Hemiptera ID (nymph?)

[Matttoadman]

So I found this black dude (a little red tint to the abdomen) under a board in my pole barn. I'm assuming it's a nymph since it has no wings? Any guesses?

 

[Matttoadman]

Ahhh it appears she is a Melanolestes picipes. Nice!

 

[Hisserdude]

Nice find man!

 

[Matttoadman]

Perhaps she's bred too!

 

[Matttoadman]

I found a second female living under my watermelon. I wonder if they could be housed together? The first one eats like crazy. It ate a hisser nymph the first night and has had two more since then. She looks like she could explode. 

 

[Hisserdude]

I found a second female living under my watermelon. I wonder if they could be housed together? The first one eats like crazy. It ate a hisser nymph the first night and has had two more since then. She looks like she could explode. 

In my experience, they are very aggressive and cannibalistic towards each other, and even getting them to mate can be difficult! Seems like the females may be unreceptive to mating attempts until spring, any earlier attempts result in her eating the male, (or sometimes the other way around!). 

 

[Matttoadman]

It's sounds like finding a male is the hard part since they fly. 

 

[Hisserdude]

It's sounds like finding a male is the hard part since they fly. 

The person I got them from found both males and females under objects on the ground I'm pretty sure, plus you could probably get them to fly to light traps.