# Creos, shields, and more creos...OH MY!



## LauraMG (Aug 9, 2010)

The new babies!







They have speckled bum bums!











The growing babies!






I love the markings running down their back











And the newly subadult Creobroter whom I have thoroughly fallen in love with















I love these little baby wings! They're so precious!


----------



## eur0pein (Aug 9, 2010)

Nice pics i love the creobroter


----------



## myzticalboi (Aug 9, 2010)

what species of Creobroter?


----------



## eur0pein (Aug 9, 2010)

i think the the last one is a sub-adult creobroter nebulosa.


----------



## more_rayne (Aug 9, 2010)

The red eyes of the shields are just awesome. You really do like them Creobroters! I had an adult female die on me for no reason, so very sad.


----------



## LauraMG (Aug 9, 2010)

joeho said:


> what species of Creobroter?


The ones on top are creobroter nebulosa and the subadult is creobroter gemmatus.


----------



## Ghostie (Aug 9, 2010)

Nice Creo wings! Whaaaaat I'm jealous lol

My Creos are leeetle still.

I have two now also.. one from Yen , a Neb I guess and the other from Rebecca.. Not sure what kind!

Neat lil creatures though.

Nice shields too! they grow up so fast!


----------



## LauraMG (Aug 9, 2010)

Ghostie said:


> Nice shields too! they grow up so fast!


They're still so tiny! You can see how small they are in the shot of the one on my thumb. That one is only L3! And we have Creobroter siblings! I got the new ones from Yen and my subadult from Rebecca! I love their striped little bodies!


----------



## thorhack (Aug 10, 2010)

Wow, these are some great pics! I really like how colorful they are.


----------



## Jesskb (Aug 10, 2010)

So cute! Gotta love baby mantises, even if they are bloodthirsty little killers...at least they're cute ones


----------



## ismart (Aug 10, 2010)

Great pics!  Good luck with your new babies!


----------



## Precarious (Aug 10, 2010)

What beautiful little bugs! Great pics!


----------



## LauraMG (Aug 12, 2010)

Here's a couple more pictures.

My speed racer Manny the stagmomantis carolina. He takes off running every time I let him out!






It relaxes him to be upside down. It's the only way I get him to stop running.


----------



## Ghostie (Aug 12, 2010)

Nice little Stag. I'm really started to like those subspecies.

My adult Magna male likes to fly and run around too so when I let him out I have to move very slow. When I think he's about to fly I turn him upside down like you have here and he relaxes a bit. Can't make a clean takeoff upside down I guess.


----------



## lancaster1313 (Aug 12, 2010)

I love my Stagmomantis, he was my most active mantid, he got calmer with each molt. As an adult it took him a while to begin flying more than a couple of feet, but now he flies to anything that moves, like me or the kid. :lol: He seems very good at landing safely and gracefully, not like some clumsy pet birds that I have had. At first I was afraid that he would crash land into something, but he is good.  I still turn off the fans and close the blinds before having him out, for safety reasons. :lol:


----------



## novaz (Aug 12, 2010)

Wow those are some great photographs :clap: 

I am really looking forward to posting some when I can get some free time to set up at home .


----------



## yeatzee (Aug 12, 2010)

Laura G said:


> My speed racer Manny the stagmomantis carolina. He takes off running every time I let him out!


Just wait until the day you get adult Sybilla pretiosa's


----------



## LauraMG (Aug 12, 2010)

yeatzee said:


> Just wait until the day you get adult Sybilla pretiosa's


Really? Yen included one of those with the c. nebulosus I bought from him, but it died



I was thinking about getting another


----------



## Precarious (Aug 12, 2010)

Love the lighting in the photos of Manny!


----------



## LauraMG (Aug 21, 2010)

Manny molted today, and I caught him right at the end. I can't really tell if he's subadult yet, but I'm thinking he's got one more before subadult status.







My male orchid decided to turn pink overnight


----------



## hibiscusmile (Aug 21, 2010)

gotta love em! They are a big hit the creos, and a lot of people rather have the wahllies, but I prefer the creos, so much more lively!


----------



## LauraMG (Aug 21, 2010)

hibiscusmile said:


> gotta love em! They are a big hit the creos, and a lot of people rather have the wahllies, but I prefer the creos, so much more lively!


I really like the creos! The extra that you sent me is one of my favorite! Ghostie actually sent me another one with the female orchid, so I have........9 creobroters in 2 varieties! :lol: They're fun!


----------



## Ghostie (Aug 21, 2010)

I have one creo left from Yen.

They are cool lil guys. I think I will have to ship this one out to somebody too so it has a chance. Probably should have sent you both of them but this one just finished molting and wasn't hardened up yet when I Sent the package.

They're like an orchid mantis crossed with a tiny flower spider or something.


----------



## LauraMG (Aug 28, 2010)

So, Ironhide (c. gemmatus) molted into adulthood last night! Here's a couple shots of when she was pumping her wings out. Sorry they're not super sharp, they were taken through the plastic enclosure.


----------



## LauraMG (Aug 28, 2010)

And here she is as a finished product!


----------



## Seattle79 (Aug 28, 2010)

Very nice collection you got there LG.

-Kevin


----------



## LauraMG (Aug 28, 2010)

Seattle79 said:


> Very nice collection you got there LG.
> 
> -Kevin


Thanks Kevin! I love them all!


----------



## LauraMG (Aug 30, 2010)

One of my Rhombodera sp. nymphs has turned a different shade then all the others since his/her last molt. It is now a pleasant brown color with red and green highlights whereas all the others are still bright green. Just thought I would share!


----------



## lancaster1313 (Aug 30, 2010)

Beautiful! I love a multicolored mantid.


----------



## LauraMG (Aug 31, 2010)

And now for the adult male orchid! He's awesome looking! He molted much more brown and yellow than I anticipated. I can't wait to see what the female looks like as an adult!


----------



## LauraMG (Sep 6, 2010)

New Gonatista grisea babies!


----------



## LauraMG (Sep 6, 2010)

Sticking the claws out. I assume it's a counterbalance thing because it always does it when I'm moving the container.





Stunning pink! I can't take enough pictures of these guys!






L1 ghosts






On the end of the feeding tongs


----------



## MantidLord (Sep 6, 2010)

Awesome pics, but I always thought it was a defensive/camo maneuver because it's being disturbed. Love the orchid!


----------



## LauraMG (Sep 6, 2010)

I hadn't thought about it being that. Interesting thought! They're such frisky runners if you freak them out too much! :lol:


----------



## LauraMG (Sep 9, 2010)

I have noticed that my shields all seem to molt in strange places! They don't all hang from the top. I had one molt in a tiny cup on the way to a trade (normally!) and I caught this one molting off the side of the cup! Not the top, but the side. Never a dull day!


----------



## myzticalboi (Sep 10, 2010)

B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L.....


----------



## shorty (Sep 10, 2010)

Very nice photos and beautiful mantids!


----------



## LauraMG (Sep 10, 2010)

shorty said:


> Very nice photos and beautiful mantids!


Thanks! I love 'em. I baby talk to them like they're puppies or something, and my boyfriend just sits and stares....


----------



## shorty (Sep 12, 2010)

Laura G said:


> Thanks! I love 'em. I baby talk to them like they're puppies or something, and my boyfriend just sits and stares....


Haha, I get enough weird looks from friends just for having them. Couldn't imagine what they'd do if I started talking to them like a kid or a dog.  

By the way, what camera and lens are you using?


----------



## LauraMG (Sep 13, 2010)

L2 ghosts!


----------



## LauraMG (Sep 22, 2010)

Even though no one has been responding to my posts, I'm just gonna keep updating with my pictures of my babies! Got 6 L2 Gongys today from Yen and I'm in love again! :wub: 






I think it might be time to paint my nails again.....






And also 2 Popa Spurca nymphs! I believe they're L1 or L2, but not for sure.











So there's my newest babies. I'll keep posting here if anyone cares to look! :lol:


----------



## guapoalto049 (Sep 22, 2010)

The Popa look interesting, ordering from Yen is always a great experience! I love the buggy eyes on the Gongylus.

How far apart are your male and female orchids? I've heard this is a big problem with the species, just curious if you've done anything to combat this.

I'm having this problem with my _Phyllocrania _pair. The male has been adult for about two weeks and I think the female is a sub subadult. She doesn't move or eat! They are very photogenic but their lack of size and appetite put them near the bottom of my list.


----------



## LauraMG (Sep 22, 2010)

guapoalto049 said:


> How far apart are your male and female orchids? I've heard this is a big problem with the species, just curious if you've done anything to combat this.


Well, my male has been an adult for about 2 weeks and my female has just molted in a subadult on Sunday 9/19. I'm hoping he'll hang on until she's an adult! There's just not a lot I can do about it. I keep the humidity up and feed the heck outta her cuz she eats EVERYTHING! My male orchid was a little picky, only wanting flies, but she does not care so long as it's moving! :lol:


----------



## LauraMG (Sep 23, 2010)




----------



## hibiscusmile (Sep 23, 2010)

The boys hold on till the girls are ready, u should do fine, and the ghost are really slow, but they will get it together when ready.


----------



## LauraMG (Sep 23, 2010)

hibiscusmile said:


> The boys hold on till the girls are ready, u should do fine, and the ghost are really slow, but they will get it together when ready.


I can't wait! I'm going to practice with my Carolinas probably this weekend. I've got a male just itching to get at my female!


----------



## LauraMG (Sep 29, 2010)




----------



## LauraMG (Oct 3, 2010)

Gonatista grisea have grown up a bit and I got some pictures today.


----------



## LauraMG (Oct 14, 2010)

The shields have this really beautiful iridescent strip on the backside of their eyes. It's so gorgeous!






I also got some more shots of the popa spurca. One is quite a bit lighter than the other now. This is the lighter one that's sort of tannish. It's easy to see why they're the "twig mantis"!











And the beautiful orchid She's turning pink now, which over her last 2 molts, and in my male, means she's about to molt! I can't wait! She's just so awesome


----------



## more_rayne (Oct 15, 2010)

Oooh, nice pics! Did you get a new lens or camera?


----------



## LauraMG (Oct 15, 2010)

more_rayne said:


> Oooh, nice pics! Did you get a new lens or camera?


Not just yet, but I'm about to! My financial aid just came through and that's one of the items on my agenda! The only difference from the others is my UV haze filter is on this lens instead of my other (more crappy) lens. :lol:


----------



## LauraMG (Oct 25, 2010)

Look who's all grown up!!!!


----------



## GreenOasis (Oct 25, 2010)

Gorgeous!


----------



## hierodula (Oct 25, 2010)

Beautiful!


----------



## guapoalto049 (Oct 25, 2010)

Aww someone has developed nicely haha. She even poses for the camera!


----------



## LauraMG (Oct 25, 2010)

guapoalto049 said:


> Aww someone has developed nicely haha. She even poses for the camera!


She totally poses! Strange thing is though, I took those pictures of her hanging upside down and flipped them in editing. You can't even tell huh? :lol:


----------



## myzticalboi (Oct 25, 2010)

Laura G said:


> She totally poses! Strange thing is though, I took those pictures of her hanging upside down and flipped them in editing. You can't even tell huh? :lol:


Hey you fooled me! Great pictures by the way! I also have some orchid mantids, but nymphs tho.


----------



## LauraMG (Oct 25, 2010)

So, I took some size comparison pictures of her on my hand, and of him on my hand! She's HUGE, and he's tiny!

Orchie (female)











Krohl the Skull Crusher (male)











Next step, MATING!


----------



## Precarious (Oct 25, 2010)

Oh, man. They are BEAUTIFUL!!! Make some babies already! I need some!  

All really nice pics. I'll have to watch this post so I don't miss out again. The Violins look great too.


----------



## myzticalboi (Oct 25, 2010)

Precarious said:


> Oh, man. They are BEAUTIFUL!!! Make some babies already! I need some!
> 
> All really nice pics. I'll have to watch this post so I don't miss out again. The Violins look great too.


I need some too =)


----------



## more_rayne (Oct 26, 2010)

joeho said:


> I need some too =)


Is there a line forming? Me three!


----------



## LauraMG (Oct 26, 2010)

:lol: Hopefully I'll have lots of babies to spare!!!


----------



## GreenOasis (Oct 27, 2010)

Make that FOUR in the line, now!


----------



## LauraMG (Oct 30, 2010)

I got to see my popa spurca "play dead" for the first time! The whole drop to the ground thing freaked me out, but when I realized what they were doing it made me laugh!

See, just a stick. Nothing to see here, just a regular ole stick...







I'm just a regular ole stick too. Nothing special here






Move along sir! Just a couple of sticks. Nothing to be concerned with...


----------



## Precarious (Oct 30, 2010)

Cute!

Why did you spray paint one of them black? So you could tell them apart? :blink:


----------



## LauraMG (Nov 3, 2010)

The ghosts molted again!











The remainder of both their previous "homes"


----------



## Precarious (Nov 3, 2010)

WOW! Great pics!!!


----------



## LauraMG (Nov 21, 2010)

Now introducing........MEGA MANTIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!











You can see a slight shipping injury here:






And I love their huge bud eyes!


----------



## Precarious (Nov 21, 2010)

Oh, no! We're being invaded! It's worse than I thought!  

See if you can bend that leg down. It might heal up.


----------

