may soon be getting some white spotted assassin bugs!!!

ghost_tomb

Arachnoknight
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any advice on the best conditions to keep the young and what temp, found one site telling me to keep them at 20-24*c which sounds off?

So anything you can tell me about them that will be useful:)

a few questions

the adults are roughly 1.5" long?

do they activly hunt their prey??

the site also said it was important to heat the tank from the side, rather than underneth? why?

if i get 6 2cm long young how long before i've got adults ready to reproduce?


thanks all

I'm really excited about hopfully getting hold of these great bugs:)
 

Wade

Arachnoking
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Heat may not be necessary unless the room you're keeping them in is very cool. They should do fine at 20-24 c, mine are typically in this range. They'll eat more and grow faster at higher temps, but this may also shorten their lifespan. Normally with most invertebrates, when heating with a pad it's best to attach it to the side, so the critters can move away from it easier if it gets too hot.

There's a good book available here on keeping assassins and other true bugs:

www.elytraandantenna.com

Wade
 

Alex S.

Arachnolord
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Platymeris bigutatta is a great species to observe and simple to house. They can be kept communally with various objects, such as cork-bark, to retreat to. Dry peat moss works fine as substrate and a water dish or any type of misting is not necessary as they are predacious hemipterans and get the moisture they need from prey. Like all reduviids, P. bigutatta are voracious predators that will take down prey larger than themselves. Adults do commonly reach a length of around 1.5” and nymphs at the 2 cm range would reach adulthood within the next molt or two.

Alex S.
 

ghost_tomb

Arachnoknight
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i've got 8 coming, i'm guessing that they'll handle shipping well due to the temps they need.

got a 11" by 8" kritter keeper, with 1.5" of sand with 3 chunks of cork bark for them to hang about on, though they can't hid underneth them.

do they need to?

and how activly do they hunt?

as aggresive as a preying mantis or more like an emp?
 

Alex S.

Arachnolord
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The set-up you have will work fine, although it would be better if you mixed the sand with another substrate such as dry peat moss or dry potting soil. Reduviids, and other predacious hemipterans, are extremely aggressive predators that easily rival mantids.

Alex S.
 

ghost_tomb

Arachnoknight
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brilliant:)

some mantids are fantastic to watch hunt, just fed my adult green something mantis (2.5" long) an 1" long black cricket which she butchered/is butchering as i type this. she's also just laid her second egg case:)

now my last 2 questions

do they hunt with eyesight or touch/sense of smell???

and will they lay eggs in/on damp sand?
 

Alex S.

Arachnolord
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Most predacious hemipterans mainly rely on eyesight when hunting. Reduviids will usually watch and follow the movements of prey before attacking. Platymeris bigutatta should not be kept on damp sand as they naturally live in an arid, scrubland environment. A good substrate would be dry peat moss or potting soil. Females will drop eggs in random areas of substrate.

Alex S.
 

ghost_tomb

Arachnoknight
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the damp sand (and eco soil) is in a 1.5"x1.5" tub that i'm hoping they'll choose to lay their eggs in, the rest is dry, sand + eco soil
 

Alex S.

Arachnolord
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When captive breeding Platymeris an extra container of substrate really is not necessary as eggs are usually dropped randomly, anywhere on the substrate throughout the enclosure regardless if it is damp or not. They are an awesome species of insect that can be observed for hours.

Alex S.
 
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ghost_tomb

Arachnoknight
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Right I’ll modify it then, just one site that has a care sheet said to keep them on paper with a tub of moist soil for them to lay their eggs in.

But I want my tank to look natural so that the bugs look their best :cool:

So I’ll remove the damp tub and fill in the hole.

I've heard that the eggs dry up very quickly is this true?

Are they hard to breed in captivity?

Any advice on breeding them in captivity?
I’ve read that it’s necessary to remove the young from the adults due to cannibalism?
 

Alex S.

Arachnolord
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It is best to remove eggs from the adult enclosure and keep them in their own moist/humid container for hatching. Platymeris will readily breed in captivity if kept under the right conditions (proper set-up, heating etc.). Nymphs can be kept together, but shouldn’t be placed in with adults until they have reached adulthood as adults will prey on young.

Alex S.
 

ghost_tomb

Arachnoknight
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well all 8 are here and active, fed them 3 crickets:)

very cool bug, none are adults but their all a good size apart from 2 which are a molt smaller than the rest plus one really small one about 1cm in size but he's been left alone by the others.

had to change the sub i was using since it was mouldy this morning(????)

so its just sand now which they seem ok with.

i love the way they jump on their prey:)
also watching 3 have a game of tug of war with one cricket is cool.

edit

do they have to be adult before you can sex them?
what are the differences between the sexes at different stages of development?
 
Last edited:

Alex S.

Arachnolord
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Mold occurs when the substrate is too damp. Being from arid regions, Platymeris prefer very dry substrate. A simple way to tell reduviid sex from a distance, without handling, is to note the size of the abdomen relative to the thorax. Females will have a wider abdomen compared to the thorax, while males with have a thinner abdomen compared to the thorax. Reduviids will bite if threatened or handled carelessly. It is best, as with most arthropods, to handle them as little as possible or never to reduce stress on the animal or chances of receiving a bite, which in the case of being bitten by a reduviid, can be very painful.

Alex S.
 
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