I live in Kansas and am making an outdoor cage for my cham, but we have these little red and black bugs that can get into the cage so i was wondering if anyone knew if these were bad. here is a pic of one too.
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wondering about bugs
ronfinney
Jun 14, 2003 03:34 PM
Replies (3)
ronfinney
Jun 14, 2003 03:36 PM
here is another weird bug i saw while taking a picture of the red and black one. just thougt it was interesting.
ronfinney
Jun 14, 2003 03:38 PM
here is the weird bug
lele
Jun 14, 2003 04:24 PM
Ron,
the first one looks like a 3rd instar nymph of the common milkweed bug and the second is a nymph of something in the assasin bug family (Reduviidae). Both of them are in the order Hemiptera which are the only "true bugs."
As for safety...I wouldn't risk it. The MW Bug feeds soley on the milkweed family of plants, which are all toxic, (see my first post in the "Cage feeding..." thread below for more info on milkweed toxicity) and the assassin bug, although most of them are beneficial to us b/c they prey on unwanted garden and crop insects, can give a fierce bite with their long proboscis which is laid in a groove on their underside. Some of them do not dot this but I wouldn't take the risk.
If you live near a university you can bring these into the county extension for identification. The other consideration with any wild caught insects is the pesticide use in the area (or distantly since insects travel).
Sorry, probably more than you wanted to know - I just get carried away with bug stuff 
Hope this helps you out!
lele
