Velvet ants

This may sound like a silly question, but I'm a silly guy, so....

Can velvet ants be kept together in a smallish collecting container? I would assume so, but I really have no idea. Of course this would be temporary, but a few days at least. I have no interest in forcing or encouraging cannibalism, so I figured I would ask. Does it vary by species?

Thanks!

they are basically wasps, the females have no wings. I assume that you are talking about having several females together in a container? They drink nectar, so you don't have to worry about cannibalism. I imagine that they might sting each other though. GL.

Thanks for the reply! I don't know much about them, including how to sex them. Should I only put females together? I can't collect them if I need containers for each male. And I would have to figure out how to sex. This would be a new species all together for me, so any help is much appreciated!

I love an opportunity to share one my favorite videos, and another! (they dont' sting one another)


[YOUTUBE]miqD8oRYbnM[/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE]ne0quoykU8U[/YOUTUBE]


And, oh yeah, another...

[YOUTUBE]DFU96YYrApo[/YOUTUBE]

Nice BIC! Thanks! I like the white ones video best as those are the species I am expecting to find! Plus, I love the blues! Thank you. :clap:

found a couple of the red ones in Riverside last night. they're easy to catch. I just put pill bottle in front of them and herded them in with the lid.

Velvet ants are one of my pet bug favorites--highly active, long-lived and colorful! Keep me in mind for trades, please. I'm on a personal quest to see as many species of these as I can.

I believe I asked you about these before you made your nomadic journey across the SW, a year or two ago.

I am living out of a backpack and cant make trades bic. wish I could. anyway I need the money to eat as I'm not getting enough food out here and I apparently don't qualify for food stamps. ???? Anyway, I don't think I'm going to be collecting anymore. I can't get people to pay me half the time. And people try dragging out the purchase process by acting like they want to buy things for a while then deciding not to or just disappearing. I can't do that right now. So I am about done. With everything.

How long do they live? Always wanted them for the bug exhibit at my zoo, but we try and stray from short lived species.

I'd be tempted to feel sorry for you, nomad, if I weren't half-jealous of your freedom and your opportunity to soon feel some success in progressing to a point where you begin to enjoy the hobby again. You seem already to have accomplished one of my personal goals. To leave it all behind for a period, but to take one thing that I'll never be able to live without again--an internet connection!

I see other backpack-wielders with pet dogs. You're the bug hobby's man on the street, hittin' the trails hard despite all obstacles, and experiencing bugs as they should be experienced--in nature! Meanwhile the rest of us wake up each morning, scrape a day's mold off our skin, habitually enslaving ourselves to another day of predictable work and living our lives in the confines of the same four walls.

@Hedorah99: Don't be afraid to dream your velvet ant dreams, either! They can live a year or two in captivity, though WC adult specimens are of an indeterminate age. When you calculate the average number of steps a velvet ant takes in a week of captivity, with the number of steps a tarantula takes over the course of 20 years, the velvet ant still wins in the entertainment dept, even while factoring in the 2 leg handicap!!

Bugs In Cyberspace said:

Meanwhile the rest of us wake up each morning, scrape a day's mold off our skin, habitually enslaving ourselves to another day of predictable work and living our lives in the confines of the same four walls.

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Wow, that was uplifting. I feel so much better now sitting behind my desk right now as I watch the snow fall in near blizzard proportions outside my office window.

OH, and the first time I saw a Velvet Ant was on vacation in Tennessee. I thought wow, this is the coolest red furry ant I have ever seen. I wasn't until I picked it up that I learned it was not an ant. It literally felt like someone slammed my hand with a hammer. I would like to have some of these sometime in the future that is for sure.

Travis K said:

OH, and the first time I saw a Velvet Ant was on vacation in Tennessee. I thought wow, this is the coolest red furry ant I have ever seen. I wasn't until I picked it up that I learned it was not an ant. It literally felt like someone slammed my hand with a hammer. I would like to have some of these sometime in the future that is for sure.

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haha learned the hard way huh?! haha

has anyone bred velvet ants in captivity or knows how to?

@Travis K: You know who Rick Emerson (radio host) is, right? Then you know what he has to say about life in Spokane. (if you go to youtube and type in his name and pdx rant [my hometown], you might enjoy that, if you're a fan of his)

Somebody asked me via PM to write a caresheet in this thread, but my setups in the video below essentially provide the info.

Aside from that, all species I've kept feed on watered down brown sugar or honey. I offer them a slice of fruit now and then. They don't eat it, but just suck the juices off the top. I do keep a lamp on top of the cage because it greatly promotes hyper-activity. These are speedy little bugs--very entertaining to watch (in ways most arachnid keepers can't conceive of, no offense)!

They like to hide at night and often hole up under a rock or tucked away in a piece of cactus skeleton. It is not unusual to see an individual velvet ant territorializing a particular evening retreat.

JasonO said:

has anyone bred velvet ants in captivity or knows how to?

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My understanding is that it would be very difficult to replicate the life cycle. Velvet ants parasitize upon other solitary ground dwelling wasps. They basically force their way into the den and lay eggs in pupating (or maybe still eggs? not sure) young of certain other species. I believe they furthermore have these relationships with only specific species. Because of all this, it's obviously going to be pretty complicated to recreate in a captive setting. I haven't heard of it being done in the "hobby world" but that doesn't mean it hasn't been. Probably not though is my guess.

We have these big red v'ants at my fathers place; D. occidentalis, I believe. They aren't especially common around here but are abundant at that property. Another fairly uncommon insect which occurs at the same location is something we call "Apple Wasps", which are gigantic (2+" body length) but fairly docile wasps. Solitary ground dwelling wasps, to be exact. I figure they are what the v'ants are parasitizing on out here.