# African mantids



## randyardvark (Feb 3, 2006)

hi guys im wondering if you could help me, how do i tell what kind of africans ( belachowski, centralis, gastrica or lineola)

i have? i would post a picture but my camra is naff

if heard things about counting yellow dots on the fore-arms but does this work for all of them?

Cheers madears,

Dan


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## Christian (Feb 3, 2006)

Hi.

That's difficult. There are keys, but just for cetain regions, so you have to know where yours are from. There are some characteristic features of the species, but they are variable and obsure sometimes. Some are misidentified from beginning (that rubrostigma-stuff). Fotos are useless.

Regards,

Christian


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## Ian (Feb 3, 2006)

Rubrastigmata  

(Will be getting some more soon!!)


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## Christian (Feb 3, 2006)

Hi.

Eeerr, no: the correct species name is indeed _Sph. rubrostigma_. 8)

I do not think that the redarms are that species, though. Someone should send me some dead ones to clarify this point.


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## randyardvark (Feb 3, 2006)

ok thanks guys, but 1 last question, how does that affect breeding? does that mean that if i get 2 african mantids from different places i many not be able to breed them? or does it just give rise to hybrids?

sorry if this seems really obvious :?:


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## Christian (Feb 3, 2006)

Eeerr, yes... :lol: 

If they are different species, you may simply get no fertilized ooths or maybe infertile hybrids. There are several lineola lines, though, so different origins is not a criterion here. Nevertheless, there are frequently observed pairungs between different species or even genera. Usually, the resulting ooths are not fertilized.

Regards,

Christian


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## randyardvark (Feb 3, 2006)

cheers!


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## Jesse (Feb 6, 2006)

I have unknowingly at the time bred two different _Sphodromantis spp._ I thought they were both _S. lineola_, but the resulting offspring did not produce any fertile oothecae, even the outbred ones. Many of the offspring(which I didn't use for breeding) did not unfurl(sp?) their wings properly when they molted into adults, which I assumed at first was due to improper husbandry, until I housed the remaining individuals in much more humid conditions, and still had inconsistent results. These offspring were also quite a bit larger than their parents. I would love to get my hands on a key to this Genus!


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## Ian (Feb 6, 2006)

I first had the "red arms" off of Graham Smith. They were identified as "Rubrastigmata". Can only go by what I have been told!


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