From McAllen, TX.
Eggs were donated by a local collector in TX,
Eggs were donated by a local collector in TX,
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Zelus sp. "So. TX"
- Thread starter Cariblatta lutea
- Start date
Cute! 
Salmonsaladsandwich
Eleventh Instar
Haha... Local z. lurides egg masses are so common and visible where I live, I assumed they were from stink bugs or cluster feeding caterpillars or something. Imagine my surprise when a horde of tiny green assassins popped out of one! They're so much easier to raise from eggs than other carnivorous insects, aren't they? No need for individual deli cups and flightless fruit flies, just give 'em one big caterpillar and they all share!
That's an interesting observation. For some reason, all five species of native Zelus species I kept never got along with each other (even though I gave plenty of food to them) and had cannibalism problem
Salmonsaladsandwich
Eleventh Instar
Really? Mine seemed to get along ok so long as one isn't bigger than the other.
More pics :
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a 4th instar nymph appeared
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Cool! Love the colors on it!
Me too! It's the prettiest Zelus species I've reared so far (and I've reared all but one species that are from the US so that shows how pretty they are. lol)Cool! Love the colors on it!
Salmonsaladsandwich
Eleventh Instar
You think it's prettier than the milkweed bug mimics?
Yep. I even own white banded strain of those and I still find the TX ones to be prettier than the longipes
Indeed. Their coloration is amazing
I can't wait to see how these will turn out when they become subadults
5th instar/subadult !!!
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Haven't posted about these guys in a while. Here are some pics of the adults
F1 have began hatching so hopefully I'll have plenty of specimens again this year
F1 have began hatching so hopefully I'll have plenty of specimens again this year
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Salmonsaladsandwich
Eleventh Instar
The adults look great! Especially the female in the last picture. Subtle, earthy black and terra- cotta... Not what I was expecting based on the nymphs.
Very nice! Glad to hear you already have F1 nymphs, hope they do well for you!
Oh ya. I was quite amazed to see some stunning individuals showing up in my culture. They seem to be highly variable
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