Zelus luridis

C

cre0broter

Pupa
hey, long time no post, but I caught 2 zelus nymphs this past summer, and they are now adult, one day after the other. one adult is bigger, lighter, and wider than the other, so I believe I have a pair. I want to know when to breed, how to breed, how to care for young, etc... I would like to keep them going, thye are beautiful, maybe even make them more common in culture.

first pic, suspect it's the male:

zelusadult1.JPG


next pics, suspect it's the female:

zelusadult2.JPG


zelusadult3.JPG


last pic, the shed skin, where'd the abdomen go?

zelusshedskin.JPG


 
Great job! I like the assassins. The female should start laying small egg clusters in a month or two. At room temperature they hatch in a month, maybe less. You may have tons of the them by mid winter.

 
Orin said:
Great job! I like the assassins. The female should start laying small egg clusters in a month or two. At room temperature they hatch in a month, maybe less. You may have tons of the them by mid winter.
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so I have a male and a female? also, when and how do I breed them?

 
It looks like you have both from the photos assuming the green one is bigger and didn't just molt. They mate without prompting a few weeks after the final molt.

 
Orin said:
It looks like you have both from the photos assuming the green one is bigger and didn't just molt. They mate without prompting a few weeks after the final molt.
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the green one did just molt but is still way lighter and bigger. it's funny how dead insects and stuff stick to the legs if they fall, also, can they be kept togehter?

 
Usually the egg clusters are symmetric, she may lay the other part in a day or two. You can remate the adults but I don't think there's any information on how many clusters can be fertilized by one mating.

 
yeah, I did mist a few times yesterday but a few of those got stuck as well. I didn't expect them to hatch this soon. any ideas why the female died like she did?

 
cre0broter said:
yeah, I did mist a few times yesterday but a few of those got stuck as well. I didn't expect them to hatch this soon. any ideas why the female died like she did?
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No idea.

I had a WC female who laid at least 12 egg clusters that hatched after roughly 2.5 weeks. I would mist them every 2-4 days. I kept the young in modified 8 oz cups with fabric screening for ventilation. They grew so fast and took over so many containers I got tired of them and released them in my yard (where I found the female.) I used fruit flies to effectively feed large groups of 30+ nymphs but if I didn't feed regularly they'd cannibalize. I also managed to rear them in groups of 3-10 using crushed mealworms /pupae.

I wish I would have kept a few; they're very neat.

 
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