Hello and welcome to InverteCast.
I am Leah from Torrentia Leah.
And I have with me as always Simon from the Mantis Garden.
Hello Simon.
Hello Leah.
Oh, so, oh no.
What is going on with my, okay, here we go.
We're a crazy thing.
I must have hit a button or something.
So today we are going to be talking about Reduvaide, also known as, well that's the
subfamily that they are, but these are assassin bugs.
They're pretty popular throughout the Inverte hobby.
They're really, really cool pets.
So we're just, we're going to go ahead and jump right into talking about these guys
and why we keep them, what they eat, what they do.
And yeah.
So Simon, do you have anything to start us out with assassin bugs?
I know you have a few.
You've made a couple of videos about them.
Yeah.
I do.
I am a Pusky Marriage Book Attachers and I have a Psytala reader.
I'd like some more, but they're quite difficult to get old of, you know, the different species
of them.
The African ones are quite chunky, nice and big, so they make pretty good pets.
But I don't mind the smaller ones.
You've got stuff over there like wheelbugs, et cetera.
Right.
Yeah.
We just don't have here.
So I would like some of those or something similar.
So after we turn up in our hobby, of course, because I'm in the UK and you've been in America,
it's a different set of books, if you like.
I could say books a lot tonight because these are actually true books.
True books.
Yes.
The good memory is all insects are books, but not all books are insects, which is, you
know, I like that.
I like that.
That's funny.
True bugs.
So true bugs are in a sub, like a sub family of insects that are known as hem...
Sorry.
Hemid...
Hemidip...
Hemidipter.
Yeah, hemiptera.
I have trouble sometimes with the Latin words, but...
It's 183, actually, in the heavy of the powerful part, and terrap, as everyone knows, means
wing.
Half wing.
Half wing, yes.
And that's exactly how they got their name, and that's why what makes them a true bug
is that half of their wing is a hard kind of exoskeleton type material, whereas the
other half is the mucus type of...
Kind of a mucus or a membrane.
It's a membrane on the end.
So you've got like the last part of the wing, actually there on that.
The last part of the wing is sticking out just a membrane showing with the...
Yeah.
...except for...
You should see three or four of them, normally.
Right.
That's amazing.
So yeah, so it's a pretty big family of insects, obviously.
There are...
I did a bit of research, and I found that there are four sub-orders of the hemiptera, and these
are really huge, probably Greek and Latin words that are incredibly hard to pronounce.
So we've got the ar...
Our kenal...
...heink...
...heinkum...
...or hoppers.
They're a type of hopper, so I'm going to assume that these would be like grass hoppers,
crickets, stuff like that.
No, they wouldn't.
They're different.
All the can be...
Okay.
...an insect order.
The hoppers to talk about things like leaf hoppers, so you've got like leaf hoops, skint
bugs, leaf bugs, aphids, they're all in that sort of...
In that area under an itra, which is an umbrella, as you say, it contains several different
orders.
The mitra is like a subspecies, not species, sorry, a sub-order.
Yeah, the sub-orders.
It's like assassin bugs, et cetera.
But most an itra actually eats sap from stems of plants, et cetera.
Oh, that's pretty fascinating.
So yeah, we're going to focus on assassin bugs, which are in the sub-order of heteroptera,
which would be true bugs.
And so they also include like six other sub-orders of insects.
So we've got the aphidoidate, aphidoidate, so aphids, they also include...
Yeah, it's a lot.
The 18 flies like thrifts, aphids, black flies, all the stuff you kind of roasties and stuff
in your garden, they just say are sucking the sap out of them.
But that's, yeah, that's one order.
That's one sub-order, so to say.
Right, right.
I can't look it in front of me, so I can't read anything to sort of...
I know I've got my little notebook here.
You're in charge of that.
I try.
They also, it also includes cicadas, so we've got the cicadae, and then tingeidae, tingeidae,
I don't...
Yeah, there's so many.
It's crazy.
But assassin bugs are in the family of reduvadae, so reduvadae.
I'm saying reduvadae, yeah.
I'm saying that probably so wrong.
But these guys, they're really cool, and we can go with a little bit of their anatomy
to begin with.
So they have this beak-like structure as a mouth that they use to essentially puncture
their prey, and it injects their venom, and then the venom basically helps to break down
that, inverts like insides and whatnot, so that they can slurp up all the juices, and
that's essentially, they are a carnivorous insect, so they prey on other insects, and
so that's...
They use that little beak for.
It has a proper name, and I just don't know it.
Yeah.
I've heard some people say proboscis as well, is it?
Yeah.
Yeah, proboscis, yes.
I believe that's...
I think you're absolutely right about that.
A couple of them.
So it's not quite right.
The rostrum is probably the correct word for the beak.
So I've gone with rostrum, personally.
No, I'll get it.
I mean, I've never been stung or bitten by an assassin bug, which is good, because I
hear it's kind of painful, so I'm not sure...
It's almost like a bee sting from what I hear, but it's actually a little more painful, because
it can last actually a couple of days of the stinging sensation, just overall itching and
discomfort, and it's just not a fun bite, for sure.
And there are blood-sucking types of assassin bugs, which I didn't realize there were.
I also learned that there is another type of assassin bug that is really common here
in the States.
They're commonly known as the bed bug hunter, so they're called the masked bed bug hunter,
and that is exactly what they do.
They essentially hunt for bed bugs, and so people have been bitten by this type of assassin
bug just because they're actually after bed bugs, which is kind of cool.
They're very beneficial in that way.
They also...
Assassin bugs are pretty beneficial to a lot of people just because they go after pests
and other bugs that we really aren't great fans of, if you will, but they're really fascinating
creatures because, again, they are those true bugs, so the proboscis is something that is
known to be prominent throughout all true bugs.
And so, yeah, it's pretty cool.
They are also social, so they do live communally.
I have a couple...
I have three of the white-spotted assassin bugs, which are apparently really common here
in the States in our hobby, and they're really...
They're a lot of fun to watch.
You just dump some crickets in there and stuff, and they will pretty much do their thing.
They'll hunt down the crickets and whatnot, but then fight with one another over crickets.
They'll steal crickets from one another.
I've also seen them sharing crickets, so it's really fascinating to watch them because they
are really cool social insects.
They have that social aspect to them.
So do you know how many separate species of assassin bugs that there are?
No, not stuff like that.
I'm just going through them.
One of the ones I know is the kissing bug, which is one of the most well-known of all
the emitros, probably the kissing bug, which is responsible for a lot of problems, a lot
of illness, especially in places like Brazil where it's quite prominent and people do get
bitten by it, and it passes on all sorts of things.
So, yeah, a bit of a dodgy one, that one.
I know I don't know how many there are in their order, so you can enlighten me with
that one.
Yes, definitely.
I believe there are four species that are actually, you should be wary of because they
do spread some diseases that can be very dreadful, obviously, but for the most part, they are
not quite as dangerous.
But worldwide, there are 7,000 different species of assassin bugs, which is very impressive.
100, I mean, they're very widespread throughout the world, and 160 of those species are native
to the United States.
So I mean, we're only really going to talk about one or two that we know of that are
really, really common, and most people kind of know what they are, like the will bugs
and kissing bugs, and then, of course, the masked bed bug hunters.
But I mean, 160 here in the States, I'm not sure how many are in Europe and whatnot, but
I mean, they are pretty much found on every continent except for Antarctica.
And also, you mentioned this to me, and then I did a bit of research, how we found one
of the very first fossils that was ever found in Colorado or like the Green River, or what
is it, the Green Valley region of like Utah and Colorado, Bits and Wyoming, they found
a 50 million year old assassin bug fossil, which is pretty impressive.
Again, it's one of those things that, you know, how cool that they found that, and it
was 50 million years old.
So these are not new bugs, if you will.
Yeah, so.
Yeah, there are a lot of them though.
I mean, it's like, you see an insect, you don't think anything of it, but well, just
squish that or whatever, you don't realize it's been here so long, and a lot longer than
we have.
Yeah, man's history, as in, well not all the sapiens, but just this generic man, let's
say, if human, only goes back two million years.
So when you're talking 50 million years, they think like 25 times longer than we are, if
they've been around.
Oh, absolutely.
Yeah, absolutely.
Which is slightly less realized, you know, you don't really have any right to go around
squishing these things or killing them, they think they're one of the real, so you know,
they've got a bit of respect, I think, a lot of them.
Because I can't see us being around with 50 million years, to be honest with you.
So, you know, they deserve some respect, even when we've gone.
You know, I can still watch them hanging around doing their thing.
Yeah, absolutely.
I think you can see what we've done, you know, we've just calmed down.
So yeah, I think it's quite impressive that we've been around.
Oh, right.
You know, like you say, it's been 50 million years, it's like half a long time.
Definitely.
I mean, there are, you know, pieces of amber that, you know, usually go up for like auction
or go on sale and they can cost like two to three hundred dollars, depending on the piece.
But they have found these, like Jurassic Park was actually legit, that there are bugs in
amber that are 150 million years old.
And so yeah, I mean, it's something to be said about how long these insects and just
incredible species have been here on Earth.
And yeah, like you said, 25 times over, they've been here 25 times longer than we have.
So it's pretty fascinating, if you will.
And let's, yeah, let's see.
So Boz and says, awesome.
Thank you, Boz and we appreciate that.
Absolutely.
So yeah, like let's, let's talk about, you know, what makes assassin bugs so such cool
pets because obviously they are pretty prominent in the hobby.
I think a lot of people who keep inverts also keep assassin bugs.
So what do you think makes them such a cool pet, Simon?
I think it's the feeding response to be honest with you.
And one of the biggest factors for me is that when it's here behind me, I've got to keep
them all in one pot each or whatever.
Yeah.
My assassin bugs are over there in a big tank and there's loads of them.
And they're just like hanging out together.
They don't care, crawl over each other, nobody gets hurt, no trouble here.
Now, just as long as you've got enough food, they're quite happenst to live communially,
which, which is something that, you know, if you used to keeping things like mantis
or even tarantulas that you can't keep together, you get one, one bug like this.
And I can put 10 or 20 in here and they're fine together to really be a big attraction,
I think.
And also you've got several different species, very colorful, you know, that they're beautiful
to look at.
And the feeding response is brilliant.
I mean, Japan full of crickets in.
And you might have 10 on the floor going for different things, whereas like if it's a spider
or mantis, you just give them one thing each time.
And that's it, but just an ant full of a watcher or go crazy over and sharing and fighting
over it.
I just find it really fascinating to watch.
And as a bonus, you can make the tank look nice.
You can make real plants, you can do a background, you can make it look nice.
And they won't ruin it at all.
It's brilliant.
Whereas, you know, that is definitely ruining it, but you can't have plants.
You know, that'd be so busy otherwise it disturbs the mountain.
So there's a problem there.
As you know, tarantulas, they kind of mess things up quite a lot.
They do.
You've got other input that's like you could mess it up or eat the plants or, you know,
dig them up like 9 millipenters, you don't dig everything up, you don't care.
They do.
Yeah.
So, you know, you can, you've got a tank there, which is basically a terrarium, you can make
it look nice as you want, put some assassin books in, everybody's happy.
You know, you've got some colorful books, you've got colorful books, you've got a nice looking
tank and it's going to stay that way as long as you keep throwing the food in.
So, you know, I've all worked for a market, they're brilliant.
Really are super cool, super cool books.
I think so too.
I actually really like that they are very colorful, especially the horridah species.
I forget what the first...
Saitala horridah.
Saitala horridah, yep.
They are, they're beautiful.
They're such a beautiful species.
I also think that they make great pets because they have that social aspect.
Just like you said, they're going to be, you know, chasing crickets around and fighting
one another for crickets.
They're going to, you know, sometimes they share the crickets, which is another really
cool thing to watch because, you know, like you said, with mantises and tarantulas, they
don't really do that a whole lot.
I mean, I can think of one species that is kind of communal in the tarantula hubby, so
like the monocentropus balfouris.
Yeah.
They, you know, and if you get a big enough colony of these guys, like they will share
prey items, but not like the assassin bugs, definitely not, or the, you know, Saitala
horridah.
Yeah.
I mean, they're just so cool.
They're really fun to watch.
It's fun to watch them hunt.
And then once they get their prey, it's kind of cool to see their proboscis come down and
stab the cricket, you know.
I like watching them grow.
I like, you know, as they, because throughout their lifespan and their molten whatnot, they,
you know, they kind of change color.
They start to look differently.
Those wings are coming through.
I mean, they're pretty fascinating creatures, absolutely.
And I think that, I think they're kind of underrated, to be honest.
I think they're just one of those inverts that's just kind of underrated, you know, people
know about them and possibly enjoy them, but I feel like they just don't get the credit
and attention that they really deserve because they are really, really cool.
Yeah, true, true.
I mean, you've got the other, you've got the other point for them.
I mean, molten, you don't have to say problem with molten.
You're not worried about molten.
Yeah.
They will hang like mantis on the back of the lang anywhere.
And they'll just slip out the molten.
You just don't worry.
Yeah.
And not like it would be with the spider or a mantis and the molten.
You're like, quick, don't disturb them.
Don't make any of it because they'll, you know, fall off and die or whatever.
But with those, it just doesn't really matter at all.
And the other thing, pairing them, you haven't got the same.
We've got with torrential inventors where you're pairing them and it takes hours and
you're messing about.
Yeah.
You just don't have to do the same.
They'll pair themselves.
It's great.
They just wait some extra.
Yeah, they do their own thing.
That's it.
They do their own thing.
And if you've got ten, you're going to have a hundred babies in a matter of a month or
two.
Oh, I believe it.
I believe it.
You know, you can't fault me.
I can't find anything wrong with them apart from finding somewhere to put the babies.
Right.
You've got thousands of them because it just keeps producing.
Right.
They do.
I have three that are still like juveniles and nymphs.
I think one that is on the verge of becoming an adult, but the other two are still pretty
small and they're just, they're juveniles, you know, if you will.
But they're, like I said, they're a lot of fun to watch.
They are really, really cool.
And they're pretty.
Mine have those pretty like stripes, the yellow stripes on their legs.
They don't quite have those white spots on their back just yet.
But I'm, I mean, I'm looking forward to seeing that as they grow.
I love watching them eat.
I love watching them hunt.
I mean, I could sit there for a very long time watching them just hunt the crickets and
eating.
The only thing that I will say that is definitely a bit different than the tarantulas and possibly
even with mantises, oh yeah, definitely with mantises is that when they're done eating,
they will leave the exoskeleton of their prey items.
They'll kind of just drop it and leave it.
Whereas tarantulas and mantises eat the whole thing.
So there's nothing, nothing left behind, right?
So that, that is one thing you do kind of got to go into the enclosure and like clean
out some of the, the dead exoskeletons from the crickets and whatnot.
Because you don't want to leave that behind that that's going to attract those gnats and
aphids and you know, other little pest creatures that, that really can cause problems obviously.
The key, the armadillian species with them, the isopod, they eat, they eat the bodies,
the leftovers.
So I never have to remove them because they eat them.
So it's not a big deal.
And I never thought to keep the isopods in with the assassin bugs because I was worried
that you know, the assassin bugs would actually eat the isopods, but I suppose they wouldn't.
If they're really hungry, they will have a go.
But if they're eating crickets, they'll go for the crickets.
I mean, the lidium species are really tough.
So you know, and you put it getting away from things to be honest with you, they're really
good at it because they roll up in a ball.
It's quite difficult for them to, to bottle it.
So I find out no problem with them at all.
They just carry on eating and breeding.
So I might have to introduce, so I might have to introduce a few.
Yeah, yeah, just, just make sure the cheekbones.
Yeah, right.
Well, and I do know that, I do know that assassin bugs will become cannibalistic if there is
not enough prey items for everybody to eat.
So that is another thing to kind of watch out for with these guys.
But as long as you are feeding them properly and you put enough prey items that everybody
at least gets one or two, then you shouldn't have a problem with the cannibalistic tendencies
from, from these guys.
But they're, you know, there's just such a fascinating creature.
And they, there's actually a lot of benefits to assassin bugs in, you know, in the environment.
I know they actually help with pest control.
And you know, we talked a little bit about crops and, you know, farmers using beneficial
insects to kind of keep those pest, pest populations down to protect their crops.
And assassin bugs are one of those inverts that is actually really beneficial to farmers.
Unfortunately, they're not really used as much as like a ladybugs and mantises are throughout
the farming population if you are the farming community, which I think is a real shame because
I think they're a lot more efficient than, than ladybugs and mantises probably would
be.
Although I think it's the fear of the fact that they can, they can bite us.
I think that's, that's a bit of a, you know, concern.
I'd say that's probably why you don't use them.
Yeah, I could see that because you're probably right.
Sorry, I'm sorry Simon.
Yeah, it's like, if it, if once, for instance, was a good, we say, ah, yeah, really good
for getting rid of things.
Absolutely.
But you wouldn't, if I had a farmer, I can't imagine, ah, just like this wasps swarm, go
because I'd be frightened of them sticking me.
So yeah, I can see the same thing with assassin bugs.
You'd be like, should I put 10,000 assassin bugs on my crops or not?
So it's, it's like, you, you, you get fit into hell, I should imagine.
So I think, I think they do really hurt.
You said before about you not being, yeah, they do hurt, yeah, they're not a pleasant
bite at all.
So yeah, definitely not.
It's, you want to get bitten by a test.
So but also when I say this, don't believe the coyote guy either because, oh, springing
that's ridiculous.
Actually, he, he did an episode where he got, he, I mean, he purposely gets bit by a lot
of creatures, but he, he got bit by a Goliath bird eater, which obviously is like the largest
tarantula species in the world.
And his reaction to the bite was just kind of like, are you, you're, you can't be serious,
bro.
Like that is not, no.
Because the way he reacted to it, the way he put, you know, that pain scale of that bite,
I was just kind of like, no, I think he's full of crap.
And I hate to say that about him because, you know, he does have a lot of really great
information about, you know, inverts and creatures.
You know, so as far as that goes, I really love what he does.
But when it comes down to like, when he's actually taking the bites and stuff, it's
just kind of, okay, he's, he, I feel he over dramatizes things a little much, just, I think
for that attention, you know, kind of that click bait, if you will.
So yeah, don't, don't, don't put a ton of stock into him and his reactions to bites.
I agree with you on that.
But the information that he puts out on the species of critters that he's being bit by
is all really great information.
So he's just a rowling on the floor business and they're screaming and it's like, you're
not serious, mate.
You're not serious.
They do not hurt that much.
It's, and everything I don't like is like, say, got bitten by a guy third eater.
He must have really, really wound that up for it's biting because they just don't bite
us, do they?
You know that?
No.
Bite us on purpose.
No, definitely not.
Bite you.
You've got to wind it off.
And I don't like that.
I don't think that's, I don't think that's fair of a creature.
To be honest.
Yeah, I agree.
And I feel that it kind of plays into that fear mongering side of things where, okay,
this is really scary, like, ah, and it's just not, it's not really fair to the creature,
to be honest.
Like it's not really given that creature a fair shake.
It's just, you know, because then you're just breeding fear into people.
You're just like showing them, giving them reasons to fear things.
And it's like, no, let's give people reasons to understand and to embrace these, you know,
but yeah, I agree.
I feel like his reactions are just, they're just over the top and it's kind of silly.
But you can put one on your hand and it will walk around like that unless you start poking
it.
It's 99% it's not going to bite you.
It's all that food.
It's, oh, it's just something to walk off.
So you know, it's not, it's not going to bite you.
It's not going to attack you.
It's just going to go through your fingers in the tank if you put your hand in.
But if you're doing this, you know, your hand probably looks like some kind of book.
So I don't really blame them for that.
I don't either.
And it will walk on your hand.
And it's fine.
But I wouldn't advise anybody to handle them.
You know, just because they might bite.
But if you really, really won't say, you can do it.
I mean, they have the potential, but it's not, you know, it's not going to be a deadly
thing.
It's not going to be something that you're really going to need to worry about so much.
Like I said, there are a few species, but they are in more kind of remote areas of,
you know, like the Amazon rainforest and stuff like that, that they will kind of spread.
There's a couple of diseases that can be very problematic, obviously.
But those species are going to be pretty rare.
Like you're not going to come across them, you know, in your backyard or something like
that, you know.
Yeah.
So the risk for those guys is pretty low.
But as far as like the common species that we all know, like, you know, wheelbugs or
the masked bed bug hunters, you know, if they bite us, it's going to be a bit painful, but
it's not going to be, you know, like what you said, Coyote Peterson rolling on the ground,
like dying.
It's not going to be that.
I haven't been bit.
So that's, that's fascinating.
I know you said you have.
So do you have any like firsthand experience?
Like, can you tell us a little bit about what that experience was like?
It's just a lot of swearing, really.
I can imagine.
Yeah, that's all it is.
You know, that's not actually true.
Sure.
But nothing else, you know, nothing, nothing more than that, you know, swear a few times.
Yeah.
That's it, really.
Did it draw, did it draw any blood at all?
Was there, you know, because I know it's more of a, like a puncture wound, right?
I mean, were you able to?
Yeah, just, that's it, you know, like you did.
Just a little, okay, cool.
So I mean, the bites really aren't as, as much to be worried about.
I mean, if they do draw blood, it's probably not going to be a whole lot, just that tiny
little, you know, which is great.
If you don't like blood, then, you know, so don't, don't angle.
I mean, this guy, this guy has brought more blood.
Uh-huh.
You're mad, too?
No, this guy can bring a lot of blood, believe it or not.
Oh.
I love a lot of blood.
Grabbing, like, if I was, like, feeding it like that now and it grabbed my finger instead
of the food, it would cut it and it would, it would cut it in several places and I love
to bleed.
So, yeah, I would say they're more dangerous.
They're scary.
Okay.
It's scarier than, definitely scarier than an assassin book.
So, you know, if you've got a mantis, you've got a pet mantis, don't worry about your assassin
book.
That's not the one that's going to hurt.
That's, that's fine.
No, yeah, I think I've been bitten by a mantis.
I think I've been bitten by a spiny flower mantis.
Uh, the African species.
And I, yeah, yeah, that guy.
Wow.
I love them.
And even though I did have, like, and it wasn't a bad bite, it didn't hurt as much as, as
you, you might think it would.
It was a little bit of a sting, but nothing, nothing like, it didn't even last more than
like 10 minutes.
You know, like it wasn't very painful.
It was just kind of like, Hey, what are you doing?
You know, uh, so I would imagine that last week, um, she drew blood.
My wife, she actually bit her enough to, to, to draw blood.
So, oh goodness.
And that's a tiny, tiny mantis.
That's a tiny, tiny mantis.
Yeah.
It's just not quite a chunky monkey.
So if that one, if that one, uh, it's not the bites of the arms.
It's the arms that hurt.
Yeah.
Right.
Because they don't let go.
Well, they don't.
They don't let go off, but they don't let go.
So, so, it's that's the books.
Put right down on the pain scale, right down on the, you know, the worry scale.
I would say.
Yeah, absolutely.
I think they're like a 0.5 on the pain scale.
It's, they're not very painful.
It's not going to be something that you're going to have to like go to the hospital for.
It's definitely not like life threatening or medically significant.
They're just, you know, they're, um, they're, I'd love them though.
I really do.
I, I think I would take a bite from one of them anytime, uh, just because they are just
such cool critters.
Like they're just such cool, uh, fascinating insects and they happen naturally all throughout
the world, which is another reason that I think they are really, really cool.
And, uh, you know, keeping, keeping people from fearing them, maybe helping people to
understand them and kind of get that idea that these guys, they're not harmful.
They're not going to hurt you.
Like if they're so much better in your yard, so don't kill them because they're helping
you out.
Just like, you know, the spiders and mantises do, they, they, they keep the, the pest critters
away for the most part.
And, uh,
It doesn't help though, does it?
I'm sorry.
The name doesn't help.
It's happening.
It doesn't help.
It doesn't help with the, you know, the PR, the PR guy.
It's like, yeah.
Because the assassin book, and that's why they are assassins.
So they got that.
They get, why are they assassin bugs?
Do you know why they're called that?
Well, they actually assassinate the prey.
Don't they?
So I sit there and assassinate the prey.
So I, I assume that's why they call assassin books.
I think so too.
I think it's cause they are kind of sneaky.
They will come up behind their prey item and they just kind of scoop it up and, you
know, they're going to be like, oh, I'm going to be like, oh, I'm going to be like, oh,
let's get these guys to go to the back of the box and give it a good stab with that
probiscus.
And yeah, I think that's why they're called assassin bugs, because, you know, they are
like little assassins.
I love that though.
I think it's really cool.
It's not good for the PR though, is it?
It's just no good for the PR.
No, I agree.
I agree.
Because, you know, you hear assassins.
You can do it later.
I'd get swear and say stuff.
But yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
There's nothing naming itself just makes it sound scary.
So, I agree.
I agree.
You can call it a spider, Peter.
Yeah, yeah.
You know what I'm saying?
Ah, little bug with a knife.
You know what I mean?
It's going to, again, I can't square which I've looked at.
But you know what I'm saying?
You know what I'm saying?
You and me both, Simon.
You and me both.
Yeah, you know what I'm saying?
It's just one good name.
Yeah.
Help with people understanding them and accepting them
as something useful rather than, you know,
something nasty that's sitting there in a tree
waiting to jump on you.
Right.
It's like a sassy book.
I mean, our sassy books are, well, nothing.
You can't really see the tiny, tiny things.
And we don't have many anyway.
It don't appear to like temperate climates, which is sad for me.
I mean, there's little gear in the way of books.
But sassy books, even less.
We do have a Mitra.
We do have quite a lot of Mitra in the UK.
Oh, well, that's cool.
Like, we've got a lot of leaf books and scenic books
and leaf hoppers and stuff like that.
But, sir, I have a lot of leaf, especially on my roses.
So, yeah.
Yeah.
I'm not going to shout about paying in the neck.
But whatever.
It's been nice to actually, if I was like, when I was seeing you,
I'd probably spend an entire day in the garden
looking for different books that we don't have.
And sassy books would definitely be one of the ones
top my list, especially a real book.
I really love a real book.
I think they are all cool.
They are such cool little characters.
I mean, they're fascinating.
I know the two-spotted guys that I have,
they're not super active until food appears.
And then they start kind of, they start wandering around
and they want to get to those crickets.
So it would probably be pretty easy to find a few
because they're not going to run from you.
They're not constantly moving like a lot of other insects do.
So I bet they're pretty easy to find.
I should imagine that.
You have so many as well.
And the 106, that's a lot of choices.
Yeah, that's quite a few.
You've got to find some sassy books.
But honestly, I made the mistake of the tank they're in
wasn't made for them.
Oh, no.
The background, they can actually, I made background.
They rock, it's all rocks going together.
So go up the back.
And they're all in between each other thing.
And they can actually get down the back.
So they spent all day down the back and you never see them.
So showing the dead, it's a terrarium.
And then it's just when you put food in,
all of a sudden there's massive movement
that's catching the food and they all come out from the back.
And they're all out.
It's really cute.
So I've got a strange, heavy and an assassin
feast tank at night.
It's great.
I love it.
That's wonderful.
How funny that they all hide behind the earth.
Yeah, I'm looking at them.
I put them in the nymphs.
I thought, oh, they're hiding behind the back now.
They won't get a dup when they get bigger.
But yeah, they all get down the back as well.
They're all hiding behind the back.
It's weird.
It's so disappointing to me, at least.
Oh, I can imagine.
I mean, I definitely prefer the cork round
that I have in there.
So I have a pretty good sized chunk of a cork round
that I put into their enclosure.
And they pretty much don't leave it.
Like they stay right on that thing.
And they molt upside down.
So that's another interesting thing about them,
is that when they are going through their life cycles,
we say life cycle and molting.
But that's actually what it is.
When they molt, they are changing
into the next life cycle.
And they do it upside down.
So they're hanging from a leaf or the part of the cork round.
And as they molt, they just kind of slip right out
in their old exoskeleton.
And I know mantises do it upside down as well,
like from hanging from branches or leaves.
So that's really quite fascinating.
Do you know why they do that?
I mean, why they molt?
Yeah, no, why they molt upside down.
Like what is like?
It's probably easier just to slide out of it, isn't it?
If you're upside down.
I think so.
Gravity.
Sure.
They must have sussed out by now that gravity is going
to help them slide out.
So why not I'm upside down and let gravity help you?
Yep, gravity just pulls right out.
No.
Heck yeah.
How fun.
No, I agree.
I don't know how mantises hang upside down to molt.
Yeah, yeah.
Not all of them?
No.
Some actually can molt on the floor like cockroaches.
So there you go.
Oh, wow.
That's just an interesting fact.
Yeah, no, I love it.
I appreciate all the facts.
Like I think that's fascinating.
I didn't actually realize that there were species that
didn't molt upside down like that.
So that's incredible.
Not many, but there are some.
Sure.
Because I know tarantulas, they molt upside down,
but they pretty much will lay out
like a little molting mat of webbing,
and then they lay on their back.
So they're not actually hanging upside down from anything.
They just kind of lay on their back.
And all tarantulas do it the exact same way.
So it's terrifying.
It is.
It really is terrifying.
It's a part, especially if it's the most
big open, it's like this crazy thing.
And I can't look.
They twist.
It's like spiders.
Like, yeah, I know.
I think about tarantulas.
It's terrifying to watch a tarantula molt.
It's one of the most scary things ever.
Well, and it's pretty terrifying for keepers, too,
because that's when, if you're going to lose a tarantula,
you're probably going to lose it during a molt.
That's their most vulnerable time.
It's tricky.
I mean, it's really hard for them.
Plus, it's kind of a telltale.
Like, if your husbandry is on point
and you're doing really great, then your tarantula
is probably going to molt really well.
But if you're not doing very well with that husbandry,
say your tarantula's health really isn't so great,
then you're going to find out during the molt
because they'll get stuck or that they won't
molt completely or properly.
So yeah, it is really, really scary for a whole lot
of different reasons.
But I can imagine.
That's another beauty of the, yes, I think both girlies,
you don't have to worry about that.
No, not at all.
Yeah, not at all.
I mean.
You know, it's as if you've got some humidity, 50%, 60%,
they're quite happy.
I mean, the lift, I have humidity as well,
but 50%, 60%, they're absolutely fine.
Yeah, no.
My little...
In most countries, I mean, it doesn't get 50 to 60 here.
No.
In an old house, but in most countries,
it sort of does, so they're pretty good pets for that.
You don't really have to give them anything.
You don't need a tremendous amount of heat either.
They're not like, oh, we need 40 degrees now, now.
They're quite happy.
That's centigrade, by the way.
Just realize they're right.
No worries.
98, isn't it?
Yeah.
They're pretty good for that.
And I like that.
I've got them over there near the window,
so it must drop to about 16 degrees in the nighttime.
And they're quite happy.
You know, they go a bit slower, but they don't die.
So, I mean, they are from Africa, and people think,
oh, Africa, that's really hot.
Not everywhere, it's not.
And at night, it's at night, it gets really, really cold.
So, I like that.
I think it's easy to kind of assume how things would be
in Africa, but one thing that I think people forget to realize
about Africa is that it's such a large continent.
There are so many different kind of climates
all throughout Africa.
Like, you've got a bit of tropical rainforest.
There's the Sahara Desert, which that's where the heat is
going to be, is in that the Sahara Desert there,
and like over by Morocco and Egypt and these regions.
I mean, they're just, these are really, really hot places.
But you go a bit south, you know,
you get a little further south than the tropical rainforest
area.
So, you're traveling to the grasslands of the Serengeti,
where, I mean, it's probably going to be about 70, 80
degrees, which is not in Fahrenheit, like, what is it?
26 degrees?
You know.
24 to 27 degrees.
I mean, I have to plot all the countries in Africa
because of all the mantis.
So, it's, what I do is generally,
well, I get a new species.
Sure.
Whatever it is, it can be a satin ghost
with mantis or whatever.
I will check daily for several weeks
what the temperature is in that country at the time.
And you get the temperature to see everything.
And then you can work out an average temperature,
what they're going to have during the day
and what they probably need during the night.
And it's something, you've got to remember in Africa,
we've got family in Durban.
Oh, yeah.
It snows there.
It snows.
Yeah.
My wife's a angola, which is bloody hot all the time.
And you've got a coca-cola next door,
which is pretty much just a jungle.
So, you know, it's like.
So many different climates all throughout that, you know,
all throughout that region.
So it's, I feel like.
It's a hot place, yeah.
Yeah, you're doing a huge disservice to Africa
if you're just assuming that it's hot everywhere
because, you know, it's not.
Oh, it's not.
Bloody not.
And you probably know because the way you live,
deserts get bloody cold at night.
Yes, they do.
You know, ridiculously hot during the day,
ridiculously cold at night.
If you're a bug and you live there, you are hardy.
You can put up with some crap.
You can put up with some stuff.
Oh, yeah, for real.
That's the sort of book you want to be keeping
if you're new to the hobby.
You don't want something that needs exactly 26.2 degrees.
You want something that you can go,
ah, I should write in that tent.
It'll be fine.
Yeah.
I'm not going to kill it.
It's going to be fine.
It's going to be happy.
I'm not going to kill it.
It's going to be healthy.
That's great.
That's the sort of book you want to assassinate bugs
at fantastic pets if you're coming into the hobby as well.
I think so, too.
I think they're really great starter inverts for somebody
who's interested in keeping those invertebrates or just
getting interested in entomology, possibly.
Assassin bugs are freaking awesome for that.
Because just like you said, they are hardy.
They come from all over the world,
which means they're not going to have those super specific
husbandry requirements like some tarantulas do,
or some mantises do.
I know the orchid mantis is very, very fragile.
And they absolutely have to have 70% to 80% humidity
at all times.
I think I had one.
And I do remember that anywhere below 75 degrees
was actually bad for this poor mantis.
70 to 75 degrees was OK, but anything less than that
was almost death sentence.
So just have them slow.
They get like bargic.
Yeah.
Humidity, you don't need it that high.
You do for when they're molten.
It's a good idea.
Oh, sure.
High humidity all the time.
So you've got this situation where you've
got to monitor your head all the time to make sure
its environment is correct.
Whereas I was saying, assassin books, not really.
They're not like that.
Yeah, they're not like that at all.
So I just water the plants down again.
That's it.
Get it quick.
Yeah.
I'll trick it, and that's it.
Just watch them.
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, that's not to say that I wouldn't say that they're
a pet that you could neglect.
And that would be fine, because I mean,
I don't think you should neglect any of your pets.
But they're not one that's going to be, like,
if you accidentally forget to water them on Saturdays, which
you usually do or whatever.
Like, they're not going to die from that.
So yeah, they're really great.
They're very hardy.
They are really great eaters.
They're a ton of fun to watch.
They're beneficial to the environment.
And I just love them.
I think they are some of the coolest ones.
I want to get so many more species of them,
because they are fantastic creatures.
And yeah, so I guess that's all I got on assassin bugs.
Do you have anything more?
How many species of assassin bugs do you actually have in
the marine?
I don't like that in the hobby.
In the hobby, I would say two or three, actually.
Yeah.
I'm not really sure that there's more than, like,
the two-spotted, the pteranoptus, or the horidus.
And I mean, I'm sure there's probably some native species
to hear to the states that people probably keep.
But that's all I know of.
I might have to look around and see
if I can't find, like, more different species
that people keep.
But that's why I'm saying they're so underrated,
because they're just really, really cool.
And we should be keeping a lot more of them, for sure.
Well, over the years, we have, like, the two or three species.
You've got the white spots.
You've got the yellow spots.
And you've got the red ones.
And that is sort of it, as far as assassin bugs are concerned,
for availability.
Yeah.
And Africa is a big place.
It's got quite a few different assassin bugs.
I'm going to guess that they probably
have the majority of species that probably live in Africa.
I think Africa and Asia and probably South America,
top end of South America, South and Central,
is where the really cool ones are,
that you want to keep as a pet.
I mean, you don't have to have loads of different colors
to keep as a pet.
Right.
You just have to be cool.
That's the thing, isn't it?
You don't want to be just cool.
I mean, it's a cool looking.
I think it's cool like hunting and stuff.
So it's just a black thing.
But as long as it's weird or something, it goes for it.
I love how social they are.
I really love watching them pick on each other
and steal food from one another.
I mean, I think that's the funnest thing about them.
They are super, super cool and social.
And just for me, that's what does it.
I love that they're colorful.
And it is really fun to watch them eat.
But that social aspect is where it's at.
I think very much so.
Very much so.
The question I always get asked, people
send me a message on where at the Facebook or where.
I don't look at it.
Does this mantis live with other mantis?
I get that question so many times.
I have to say, no.
OK, thanks.
That's it.
They don't buy a mantis.
Right, that sucks.
It does suck.
Yeah, because people are used to keeping things
like I support, we've got hundreds of them.
And hundreds of thousands of them.
And they're like, oh, I think I'll get into another in those.
And they don't find us dumb like each other.
And they'll ask about mantis, but they never ever go.
You've got assassin bugs.
And they're so cool.
Man, there's so many.
That's the question.
Just so frustrating how underrated they really are.
I mean, they're so much cooler because of that social thing.
And I mean, nothing against mantis.
I love mantises.
I love my tarantulas.
But they're not playing with one another.
They're not picking on each other and stuff.
We have to keep them separated.
Otherwise, you're going to have one big fat one.
Absolutely.
Yeah, I've seen that in the last week.
Oh, no.
I got one shot by another one.
But not when it was breeding.
Well, it's been out.
That's the first time ever.
Oh, jeez.
So, oh, well.
I can imagine.
But it's got a lot of things.
But it's asking books.
You know, it's fine.
I've got to ask.
I've got a brand new room.
Like taking pictures of the insects.
So.
Oh, cool.
And it does professional stuff.
So what I'm going to do next time is say,
oh, about taking some photographs of the sassing books.
I think I can plaster and spam them all over Facebook
and Instagram and everywhere.
Hopefully, bump it up a little bit and see if you
get more people into them because they are super cute.
Yeah.
They're really cool.
Absolutely.
I don't know about America, but here they are cheap.
Oh, yeah.
No.
Here in the States, I got my three for about $12.
So I got $12 and I got three, which is a really good start.
You know, kind of a good starting point.
A lot of breeders, like the more you buy, the cheaper
they're going to be.
So here in the States, I mean, you kind of got to go through
breeders.
I'm not sure.
I haven't seen assassin bugs being offered on like some of the
websites that we can go to for, for like tarantulas or other
inverts, like micro wilderness or bugs in cyberspace.
I haven't actually seen assassin bugs being offered on those
sites.
We saw them.
Yeah.
So I mean, the UK, you guys always beat us on all kinds of stuff.
So what are you going to do?
Well, books, the books, I think it's just kind of easier for us
to sell things than it is for you.
I think so too.
I mean, inverts, inverts don't get covered by any laws here.
Right.
Well, inverts just life food does.
So if you sell life crickets, it's a different situation.
Some of these guys just like, yeah, sure.
We don't care.
Yeah, right.
Basically, I mean,
the state is huge.
It's like 3000 miles worth of lands, you know, that, that if
you're selling something on a website or something like you
have to consider that shipping and everything like that.
Whereas in the UK, you know, you guys are a little closer
together.
So it probably is a lot easier to, to, to sell and buy and sell
there.
So yeah, it's, I think that's probably the biggest factor in
that.
Possibly.
I think sometimes you're like the post, the post will cost
in the US.
Yeah, no, it costs quite a bit more.
Yeah.
I know it's a friend of mine, got some item box.
I saw, I saw physically saw on the unboxing on the
box, $28.
Yeah.
It's a thing.
It's really a thing.
It's really ridiculous.
Like eight.
If I sense something today, the eight pounds, I could guarantee
that it'd be in somebody's, you know, at the other person's
house before one o'clock in the afternoon.
That's a game.
But that's right.
So I just said it.
So it's much easier if I, if I'm sending advances or assassin
books are quite positive.
Providing a pack to monkey.
Yeah.
I'm going to arrive alive in less than 24 hours.
The guys have been built in that box.
Yeah.
It's such a big difference.
Yeah.
Such a, such a difference here because it's, we can't do that.
But it's, it's a massive, massive, you've got to fly stuff
there.
You know, yeah.
There's no, there's no creating a back and forth back and
driving.
Right.
You know, the next day I was just jumping the back.
But here we can, even if it was a stop on top of them, you
can, you can still get it the same day.
Yeah.
It's a little bit there.
So it's, it's a considerable difference between your postal
services.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
What makes it difficult in the USA to promote the whole
business at home?
I agree.
But we do, we do have some really great expos that, you
know, if you, if you go to the expos and stuff guaranteed,
you're going to find inverts and, you know, species that are
really relatively uncommon, like, so that's always kind of a
bonus.
And then also when you buy it, you, you can take it home that
day.
So that's, that's kind of a cool thing.
But yeah, I think it's time for our shameless plug.
It's the end of our, end of our hours.
So Simon, what do you got coming up this week?
What do you think?
These guys.
Yeah.
Another couple.
So no more than that.
I should have some more mantis for sale.
Very short.
Awesome.
I got some sale now, but I should have more species for sale
soon.
Okay.
Assessing books for sale soon.
So I'm just excited.
And then they'll be available as well.
Lots of lots of stuff.
So I'm just going to go ahead and get some of the stuff.
I'm going to be open up to the website shortly.
So I will plug that and get to the point.
I will be putting that out a lot.
Wonderful.
Hopefully if my neck and my back behaves this week, I should be
squeezing a couple of videos.
Good.
I collected my channel big time for the last two weeks because
I've been suffering.
So yeah, I'm going to get back to the horse and I'm going to
get back to the horse.
And then I'm going to get back to the horse.
And do some more videos, I think, very soon.
And of course, Leah, your wonderful channel.
What are you doing on your channel?
Oh, yeah.
Actually, this week I'm going to be doing a video where I've got,
I've actually got 10 tarantulas that need rehoused.
So I'm going to, I'm probably going to do five in one video and
then five in the next video.
So it's not going to be a species spotlight.
I'm just going to do like a mass load.
Of tarantulas getting into new homes.
So be looking out for that.
And then the other thing I've got, I've got babies.
I've got little baby fit a piss audux.
That I'm trying to pawn off on everybody I can possibly think of.
They really treat their, I mean, they're cute.
I love them.
But I, I don't want this many because they're,
it's hard to feed so many.
But yeah, so there's that.
Otherwise.
Yeah.
Tarantula.
Check out inverted cast.
There's a new arachnophobia movie that's coming out.
Probably within the next couple of years.
And it looks like they used actual species of like tarantulas and
spiders.
Kind of like what they did and ate like it freaks.
So that's kind of,
that's going to be fascinating and interesting.
So I'm going to be doing a video where I'm going to be doing
an interesting, so I'm looking forward to seeing that.
Otherwise that's all I got.
Yeah.
So on a list of movies never to see.
Well, you would be surprised.
Eight Legged Freaks is actually a really fun movie.
It's not, not really scary.
It's just funny.
Yeah.
I actually bought the DVD for that.
It's a great movie.
I love it.
I mean, it's funny.
But yeah, it's, yeah.
Yeah.
I think the only thing I remember is that all of the spiders come
out of that mouth.
I can't understand that.
I just find it.
That just, yeah.
Yeah.
It's kind of kooky.
I don't know.
I don't know about all that.
But yeah.
If you're into that sort of thing.
I'm not sure.
Absolutely.
Spider rehabs is because.
Yes.
I was, I was a gym.
We got two new spiders this week.
Oh, how fun.
So please don't ask me what they are.
I don't know.
Because I'll have to ask Lily.
It's, it's the, the, I don't know.
It keeps us fine.
Yeah.
She got two new ones this week.
Oh, wonderful.
I think it's a.
Bamba or Rita.
Bamba Rita.
Oh, cool.
The Brazilian redhead.
I believe it's with her.
Yeah.
Something like that.
And it was a dwarf tarantula.
And she's telling me what they are.
Oh, a vagans.
Oh, little Carl Vagans.
The Mexican red brunt.
Awesome.
That's the one.
Yeah.
How cool.
How fun.
I'm, well, congratulations.
That's fantastic.
Love it.
It was actually presents from.
From.
The bikes or Sharon.
Oh, she should.
She went to a show last weekend and she,
she brought us these fires for Lil.
So.
Oh, that's pretty cool of her.
Some banana branches.
Oh, cool.
So I got it.
You're adding.
To the, the room as it were this week.
Yeah.
These are pets.
I mean, it's not like stock.
I mean, I can tell you got stock.
Yeah.
But yeah, it's a bit dull, but these are pets.
So I got an hour of which is, and she got couple of spiders.
So we're going to do some re-outs because.
A lot of the spiders have melted now.
So we want to get into something more permanent.
Okay.
So, yeah, we're watching definitely,
definitely watching your rehousing.
I will be watching for that.
Absolutely.
Well, in the meantime, thank you so much everybody for,
for checking out inverted cast and joining us for this wonderful
talk about assassin bugs.
Get out there, check out some assassin bugs.
Hopefully we can kind of boost them in the hobby because.
They're just too underrated for as cool as a pet.
They are.
But again, thank you everybody.
I absolutely love you.
Don't forget to love your inverts.
We will see you next time.
See ya.