Velvet Ant in a jar

[Moltar]

I live in Maryland on the eastern shore. These velvet ants are all over the place at my fathers house. The soil is dry, sandy/clay and very near river water. I think it's D occidentalis.

Anybody have some experience keeping these? I just have the one big female and she seems very distraught to be in captivity (duh). I'm keeping her in a 5" round jar on a 70/30 sand/peat mix. Small rock for a hide, daily misting on one side and sugar water for feed. I'm thinking i'll switch to diluted honey tho'. Maybe fruit juice? If i can get her to acclimate to her environment i'll keep her around but if she just keeps frantically doing laps around the jar i'll probably put her back where i found her.

Since we have a pretty good population of these if anybody wants a specimen for research or whatever send me a pm.

 

[chelicera]

Thats really cool. Don't they need their colony to survive?

 

[Moltar]

No they're actually not ants at all but solitary wingless wasps. I just realized there's nothing in the pics for scale, this adult female is more than 1" long. I think she will be going to an entomology student here on AB.

 

[froggyman]

there are velvet ants on the shore??
where??
i was born in salisbury and my dad lives there where are you????

 

[Moltar]

This one was found outside Easton (Talbot county) i also saw one today at work in Federalsburg which is caroline county. They must like a specific soil type of something cuz i definitely don't see them everywhere. There's a nice, healthy population at the location in Talbot co. tho'.

 

[froggyman]

thats interesting maybe they dont like it in wicomico county??
didnt even know they where in that northern of areas!
how much you want for a frozen/preserved speciman?

 

[Waspman]

Your ID is right, this is D. occidentalis occidentalis. Most eastern species are difficult to identify by images besides this one.

 

[Moltar]

Waspman, are there other species of vant with the same range? I've seen one that looks a lot like this but is maybe 1/3 the size, also wingless and with a lighter coloration in the area of the stinger. No pics tho' Where should i be looking for more? What sort of terrain specifically do they prefer?

Froggy, I've already agreed to supply a few to a student here on the AB and i'm a little worried that i'll affect the population. If i can figure where to actually look for them maybe i can find more without depleting one specific location. At the moment i basically hang out around the pool and wait for one to run across the deck. Not an unpleasant method i know but i don't want to take too many from one place.

 

[Stylopidae]

It's probably not the soil, it's probably the host.

Velvet ants are parasitic and very, very host specific. Some are even gender specific, laying eggs of one gender in one species and laying eggs of the opposite gender in another species.

Very interesting life cycle and impossible to breed in captivity.

 

[Moltar]

LOL, so i'll just go dig around in the dirt near a yellowjacket nest. Awesome. LOL.

 

[Black Widow88]

LOL, so i'll just go dig around in the dirt near a yellowjacket nest. Awesome. LOL.

Yes yes, wonderful idea! Now what was I going to tell you? Hmmmm oh.....MAKE SURE YOU DON'T GET STUNG! Man you guys kill me! εĭз

Black Widow88

 

[Waspman]

Waspman, are there other species of vant with the same range? I've seen one that looks a lot like this but is maybe 1/3 the size, also wingless and with a lighter coloration in the area of the stinger. No pics tho' Where should i be looking for more? What sort of terrain specifically do they prefer?

Froggy, I've already agreed to supply a few to a student here on the AB and i'm a little worried that i'll affect the population. If i can figure where to actually look for them maybe i can find more without depleting one specific location. At the moment i basically hang out around the pool and wait for one to run across the deck. Not an unpleasant method i know but i don't want to take too many from one place.

There are probably 5+ species of Dasymutilla in Maryland, many look alike and are very difficult to identify to species without a microscope (besides D. occidentalis occidentalis). A few other genera will occur too. Look around sandy areas where host solitary bees and wasps will be nesting; where the hosts are, the mutillids are. Finding out what the host is of a certain species is a whole other task, since host records for mutillids are not well known. It is possible to breed them provided you have the right species of host at the right stage of life.

Don't worry too much about the population, it is fine unless you collect an unneccessary amount.

 

[willyomt]

Velvet Ants in Captivity

Anybody have some experience keeping these?


I have a velvet ant that I caught in Arizona in September 2006. She seems to be doing fine, although she appears to have slowed down within the past couple of weeks. I have no idea what the life expectancy of these creatures are, but I assume it differs from species to species.

Although velvet ants may be specific about the host on which they lay their eggs, I think perhaps your original question was about how to keep them alive while in captivity. I've just made sure that she has a place to hide, since I found her cohabitating with another female under a cow pie. I haven't concerned myself with keeping the container/substrate too moist, as I found her in the desert near Phoenix. For food, I went to Walmart and bought a package of that hummingbird feeder food. I figured if it had enough nutrition for a hummingbird, it should have enough for a velvet ant, though I have no scientific proof of that! I just mixed up the whole package in a pitcher, and have kept a capful of it in her cage to feed from.

One note to add, the velvet ant I caught never did the frantic circling of its container as you said yours is doing. She's always seemed either content where I put her, or just resigned to it. I hope this helps answer your question, at least to some small degree!

 

[cacoseraph]

i fed mine honey

i think i have heard they will drink fruit juice. mine lived for 3-4 months, iirc

 

[beetleman]

yup, that's what mine ate as well,i got about 6months out of them,i kept them very dry too.w/good a hide place.

 

[Black Widow88]

Some one on the Venom List kept one he found on a beach. It lasted 6 months too. What a life span these little guys have!

Black Widow88