?

No, the ones I sent you were captive bred. They hatched sometime between July and September '06, and matured late November. Their parents, however, were wild collected in June of '06 near Phoenix, AZ and started laying eggs in mid July or so. The WC adults are still alive and still producing eggs. The captive bred adults have yet to produce any eggs for me, but they're not even a year old and have only been adult for a couple of months. What I don't know is how old the WC breeders are as they were adult when I collected them. It may be just a matter of time before the CB adults star breeding.

I'm fairly certain they must overwinter, as the creek I collected the breeders from contained everything from adults to medium-sized nymphs. I don't remember seeing any tiny nymphs or adults with eggs. Logically, the adults were either several years old, or else they had hatched early in the breeding season while the nymphs hatched later.

I don't know if cooling is needed, that was just speculation. I does help with some insects, so it might be useul here as well if they don't start breeding. I've never heard they need a cooling period, however.

I think your problem is the paper cups. Try plastic and I don't hink they'll get out.

Wade

 

[dtknow]

Welp, to answer your question Wade...it looks like they can breed whenever they want. One of my males is now carrying a full load of eggs.