The following are examples of insects and other anthropods that are relatively easy to obtain and keep in captivity.

Caterpillars

Crayfish

Crickets

Milkweed Bugs

Pillbugs and Sowbugs

Praying Mantises

Spiders

Water Bugs

Caterpillars

Class: Hexapoda
Order: Lepidoptera

Where to Find:
Collect caterpillars from trees, shrubs, garden plants, flowers and their foliage. The painted lady Vanessa cardiu and other lepidoptera are available through Biological Supply Houses.

Life History:
Female moths and butterflies lay their eggs on host plants on which the caterpillars will feed. Eggs hatch into caterpillars that may mature into adults or go into a state of hibernation for the winter. Moth caterpillars spin cocoons in which they pupate; butterfly caterpillars do not. Emerging from the pupal stage, moths and butterflies expand their wings and look for food and a mate.

How to Rear:
When collecting caterpillars from a field, woods, or your back yard, make sure you collect plenty of the foliage on which they feed. Keep the humidity up in the container by poking only a few holes in the lid or by keeping a damp paper towel on the bottom. In either case, make sure you clean the container of the caterpillar droppings every day and put in fresh foliage. This will prevent mold from accumulating. Keeping a stick in the container will allow another possible site for the caterpillar to pupate. Upon emergence, adults may want to feed. Some adult moths have no functional mouthparts. For those that do, rotting fruit and a sponge soaked with a sugar or honey water solution provide needed nutrients. Artificial diet for the caterpillars is usually available for species obtained from Biological Supply Houses.

What to Look For:
Look for caterpillars molting their "skins" (exoskeletons) or forming a chrysalis or cocoon; changes in the size of the head as the caterpillar molts to a larger size; feeding differences between caterpillar and adult.

Crayfish

Class: Crustacea
Order: Decapoda

Where to Find:
Local ponds, streams, marshes or order from Biological Supply Houses

Life History:
They are chiefly nocturnal and hide in burrows or under objects during the day. Females carry their eggs attached to the underside of their abdomen. Newly hatched young resemble adults.

How to Rear:
Set up a container with an aquarium filter or air stone. Let tap water sit for 48 hours to allow chlorine to bubble out, then add crayfish. Feed twice weekly with pieces of lettuce or fish. Do not over-feed. Have rocks under which the animal can hide.

THINGS TO CONSIDER: Keep only one crayfish per container, as they tend to eat each other. Crayfish pinchers DO hurt. Be careful handling them.

What to Look For:
Reactions to various food, light, moisture conditions; moltings (the shedding of exoskeletons) which can be removed from container and examined. Eggs can be observed on the female without a magnifying glass.

Crickets

Class: Hexapoda
Order: Orthoptera

Where to Find:
Collect field crickets Gryllus sp. or house crickets Acheta domesticus in and around your house or obtain from Biological Supply Houses or pet stores.

Life History:
Female inserts her long ovipositor (egg-laying appendage) into damp soil and lays eggs. Eggs look like tiny rice grains; they hatch in 2-3 weeks. Nymphs mature in 1-2 months. Males produce sound by rubbing their wings together.

How to Rear:
A large container, such as an aquarium with glass sides, is desirable. See-through sides are great for observation. Modified plastic soda bottles and other see-through plastic containers also work well. Add an egg carton or peat pots for hiding places. Put oatmeal, cornmeal, or dry dog food in a dish-cereal foods must be kept dry. If fresh, moist plant materials (lettuce, apple, potato) are used, you don't need to provide water. Add a small dish of damp sand in which females can lay eggs. Put in crickets. Sometimes crickets eat their own eggs. You can remove the egg-laying sand to another container if this is a problem. Cages should be kept dry and clean to prevent disease.

What to Look For:

Look for reactions to light, food, and other crickets; metamorphosis-what the young look like and how they develop; cricket anatomy and communication; males chirping to attract females by rubbing wings together.

Milkweed Bugs

Class: Hexapoda
Order: Hemiptera

Where to Find:
Collect orange and black milkweed bugs Oncopeltus fasciatus on milkweed plants in late summer and early fall or order from Biological Supply Houses.

Life History:
Females lay masses of yellow eggs in crevices of milkweed pods. Within 4 days the eggs turn orange and hatch. The young are red and about the size of the heads of pins. They suck juices from the milkweed seeds. Every 5 days or so the nymph sheds its skin. Afterwards it is weak and the exoskeleton is soft for awhile. After about 30 days it molts a final time and acquires wings and fully developed genitalia. These insects mate tail to tail with their heads pointing in opposite directions.

How to Rear:
Smear a little vaseline around the top of the container to keep bugs from crawling out when the lid is off. Provide a small dish with wet cotton. The bottom of the container must be kept absolutely dry. Place milkweed seeds or raw, unsalted sunflower seeds or peanuts in another dish for food. Put in a small piece of dry cotton (golf ball size) in which females may lay eggs. Add the bugs and they will do the rest.

THINGS TO CONSIDER: Remember, adult milkweed bugs can fly.

Look for typical reactions to food, light, and other milkweed bugs; evidence of metamorphosis; insect anatomy; warning coloration.

Pillbugs and Sowbugs

Class: Crustacea
Order: Isopoda

Where to Find:
Under rocks, boards, or logs in a garden, forest, or anywhere there is decaying vegetation.

Life History:
There are one or two generations per year depending on the climate and availability of food. The young develop inside the female's brood pouch. They breathe through delicate gill-like organs that must be kept moist. They migrate through the soil depending on relative moisture content.

How to Rear:
Keep in a container with dark, rich soil. Provide a board or flower or upside down flower pot as hiding places. Mist lightly each day. Soil should be kept damp, but not wet. Feed pieces of potato, lettuce, carrot, and other vegetable material.

What to Look For:
Look for habitat preference. Set up containers with differing moisture and light levels and observe which conditions are preferred.

Praying Mantises

Class: Hexapoda
Order: Orthoptera

Where to Find:
Collect adults and egg cases of the Chinese Mantid in fields or back yards in summer and early fall or order from Biological Supply Houses.

Life History:

Females deposit egg cases in the late summer. Nymphs hatch the following spring.

How to Rear:

THINGS TO CONSIDER: Eggs will hatch indoors if egg cases are brought inside during the winter and kept at room temperature!

Keep egg cases in the refrigerator until spring to prevent an early hatching. Mantises can be kept in a glass or plastic container with a screen lid or holes punched for ventilation. Keep a stick or a long pipe cleaner (available at crafts stores) in the container for the mantise to climb on. If your mantise is not an adult (does not have fully developed wings) make sure it has space to hang from the stickand molt. If you wish to raise mantises from hatchlings, be prepared to have lots of wingless fruit flies or hatchling crickets on hand. As nymphs mature, they will eat larger insects. Mantises are cannibalistic and will also eat one another. Mist the container daily to keep the humidity up and to give the mantid a drink. If there are hatchling mantises, mist lightly and prevent pools of water from forming as the tiny mantises can easily drown.

What to Look For:

Look for feeding preferences and this unusual feature: Mantises can turn their heads almost all the way around.

Spiders

Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae

Where to Find:
Look around schoolyard and homes in tall grass, bushes, old leaves, at the base of trees; in unused pipes--anywhere quiet and undisturbed.

Life History:
All spiders are predacious, feeding on other arthropods or small vertebrates. Females lay eggs in a large group and encase them in silk. Hundreds of spiderlings will hatch from an egg sac.

Some species will float away on a strand of silk thread released from the end of their abdomen while other species will just crawl away. Some species will complete their life cycle in one season while others will take many years just to reach maturity.

Virtually all spiders use venom to paralyze and kill their pray. Some venoms are more potent than others. For example, the small black widow's venom is much more potent than the large hairy tarantula's.

How to Rear:
We recommend you first try raising spiders that do not spin aerial webs. Jumping spiders and wolf spiders are good examples of spiders that are relatively easy to keep and do not spin aerial webs. These may be kept in glass or plastic containers with tight-fitting lids with air holes or screening. A 2.5- or 5-gallon aquarium is ideal.

Provide upright sticks or a plant for jumping spiders to climb on. Put soil or sand on the bottom for the wolf spider and a piece of bark for it to hide under. Mist each day or every other day to keep up the humidity. Feed them crickets or other small insects. Remember, the smaller the spider, the smaller the prey item.

What to Look For:
Look for hunting and eating preferences, evidence of silk spinning, and the presence of silken egg sac.

Water Bugs

Class: Hexapoda
Order: Hemiptera

Where to Find:
Belastoma water bugs can be found in freshwater ponds and marshes. Some Biological Supply Houses and pet stores carry them.

Life History:
Females lay their eggs on the back of the male where they remain until they hatch.

How to Rear:
These insects can inflict a painful bite if handled improperly! Hold the insect so the mouth parts cannot reach any part of your hand. Set up a fish bowl, aquarium, or a 1- to 2-gallon jar with aquatic plants and an air stone or water filter. Use a lid, because adult water bugs can fly. When using tap water, let the water sit for 48 hours to allow chlorine to bubble out. Place water bugs in container and feed stunned crickets. Change water if needed. You might want to separate males with eggs on their backs, as adult water bugs may eat hatchlings.

What to Look For:
Look for females laying eggs on the backs of the males; males carrying the eggs on their backs; and predator-prey relationships (by placing other aquatic organisms in the container).

*Created by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History