Assassin Bug Bonanza!

Thanks to a trade with Brandon Thorpe, I now have Microtomus purcis, the US native equivalent of Platymeris spp.! These assassin bugs are smaller than Platymeris, but IMO the adults are prettier. They're also a bit more finicky than Platymeris spp., requiring smaller prey items, the younger nymphs especially. This isn't that much of a challenge for me though, so I'm feeling confident about getting a colony established. 🙂 

I have my 8 mixed nymphs set up in a moderately ventilated gallon container with a bare bottom, and eggcrates for hides. I'm keeping them bone dry, at room temperature, and am feeding them Compsodes roaches and Embaphion larvae, both of which they're taking pretty well.

Here are some pictures of the cuties:

Hopefully I get some adults soon, looks like there's several subadults in there, so fingers crossed! 🤞

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And thanks to the kindness of fellow hobbyist Chris Snyder, I now have eggs of both Platymeris biguttatus "Ghost" (White Spot Assassin bugs) and Platymeris laevicollis (Red Spot Assassin bugs). 😃 These are two hobby staple species that I've never ever seen in person, though granted, the "Ghost" morph of P.biguttatus is fairly new to culture. I'll go into further depth on both species if/when I can hatch the eggs, just figured I'd mention that I got them in this post, and thank Chris once again for hooking me up with these species! 😊 

Well, that does it for this post, thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, stay safe, and I'll see you all next time! 😉