# He or She?



## agent A (Jan 18, 2010)

is this wahlbergii a fergie wahlbergii (hey, a rhyme!) or a macho aggressive male?

















last pic is of it in its cage (biosphere habitat!)






this one has me stumped. other 3 are males. this one is most aggressive and eats in the most odd patterns.


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## mantisfart2 (Jan 18, 2010)

I would say female but am not 100% sure on this, can you take a pic from the side that focuses on the abdomen? How does its antenna length compare to your others? longer? shorter or same?


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## agent A (Jan 18, 2010)

mantisfart2 said:


> I would say female but am not 100% sure on this, can you take a pic from the side that focuses on the abdomen? How does its antenna length compare to your others? longer? shorter or same?


this ones antennae are a little on the short side I think. I'm gonna try to get a side view pic, just hang in there. Man this is a stumper, but I have a feeling it's a female, but I can't follow my gut on this one.


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## agent A (Jan 18, 2010)

here are the requested pictures, plus a few threat pose pics for fun!


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## Katnapper (Jan 18, 2010)

Looks like a male to me... but of course I could be wrong.


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## Mantibama (Jan 18, 2010)

I can't offer any help, but I'm digging the biosphere!


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## agent A (Jan 18, 2010)

Bryce said:


> I can't offer any help, but I'm digging the biosphere!


I got it from the discovery store!


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## ABbuggin (Jan 18, 2010)

Looks like a male.


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## Opivy (Jan 18, 2010)

your enclosure looks crazy futuristic!


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## kookamonga (Jan 18, 2010)

that container is really awesome...Been searching for awhile this morning since I saw this post trying to find and existing link for where i can buy this :&lt;. Lots of websites say discovery store sells it but when I search for it I haven't found it XD. If anyone can pm me an existing link for it I'd be much obliged :&gt;. I'm going to email them and ask about it. I MUST HAVE THIS TERRARIUM!


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## agent A (Jan 18, 2010)

Opivy said:


> your enclosure looks crazy futuristic!


thank you


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## agent A (Jan 18, 2010)

it's a male!!! &lt;_&lt; now I need a fergie wahlbergii or 2 so they can get to work when older and I can have babies of them!


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## BellsBird (Jan 18, 2010)

I totally agree that your little mantis kingdom dome is so awesomely cool :lol:


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## wangi (Jan 19, 2010)

I didn't think you could tell the gender of nymphs at all. So longer antennae and more aggressive = probably female nymph? I'm guessing it's not 100% certainty?


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## Katnapper (Jan 19, 2010)

Maria said:


> I didn't think you could tell the gender of nymphs at all. So longer antennae and more aggressive = probably female nymph? I'm guessing it's not 100% certainty?


Aggression really has nothing to do with it. Some species exhibit differences in anntenae structure and length; but counting segments (from the underside), and the physical characteristics of the end segments is the main way to sex them. See Rick's sticky thread about it HERE.


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## yen_saw (Jan 19, 2010)

looks like 6 'spikes' on the abdomen = male.

Try not to over-crowd the cage and provide more ventilation if possible, or the humidity can build up which promote moulding.


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## agent A (Jan 20, 2010)

yen_saw said:


> looks like 6 'spikes' on the abdomen = male.Try not to over-crowd the cage and provide more ventilation if possible, or the humidity can build up which promote moulding.


the humidity is about 51% most of the time. hey, do you happen to have any extra female wahlbergiis? also, is 30-40% humidity okay for ghosts?


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## kookamonga (Jan 21, 2010)

agent A said:


> the humidity is about 51% most of the time. hey, do you happen to have any extra female wahlbergiis? also, is 30-40% humidity okay for ghosts?


that sounds prety low for Ghost :&lt;. 60-90 is standard i think ?


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## PhilinYuma (Jan 21, 2010)

Kookamonga said:


> that sounds prety low for Ghost :&lt;. 60-90 is standard i think ?


This is a trickier question than it sounds. Ghosts can, in fact, survive in an ambient humidity of about 30%RH. I have kept them under these conditions continuously for the past 15 months. Remember that if you mist their pot twice daily and use a paper substrate, about 12 hrs a day will still be at ambient humidity. The problem comes at molting time, and though I currently only have one surviving ghost (l5), it has never mismolted with one misting/day in an environment of 30% humidity (it is currently 35% in my bug room, but will be 20% in the summer).

In order to maintain a significantly higher humidity in a pot, when the ambient is around 30%, it is necessary to use peat moss and keep it continually moist. This can lead to "moisture traps" if the keeper is not very careful, and at least one port (preferably two) should be opened daily to promote circulation. Both I and a number of other breeders (Ismart for example) have done this with flower mantids in particular, and found that the percentage of mismolts in the final instar can be reduced to almost zero, but it significantly increases the daily work involved. If you like to chuck in a few pupae every few days, and leave the nymphs to it, I do not recommend this method.


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## yen_saw (Jan 23, 2010)

agent A said:


> the humidity is about 51% most of the time. hey, do you happen to have any extra female wahlbergiis? also, is 30-40% humidity okay for ghosts?


 Sorry no extra female all I have are the breeding stock and all been mated. Ghost mantis can handle wide range of humidity. I mist them once every evening, they do well in higher temperature.


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## agent A (Jan 23, 2010)

yen_saw said:


> Sorry no extra female all I have are the breeding stock and all been mated. Ghost mantis can handle wide range of humidity. I mist them once every evening, they do well in higher temperature.


I have an infared light so maybe that is why it's so dry there. I will use a bit of plexiglass to keep in a little humidity. I mist them every now and then, also, why don't they ever finish fruitflies? They grab one to eat but only eat half and then throw it away? WHY? &lt;_&lt;


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## yen_saw (Jan 25, 2010)

agent A said:


> ......I mist them every now and then, also, why don't they ever finish fruitflies? They grab one to eat but only eat half and then throw it away? WHY? &lt;_&lt;


 Don't mist them too often, once every evening is fine if ventilation is good. Mantis will stop eating when they are full.


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## agent A (Jan 27, 2010)

I see. Well the mantis shown in this topic is very aggressive. He eats huge crickets too big for the subadult of the gang. Did I mention one became subadult? I'll make sure I put it in my blog.


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## LauraMG (Jul 21, 2010)

I love the pics of the all out threat pose of the little guy! Wonder what he thinks he can actually do?


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