Ambush bug care?

[Hisserdude]

I just caught 7 ambush bug nymphs right now, does anyone know how to care for them? Do they like moisture, what should I feed them, do they need something thin and cylindrical to perch on like a stick, or will pieces of toilet paper rolls do? (I found them on plant stems). And what do they like to lay eggs on?

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

Hmmm... Adult ambush bugs are usually only found on "fluffy" compound flowers like Queen Anne's lace and goldenrod, so I don't know what could approximate that... For now I would keep those nymphs on either the plant stems you found them on or something of similar shape and texture. Ambush bugs don't really strike me as something that would settle happily into artificial captive conditions, since in the wild they're awfully picky about what they sit on.

I think flies would be the best food for them. Humidity and ventilation wise I think they should be kept like mantis nymphs, since you find them in the same sort of habitat.

 

[Hisserdude]

These guys were found on a young tree and some woody bush with some small flowers. I put a few sticks in and they are climbing on them now. Hmmm flys... I don't have any flies, I guess I could catch some from outside. I tried feeding them isopods, no luck yet, though it has only been literally 30 minutes since I caught them. I kinda assumed that they would be finicky, oh well. I'll try my best to keep them, and if they don't eat after a few days I'll let them go.

 

[Hisserdude]

Here's some pics of them.

Not the best pics, I can probably get better ones Tomorrow when it's lighter out.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

Personally I don't feel the need to try keeping ambush bugs captive because they're easy enough to observe in their natural habitat. (Which is hard to replicate.)

 

[Cariblatta lutea]

I've had fairly good luck feeding them fruit flies so i would try giving ff.

On a side note, a friend of mine told me his eggs took 14 months to hatch.

 

[Hisserdude]

Duely noted, unfortunately I dont have fruit flies, just fungus gnats. I've seen adults take honey bees in the wild, wonder why they only eat such small prey in captivity?

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

Who said they don't? I'm sure they would.

I've seen ambush bugs (in the wild) eating bumblebee queens, sphinx moths and one time a gigantic european hornet. Usually the grab their larger victims by the proboscis and then suck their juices through the neck

 

[Hisserdude]

Well I saw a video of these and it was eating a fruit fly, the guy who posted the video said it had trouble just holding the fruit fly. My nymphs seem scared of the isopods that I tried to feed them, and they are smaller than the nymphs! Then again, lots of bugs refuse to feed on isopods.

Last year while camping I took some good pictures of an ambush bug adult eating a bee, it had its proboscis in the bee's neck, like you said. I'll have to find those pics and post them up here, it was one of the more interesting things I found while camping.