An array of supportive materials, from videotapes and kits to a detailed manual of classroom-tested activities, has recently become available. WOWBugs are easy to handle, and no expensive equipment is needed. Biology and Life Cycle WOWBugs are parasitic powerhouses, capable of living on the young of over 20 other species in at least 4 different insect orders and producing up to 700 offspring in under 3 weeks at normal room temperatures. Three days after they are laid on the outside of an insect larva or pupa, eggs hatch into voracious larvae that rapidly consume their host. In about 5 more days, larvae begin to pupate.
Males produce an odor or sex pheromone highly attractive to unmated females.
In nature, WOWBugs live in highly inbred populations in which small numbers of males cannibalize their brothers and mate with their mother and sisters. Mated females disperse to find new hosts, but the relatively sedentary males die without ever leaving their birth site. Copyright 2000 Carolina Biological Supply Company. All rights reserved.