"Sinny" the adult female Arilus cristatus (wheel bug) and her eggs

MantidBro · Sep 17, 2014

One of my friends and I did a trade, she sent me this awesome adult female Arilus cristatus! She ended up laying eggs a few days later! I wonder if they are fertile?

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They can pierce you and inject toxins, it hurts quite badly, she hasn't done it to me, and she shouldn't as long as

she is handled properly. As long as she doesn't feel threatened, she won't react defensively.

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She laid these, then another 5, and another 2, in different spots.

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She wasn't catching the insects I was providing so I started hand-feeding her, which works fine. Here she is

consuming the juices of a grasshopper's abdomen.

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They eyes glow... that means she can see in the dark!

Domanating · Sep 18, 2014

Dayum that's huge! I didn't know assassin bugs could reach those sizes.

I never fancied these bugs much, though. I blame the fact I was stung by one of these things when I was a kid. I remember I was catching milkweed bugs and ended up picking an assassin bug with very similar color pattern. I only figured it was the wrong bug when it stung me. Hurts like heck, lol

Inkie · Sep 18, 2014

Neat! Thanks for sharing! I hope the eggs hatch, you'll have to post pics of the babies if they do! ^_^

MantidBro · Sep 19, 2014

Domanating said:
Dayum that's huge! I didn't know assassin bugs could reach those sizes.

I never fancied these bugs much, though. I blame the fact I was stung by one of these things when I was a kid. I remember I was catching milkweed bugs and ended up picking an assassin bug with very similar color pattern. I only figured it was the wrong bug when it stung me. Hurts like heck, lol

Yeah I didn't expect her to be so big either. I was expected a 1/2 inch - 1 inch. Then I see this huge assassin and was like, FREAKIN' SWEET! To quote Peter Griffin. Lol.

I was never stung by an Assassin, or pierced by, whatever, lol, but I was pierced by an Ambush bug. It feels similar to a bee sting. Those things are puny, a bit smaller than regular assassins, so a bite from this girl would hurt for sure. no doubting that! I feel your pain man lol