Mantis Micrographs

[jfmantis]

I have decided to post my collection of mantis micrographs. A micrograph is a picture taken by a microscope. A few of them have poor resolution, but it was the best I could do. Enjoy!

First up, the pictures of dead nymphs. They are either Stagmomantis californica, or Iris oratoria, I don't know which. These are all L1 and from the same ootheca.

Side of a nymph at 60x. You can see the forelegs.

Head of a nymph at 60x. It sort of seems like it is looking at you.

"Posterior" of a nymph at 200x.

Antennae, at 60x. I wonder how many segments they have?

The eye, at 200x. Can you see the lenses in the eye?

Well, thats all for those unfortunate little guys.

More pictures to come!

 

[robo mantis]

Wow thats a nice lens you got there

 

[Asa]

Wow, 200X!

 

[jfmantis]

Now, for my ootheca pictures:

Ootheca at 10x. This one was from a wild caught mantis. It only hatched 3 nymphs. It is either Iris oratoria or Stagmomantis californica. Does anybody know?

I don't really know what to call this, but it is at 60x. When my Chinese mantis

oothecae hatched, this was the powdery sawdust like stuff that hung out.

Inside of ootheca at 60x. When I cut open an ootheca (picture #1) to see if it would hatch, this is what I saw. You can see the nymph shape. It was also pulsating.

 

[robo mantis]

Wow amazing pictures!

 

[jfmantis]

Oops. Right after I posted the ootheca pictures, I realized that I had forgotten to add my other pictures too. Here they are:

My large collection of pictures of molts:

The following are all pictures of 1 molt. It is L1 to L2 exoskeleton. Again, either S. californica or I. oratoria.

The whole molt at 10x

This is the 'neck' (thorax?) at 60x.

First joint down on the leg at 60x. Hairy legs .

Head, at 60x.

Posterior, at 60x. The abdomen always is very thin in molts.

The next molts are from (of course), either S. californica, or I. oratoria. This is the L3 to L4 exoskeleton.

Whole body at 10x.

Antennae, at 60x.

'Neck' at 60x. The dark blur on the right is one of the forelegs.

First down leg joint at 60x.

Second down leg joint at 60x. It looks like the joint has spines on it.

Head, at 60x. The mouth has dried bug blood on it.

Forelegs at 60x. It is amazing how detailed the molts are!

Eye at 200x. Here you can really see the lenses in the compound.

Claw at end of leg, at 200x. This one is about 150 microns long.

Claw at end of leg, at 60x. You can see the whole tarsus now.

Abdomen, at 60x. So skinny.

That is all for my mantis micrographs, when I get more, I will post them

 

[robo mantis]

That has to be an expensive lens!

 

[OGIGA]

Wow nice! This is pretty awesome.

 

[Asa]

The oothecae pictures are gross!

 

[jfmantis]

Thanks .

I finally determined the species of my mantids! They are all Stagmomantis californica (except for ootheca picture #2)...I think.

Also, I appreciate your compliments about my "lens" robomantis, but I'm not using a camera. I took them with a microscope.

Finally, here is a picture I forgot. It is one of the dead nymph pictures:

Back of head, at 60x.