How do you call this bug?

[bokgrasul]

Hi !
I found in the grass now, a lot of these little guys, and I am curios, how do you call them?
The size of the adult is good for juvenile T's (around 2 cm).
So, I am curios to find out what are they, and if can I start a colony.....
They don't burrow, thats for sure! :clap:

 

[spydrhunter1]

I wouldn't be feeding that to any tarantulas, scorpions or whatever. It's in the order Hemiptera and most of them have some nasty tasting or smelling defensive comounds. There a reason most have aposematic (warning) colors.

 

[bokgrasul]

Are you sure that they have defensive comounds? Because I remember when we are little kids we were playing with the bugs a lot.....and their common name here is "Lords cow".
I didn.t felt ny smell what so ever and never anybody told me about any toxins.....but if you say for sure that they are harmful for my T's I will let them go.......... :8o

 

[bokgrasul]

I did a little research and found out that their latin name is Pyrrhochoris apterus (Lord's cow) -- 10 mm. It feeds with fruits juice or dead insects .It is not a pest.It lives isolated or in groups or rows.You can find them in big numbers in spring , in sunny places ,parks,at the bottom of the trees, in march - october. It hybernates under rocks , barks of dryed trees. Europe

 

[lukatsi]

I've had a female Hierodula grandis once and I've run out of food. I've found some of these bugs, she ate them, but a few weeks later died. I don't know if it was the bugs or something else, but be careful with them.
Anyway, they are very easy to keep, I've had them for a while. They like the 'fruit' of linden tees and dead insects very much.

 

[halfwaynowhere]

they are cute! They look like little walking tiki masks, lol.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Any insect with extremely bright colors is usually like that for a reason - to announce "back off, predators, it's not a good idea to eat me."

The only exception I know of is fireflies, which are plain and black as far as I know but will kill just about anything that eats them, even big lizards like bearded dragons.

Those are some really pretty red bugs, though. You could keep them as pets, if their care is easy enough!

 

[Vys]

Any insect with extremely bright colors is usually like that for a reason - to announce "back off, predators, it's not a good idea to eat me."

The only exception I know of is fireflies, which are plain and black as far as I know but will kill just about anything that eats them, even big lizards like bearded dragons.

There is of course mimicry, especially in the insect world, but whether these mimic something else or not I don't know.

 

[ahas]

That' s a beautiful bug! Kinda looks like an African mask.