Little Thistledown Velvet Ant

Description

The thistledown velvet ant is the most requested pet velvet ant with their white coloration and often crazy patterning of hair. These wingless wasps have a very powerful sting. Not recommended for children as pets. Buyer Beware!

The species being offered here is a smaller species of thistledown velvet ant called Dasymutilla thetis. Full disclosure, we are only 95% sure we have them identified correctly. There are hundreds of species of velvet ants in the desert southwest, but few are stark white like this and only three are worthy of being called thistledown velvet ants. The “little” thistledown velvet ant is smaller than its thistledown cousins, D. gloriosa and D. pseudopappus, and the setae (hairs) are not as long. Coloration is white to silver/gray.

Strict limit of 1 per household.

If you have an allergy to bee stings, you might want to think twice. The stings from these insects are significantly more painful than stings from honeybees, for example.

We make no allowance for lifespan on these adult, wild-collected insects. Please view the video below for a general tank set up reference. The species in the video do not necessarily match the species being sold through this listing. These are very active, interesting pet bugs–among the best of all pet bugs in terms of activity levels and entertainment in my experience. They may live 0 to 2 years in captivity.

They do have a limited ability to climb glass and so a secure fitting lid is recommended. An inch or two band of petroleum jelly around the top margin of the tank prevents them reaching the lid. This margin may dry out after a few months under a heat lamp if you run one like I do. Room temperature is fine though a 60 watt bulb atop the metal, screened lid of the tank will activate them, especially in the evening hours.

These make wonderful communal tankmates with death feigning beetles, darkling beetles and other tenebrionidae family beetles (see related links below) and thrive in the desert beetle substrate that I custom blend (and offer separately, below).

Velvet ants and desert beetles can live exclusively on the beetle jelly product that I offer below. They provide the moisture and sugar/fuel content to keep them alive and active. Every few days, I mist the tank and the jelly product as it does have a tendency to dry out under the heat lamp if you’re running one with a screened lid.

Video below showcases a variety of species.

Here is a link to a paper that suggests they have not evolved to mimic the white fruits of the creosote bush.