ID please

[LoganVivisected]

ok this is an insect that i have never seen before around here. it reminds me of a cross between a cicada, praying mantis, and water bug. it even holds its arms like a mantis, in the picks it was mad though and trying to get me. i cant figure out what it eats either, tried crickets, moths, and various plants. all i know about it is its nocturnal, because i found it in the middle of the night about half a mile from a river in my neighborhood. i live on the coast in southern nc.

 

[lucanidae]

Belostomatidae, giant water bug. Should only be one genus that gets that size near you but I can't remember it right now. It is aquatic and will usually only eat in water. Feeds on other small aquatic inverts and sometimes small fish. Put it in a well planted aquarium with a tight lid and it will do fine. Watch out, they can bite...hard.

 

[LoganVivisected]

ah thanks a lot. interesting, i will keep it and see how it does, been thinking about getting an aquatic invert anyways, and i know of a stream around here with plenty of minows.

 

[kraken]

REAL NICE!!!!! :drool:

 

[LoganVivisected]

saying "him" because it sounds better than "it"

alright well i have him in a nice set up, (medium kk with said housing), but i was wondering if there was any care sheet for these guys, or any info from other people who keep them would be nice. such as how often feeding is, things like that.

and man these guys are active at night, usually i can just barely hear my scorpions rustling around and the crickets are all loud of course, but this guy makes all kinds of noise splashing and trying to fly at night. then during the day he just sits around in his "strike pose". very neat bug. i also read these are considerd to have the most painful bite of all insects, so i am really glad he didnt bite me, even when i was letting him crawl around on my hands.

 

[LoganVivisected]

coolest thing ive seen an invert do

alright so i just tossed some minows and a really big tadpole (bigger than the water bug) into its kk, and the water bug went right for the tadpole and is now eating it. now keeping scorpions ive seen some pretty impressive animal festings, but never something this large compared to the predator.

 

[kraken]

Pics of the setup man!!! We're dying here!!!

 

[Waspman]

These are awesome!! I've kept a very large one before (3+ inches). I let it go and it came back to my house a few nights later and flew around the backdoor. They wait for food all day and travel during night.

Mine always accepted food every other day, but I'm pretty sure they can last awhile without food since they use little energy waiting for prey all day.

 

[LoganVivisected]

set up

also i have found that given the choice, he eats large bullfrog tadpoles.

 

[Amanda]

It must be tricky to keep the water clean with all that carnage! Have you considered setting him up with any aquarium filtration?

 

[kraken]

Looks good man! How long can they live?

 

[LoganVivisected]

from what i have read about them over a year, maybe 2 and some change about.

he doesnt need filtration really, he breaths through a tube that extends out of his abdomen through the water, so he doesnt need a high oxygen supply in the water, and before any of that stuff went in there it was cleaned so the water is clean, just looks grey from the flash, i tried without the flash and the picture was black, most of what you see is glare, look at the sides to see the true water quality. the live plants do provide an oxygen source for his prey however.

they apparently like it more clutterd anyways, at first it was just a rock and stick in there for him, he just swam around the edges, but with the plants and bottom now he can hide easly and sits in his hunting position so he isnt stressed anymore with the extra stuff.

a simple thing to remeber with freshwater animals, if it lives in sitting water it usually wont need a filter, (beta fish, most frogs, ect...things like that), whereas animals that live in streams, rivers, larger lakes will need a filter. one of the main aspects of a filter is it provides constant churning to the water, which mixes oxygen into it all the time, animals that live in moving water need more. you will need live plants though in an enviroment for motionless-water animals though, so that they have oxygen. to be on the safe side, with an actual aquarium, get a filter, but for an insect that will even live in puddles on the side of the street you dont need to worry about it.

and this has got to be the most agressive animal i have ever delt with, size not a factor. i also read that females compete for males in this class of animals, where normaly its the other way. "true insects" are pretty neat.

i can take more detailed pics of the enclosure if anyone wants.

 

[kraken]

Man now you got me wanting one!!!! Has it attacked you yet? If its not trouble,get a shot of him eating!!! I have nevere seen one eat!

 

[Stylopidae]

Get a filtration system set up immediately. Other than that one hugely important part, your setup is perfect. It should feed on mealworms.

Lethocerus is the genus, I believe. Nice bug...I've been wanting one but can't seem to find one.

I did find a HUGE friggin carabid last night, though. Like an inch long, so that's off my list. I'll have to post pics soon.

 

[LoganVivisected]

haha i have to use a spoon and tweasers while working in there because he is fearless and im not about to experience what is rumored to be the most painful insect bite. ill try to get a couple good pictures of him feeding next time i feed him, probably tomorrow but maybe tonight if i decide to walk around and find some tadpoles. youd be suprised what can be found in your own neighborhood apparently. to get an idea of how it looks eating, think of how a mosquitoe eats, and add a bleeding puncture wound.

 

[Stylopidae]

Do a search for waterbugs on the boards, and you're bound to find something on this guy

 

[LoganVivisected]

i am fairly certain what i have is Lethocerus americanus , though its slightly larger than most are considerd to get, but i cant find any other north american sp. near the right size.

 

[Amanda]

I mentioned filtration because with an animal eating live prey, the environment is likely to become polluted. Waste needs to be removed from a tarantula or scorpion tank to avoid bacterial and fungal problems. Water is no different. In a pond or a roadside puddle, if this guy finds that his water in the wild is polluted, he can just move to another area. He doesn't have that ability in captivity. If you can't setup filtration, I would suggest atleast a 30% water change every few days. That should be fairly easy to maintain in a small setup.

Awesome bug, btw! He looks ;P !

 

[LoganVivisected]

water change every few days is a givin, im not stupid lol, (had planned on once every week when i do the majority of my scorpion tanks cleanings), and of course prey carcasses removed after every feeding like any other predatory animal. i was also thinking about freshwater cleaning inverts like some sort of small snail, i use tiny snails and pillbugs to help clean the scorpion tanks so i was thinking of going the same rout here, seems to work well.

 

[Stylopidae]

Add plants for the nitrates and nitrites, but I don't know what to do about ammonia levels, though.