# SOme pics taken recently



## yen_saw (Nov 10, 2007)

Took some pic couple of days ago.

Idolomantis - this one from Germany, she is subadult now. Try to get a threat pose but she wasn't in the mood  












SUbadult female Zoolea











Spiny flower mantis female, she should pop an ooth soon.











SUbadult female S. Prestiosa


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## Malnra (Nov 10, 2007)

Nice, thanks for sharing


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## robo mantis (Nov 10, 2007)

I didn't know you had Zoolea


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## Fisherman_Brazil (Nov 10, 2007)

Zoolea appears having longer "horn" than his Texas cousin! nice looking that way!


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## Mantida (Nov 10, 2007)

The Zoolea really look like Texas Unicorns. Are they more aggressive?

Har har, my female P. Ocellata looks about as fat as the one in your picture. Both look like they are going to pop.


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## Andrew (Nov 10, 2007)

W00t, new pics. Really like the _pretiosa_ and _zoolea_.


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## yen_saw (Nov 10, 2007)

Thanks all!!  

Yea Robo this batch of zoolea have been with me for months, hatched them back a while ago and been growing slowly until recently. They have definately outgrow my Arizona unicorn which remain at 5th instar.

Here are few more pics taken recently, nothing too special but great species to me  

My orchid subadult female taking down a moth






Texas unicorn with her freshly layed ooth






_Acromantis formosana _just hatched!


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## andy hood (Nov 10, 2007)

stunning mantids and great photo's yen


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## joossa (Nov 10, 2007)

Wow your Idolomantis sure is a monster!

Make sure to post pictures when it and the Zoolea become adults. Great job!!!


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## spawn (Nov 11, 2007)

Yen, aren't the antennae on the S. pretiosa too long? What do a male's antennae look like? I ask because I have a single specimen (L5 I believe) and I want to sex it.


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## hibiscusmile (Nov 11, 2007)

nice arms on the s. Prestiosa

and the crowns look so kingly on them!


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## Rick (Nov 11, 2007)

Great pics Yen. Thanks for sharing.


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## yen_saw (Nov 11, 2007)

Thanks all... glad you guys like the pics  



Fisherman_Brazil said:


> Zoolea appears having longer "horn" than his Texas cousin! nice looking that way!


Yes Luke, this species has longer "horn" and sharper ends compared to either Arizona and Texas unicorn. But this species is also larger. It is not Zoolea giga or lobipes according to Christian but they are definately huge.



mantida said:


> The Zoolea really look like Texas Unicorns. Are they more aggressive?


Actually, they look more like Arizona unicorn than Texas unicorn, and they are not agressive at all. I have group of subadult together and haven't seen any problem.



joossa said:


> Wow your Idolomantis sure is a monster!Make sure to post pictures when it and the Zoolea become adults. Great job!!!


Thanks! will post adult pic of Zoolea i promise. finger cross i will have some moulting out alright.



spawn said:


> Yen, aren't the antennae on the S. pretiosa too long? What do a male's antennae look like? I ask because I have a single specimen (L5 I believe) and I want to sex it.


Both female and male have about the same antenna length right now at subadult stage. Sexing them is easy now at subadult, female is considerably larger, wider abdomen and has one less "spike" on her abdomen compared to the male (5 vs 6). Following are few pics on my photo album i can share with

SUbadult female on the right and subadult male on the left (notice 6 spikes on his abdomen)











Subadult male


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## Morpheus uk (Nov 11, 2007)

Smart never seen one with a greenish tint like that b4


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## yen_saw (Nov 18, 2007)

The subadult male molted into adult, again now i need to wait for the female to mature. I lost count on the moult number bummer!!  but male is definately one molt less than the female for adult.


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## robo mantis (Nov 18, 2007)

Thats a cool looking adult


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## Mantida (Nov 18, 2007)

I love the first pic. The little horn on his head looks all wacky.

Are S. pretiosa hard to raise from nymph to adult? Did they require anythin special?


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## spawn (Nov 18, 2007)

The cool thing about S. pretiosa is, up until about L7, you feed them a couple FF's, and they're full for a week. Seem to be hardy in the long run for such a fragile build. Do you prepare any special enclosure for the adults, Yen? I'm currently keeping mine in a FF container, but I wonder if perhaps a bunch of thin sticks or leaves should be made for the adulthood?


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## yen_saw (Nov 20, 2007)

mantida said:


> I love the first pic. The little horn on his head looks all wacky.Are S. pretiosa hard to raise from nymph to adult? Did they require anythin special?


They are not difficult to rear. I keep them cooler and mist sparingly when they are small. AFter third instar i keep them warmer and they are doing alright. Feed them mainly flying insects.



spawn said:


> Do you prepare any special enclosure for the adults, Yen? I'm currently keeping mine in a FF container, but I wonder if perhaps a bunch of thin sticks or leaves should be made for the adulthood?


I am keeping each individually in 32 oz plastic container with a stick in it and a towel paper secured by lid. Nothing special really  but i will add more sticks and leaves for the adult female definately.


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## yen_saw (Dec 1, 2007)

GUess what species am I?







yep adult female S. prestiosa. Molted out recently.


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## yen_saw (Dec 1, 2007)

Ah i posted up too soon, just add more pics taken today.

ANother P. ocellata ooth hatched, a record for me, 58 nymphs hatched  






My Zoolea female happily chowing down a moth











one adult male failed to get complete molt..bummer :angry: but i think he can still mate  











Dead leaf taking down a roach


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## spawn (Dec 2, 2007)

After seeing your pictures of the feeding, it reminded me of what I discovered today. Although it bears little relevance to the pictures, I found that if your mantis isn't bold enough to take on a full size lobster roach, milk the abdomen of the guts, and it should come out as one large piece, with little mess. Because it's innards, it's easier to get them to eat it (tease them by putting it up to the mandibles).


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## asdsdf (Dec 2, 2007)

Ooohhh! Congrats! How long did you incubate the ootheca for?


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## yen_saw (Dec 3, 2007)

I believed it was about 36 days asdsdf.


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## asdsdf (Dec 3, 2007)

:blink:  Mine are 40 days!  Is that bad?


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## macro junkie (Dec 3, 2007)

asdsdf said:


> :blink:  Mine are 40 days!  Is that bad?


im no pro but i cant see 4 days difrent being bad.


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## yen_saw (Dec 5, 2007)

asdsdf said:


> :blink:  Mine are 40 days!  Is that bad?


Nothing to worry about Jasper. cooler temperature could delay hatching for few days. i have some hatched in 34 days, and also some took as long as 43 days to hatch. The one shipped abroad took even longer, but what matter is they hatched out fine


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