Possible breakthrough for the care of some velvet ants

[Tleilaxu]

I just found this VERY intersting bit of data...

http://bugguide.net/node/view/13126

Apparently the cow killer velvet ant(Dasymutilla occidentalis) may target the nests of bumble bees especially Bombus fraternus.

Though I don't know how accurate this may be but bugguide is generally reliable when it comes to this thing.

 

[sintakz]

This is good for the larvae but what about getting the breeding to actually happen? We must come together and make a definitive "Dasymutilla occidentalis care guide"

 

[Tleilaxu]

That would be very useful, unfortunetly they do not occur up here. As for breeding(mating) I think just having a male and female together should accomplish that.

 

[sintakz]

Lol I meant like under which conditions, signs of mating, ect. By your post do you mean that you don't have any Cow Killers up there? Since I am still a noob when it comes to rearing insects I wouldn't mind giving you my cow killer...

 

[Ted]

i thought everyone already knew they were Vespidae and Sphecidae parasites.:?

isnt going to help you care for them,i dont think..

Larvae are solitary, external parasites of developing bumble bees.
ground nesting bees and wasps are hard to acquire and dangerous to attempt to collect

 

[Stylopidae]

i thought everyone already knew they were Vespidae and Sphecidae parasites.:?

isnt going to help you care for them,i dont think..

how available are the host prey?
not very available.

Velvet ants are very host specific. You can't just go out and dig up a wasp's nest and coax them to lay their eggs inside (if this were the case, that wouldn't be a problem for Tleilaxu and I). You need to know their biology, find the correct hosts and then get them to lay eggs inside. I'd imagine that last half is the hardest for the captive keeper.

In some species, the two different genders develop inside different species.

 

[Tleilaxu]

Lol I meant like under which conditions, signs of mating, ect. By your post do you mean that you don't have any Cow Killers up there? Since I am still a noob when it comes to rearing insects I wouldn't mind giving you my cow killer...

No, cow killers do not range up here and I do not have the means to breed them, as for your other points most of these behaviors and nessesary conditions are unknown.

Chesire is dead on in the other respects.

In my opinion finding the correct hosts and raising them will be the hardest part while inducing the female velvet ant to lay eggs will be the second hardest part.

 

[Black Widow88]

I didn't even know this! Thanks alot for info. I've seen lots of cow killers but none of them were even near any bumble bee nest.

Black Widow88

 

[Ted]

Velvet ants are very host specific. You can't just go out and dig up a wasp's nest and coax them to lay their eggs inside (if this were the case, that wouldn't be a problem for Tleilaxu and I). You need to know their biology, find the correct hosts and then get them to lay eggs inside. I'd imagine that last half is the hardest for the captive keeper.

In some species, the two different genders develop inside different species.

agreed. that was my point.


and if it were likely, i probably would have already done it myself, before you were born.

 

[Moltar]

There are occidentalis (cow killers) in my area. I see bumblebees all over the place there but there's another solitary wasp i see in tha area too. i don't know the scientific name but we call them Apple Wasps. They are very large, at least 2" long, yellow/black with a long, wasplike body shape. They're also quite docile for a wasp. Any behavior i've seen from them is always solitary. Like the velvets, i only see them in certain places. I see bumblebees everywhere here but not the velvets or the applewasps.

 

[Black Widow88]

Could you post a picture of the Apple Wasps? Maybe then we can tell for sure what they are.

Black Widow88

 

[Moltar]

If i see one i'll try to snap a pic. It's getting chilly here at night so they may be gone already.

 

[Black Widow88]

Thankies!

Black Widow88

 

[radjess331]

i come across these every now and then here in cali...but i dont get them to live long i had one live 4 months and it got huge and had white hair....but i think it would be ahrd to get ahold of a male to breed them in the first place....but ive found their larva twice inside of wasp nest that ive nocked down to the floor.....btw im not very good with them and i havent found much on how to raise them...i fed mine oranges...but i heard they should only be fed sugar...also do they all make chirping noises that sounds like laughing

 

[myrmecophile]

I have never heard of them using Polistes or other above ground nesting wasps as hosts. I suspect if the larvae were not the ones belonging to the nests you knocked down they were some other parasitic species.

 

[Tleilaxu]

i come across these every now and then here in cali...but i dont get them to live long i had one live 4 months and it got huge and had white hair....but i think it would be ahrd to get ahold of a male to breed them in the first place....but ive found their larva twice inside of wasp nest that ive nocked down to the floor.....btw im not very good with them and i havent found much on how to raise them...i fed mine oranges...but i heard they should only be fed sugar...also do they all make chirping noises that sounds like laughing

Four months is actually pretty good for these species. The most you will ever get is six or seven. That noise serves as a defensive warning and other unknown purposes.