# Empusa pennata



## ABbuggin

I received my _Empusa, pennata_ nymphs just before I left for my camping trip. I had no time for pics, so I made sure to get some as soon as I came home.  I have 7 nymphs in total and they are all doing fantastic. They all shed perfectly while I was away, this was a huge relief considering how much I paid for them.


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## AmandaLynn

Aww, very cool. Good luck with them.


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## yen_saw

Nice! All the best with them Andrew. They need high temperature (90-100F) and cooling down (about 2 molts before adult) before hitting the adult stage. Flying pollenated insects is also preferable.


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## ABbuggin

yen_saw said:


> Nice! All the best with them Andrew. They need high temperature (90-100F) and cooling down (about 2 molts before adult) before hitting the adult stage. Flying pollenated insects is also preferable.


Already on top of that.  They are being kept at 95F and I have been talking with Christian concerning their diapause.


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## inferno

wow im glad i read this ive been keepig mine at 80 changed immediately


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## jarek

I love empusa I would never thought that such amazing species lives in europe


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## revmdn

Very nice looking. Good luck.


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## ismart

Sweet looking mantis. Good luck in rearing these!


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## ABbuggin

Thanks all. They are doing great, and should shed again in 2-5 days.


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## cloud jaguar

Hopefully you will be able to get those to breed - and ill buy a couple of nymphs from you next gen


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## ABbuggin

Arkanis said:


> Hopefully you will be able to get those to breed


Same here lol. Not surprisingly, they act a lot like my gongylus (are in the empusidae group also), but act different in their own way also.  They always look at me when ever I look at them lol.


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## planetq

Wow! Awesome looking species as always!



jarek said:


> I love empusa I would never thought that such amazing species lives in europe


I know! I thought the same too. I did remember reading about them in entomologist Fabre's book of insects.

I found a copy of his observations of the Empusa here :http://www.efabre.net/chapter-iii-the-empusa

Haha his writing style is somewhat illustrious and at time more like poetry, but a fun read nevertheless!



ABbuggin said:


> Same here lol. Not surprisingly, they act a lot like my gongylus (are in the empusidae group also), but act different in their own way also.  They always look at me when ever I look at them lol.


I am curious to see what their noted differences are! Fabre wrote in his observations that the cone on the head is there to actually butt away bigger more threatening feeder insects! :

"How to feed them? My Devilkins are very little; they are a month or two old at most. I give them Locusts suited to their size, the smallest that I can find. They refuse them. Nay more, they are frightened of them. Should a thoughtless Locust meekly approach one of the Empusae, suspended by her four hind-legs to the trellised dome, the intruder meets with a bad reception. The pointed mitre is lowered; and an angry thrust sends him rolling. We have it: the wizard's cap is a defensive weapon, a protective crest. The Ram charges with his forehead, the Empusa butts with her mitre." (QUOTE)

if that's true that's pretty awesome.

It's pretty funny when he starts pondering the moral differences between the Mantis Religiosa's choice to eat her husband and Empusa's grace(?) to let him live.

Man, the Empusidae family is the best... They seem to be the nicest(of course, not to generalize) , and their facial expression does seem the most peaceful in someway. So.... un-angry.


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## ABbuggin

I just read that article, its funny lol. I have never seen them "head-butt" prey, but then again, I've only been feeding them fruit flies. Just like gongylus, they can snatch flying flies right out of the air! :blink: 



calarts_security said:


> Man, the Empusidae family is the best... They seem to be the nicest(of course, not to generalize) , and their facial expression does seem the most peaceful in someway. So.... un-angry.


I couldn't agree more. I plan to obtain a few other members.


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## [email protected]

[SIZE=14pt]wow thay are so cool, and if calarts_security is wright in what he read that would be so cool to.[/SIZE]


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## ABbuggin

They shed to 4th instar about 5 days ago, forgot to take pics. :huh: I just counted my males/females and I have 5 males and 2 females. :angry: 






female






male






male/female comparison (female on left, male on right)






see why they are also called a Cone Head mantid? :lol: 






If you look at their "horn" just right in the light, it sparkles!!! You can sort of see it in the pic, but the camera doesn't pick it up too well.






Expensive hand. 2 gongylus, and 2 empusa.


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## pohchunyee

Hmm.....they look great ...however, they don't seem as colorful as I saw in the classified post a few weeks ago.


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## bassist

pohchunyee said:


> Hmm.....they look great ...however, they don't seem as colorful as I saw in the classified post a few weeks ago.





Christian said:


> As I mentioned in the other thread, this color is typical for some WC specimens. I bred _E. pennata_ for 2 1/2 generations and never had a color like this under artificial light. It occurs, though, in the natural habitat. I don't know how much the color was enhanced by Photoshop, but there are definitely nymphs with pinkish, yellowish or reddish tinges - but not under captive conditions. It is the same with pics of WC P_seudocreobotra_ or _Harpagomantis_: you almost never get the reddish tinge observed in some WC specimens on your captive ones, except with a completely red enclosure. This doesn't work as well in _Empusa_.


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## ABbuggin

pohchunyee said:


> Hmm.....they look great ...however, they don't seem as colorful as I saw in the classified post a few weeks ago.


Well they need natural light for that (which I am giving them), but from what I have been told (and have seen) the don't get the colors until sub adult (sort of the same way idolomantis gets its colors as adult).  I didn't just want these because of the colors they sometimes get, (it will be a perk if they get them!). I really like the Empusidae group, especially empusa and gongylus. Not to mention, they are very rare, even rarer than idolomantis and gongylus.


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## ABbuggin

They shed to 5th instar 4 days ago......






Female






They stand very tall lol






Male






Pair

All 7 are still going strong. B)


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## ismart

Great job AB! They look fantastic! B)


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## ABbuggin

Thanks! The 5 males will have lots of competition over the two females. :lol:  I sure wish I could get 1-2 more females..........


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## jarek

ABbuggin said:


> Thanks! The 5 males will have lots of competition over the two females. :lol: I sure wish I could get 1-2 more females..........


well, you're in better situation than me I have 1 female and two males


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## ABbuggin

jarek said:


> well, you're in better situation than me I have 1 female and two males


True, lol. I would still like at least one other female. You have _E. fasciata_ right?


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## jarek

ABbuggin said:


> True, lol. I would still like at least one other female. You have _E. fasciata_ right?


I have 3 pennatas l5 and 3 fasciatas l1.


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## ABbuggin

They have been shedding to 6th instar for the past few days.  







Big horn!











2 females.






They have some good sized lobes on their abdomens.






A male. Notice the difference in the antenna.  






They look like mini ram horns from the side. :lol:


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## jarek

my female just molted to 6th instar as well, I'm thinking of diapausing her


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## ABbuggin

jarek said:


> my female just molted to 6th instar as well, I'm thinking of diapausing her


Wait until sub-adult.


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## jarek

Well, I'm gonna cool her bit by bit so it doesn't shock her suddenly.


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## ABbuggin

I have sub-adults!!    






Female






Male






Another pic of the male showing his goofy antenna. :lol: 

Per Christian's advice (thanks again!!) I will be putting them into diapause in 1-2 weeks from now. Once it is all set up, I'll show yal how I converted a mini fridge for their "diapause chamber". B)


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## agent A

ABbuggin said:


> I have sub-adults!!
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> Female
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Male
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Another pic of the male showing his goofy antenna. :lol:
> 
> Per Christian's advice (thanks again!!) I will be putting them into diapause in 1-2 weeks from now. Once it is all set up, I'll show yal how I converted a mini fridge for their "diapause chamber". B)


where are these guys from? what temperature do they need to diapause at?


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## ABbuggin

They are from Spain. Light and temperature have to be progressively reduced until there is 8 hours of light a day, and 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Everything will be on timers to make it easy.


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## Rick

What is the purpose of diapause with these?


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## jarek

Rick said:


> What is the purpose of diapause with these?


If they don't get diapause they will not be very healthy and will not breed.


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## ABbuggin

Christian said they could skip the diapause if they were not exposed to natural light, and only had constant high temps. I'm doing a diapause because I wanted to give it a shot.


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## Rick

ABbuggin said:


> Christian said they could skip the diapause if they were not exposed to natural light, and only had constant high temps. I'm doing a diapause because I wanted to give it a shot.


So it's basically just a cool period which they experience in the wild?


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## ABbuggin

Yes.


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## PhilinYuma

Rick said:


> So it's basically just a cool period which they experience in the wild?


The cool period breaks the diapause induced by the reduced photoperiod. The cool period has no effect if the ooth is not already in diapause.


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## ABbuggin

PhilinYuma said:


> The cool period breaks the diapause induced by the reduced photoperiod. The cool period has no effect if the ooth is not already in diapause.


They do not diapause as ooths, but as sub-adults.


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## mantidian

so a dispause period isn't necessary?


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## ismart

mantidian said:


> so a dispause period isn't necessary?


It is not necessary, but andrew wants to try it anyway.


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## tier

PhilinYuma said:


> The cool period breaks the diapause induced by the reduced photoperiod. The cool period has no effect if the ooth is not already in diapause.


Who says so? And of course a cold period like 8°C for some weeks has an effect on every ooth. The effect is nothing will hatch as most species are tropical. This sounds unlogical.

regards

edit:

Or do you mean that if you not reduce the photoperiod, you can keep the ooth at 8°C and it will develop in 3 weeks? I don't think so, Phil


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## ABbuggin

mantidian said:


> so a dispause period isn't necessary?


It is sort of a yes/no thing. It is best for them to go through diapause, but a few breeders (including the one who I purchased these from) do not diapause their empusa. I may give a no diapause a shot next time, but I'm having too much fun converting a mini fridge at the moment.  

Oh, BTW, I had another pair shed to subadult today.  Now if the other males (2 sheds behind) would hurry op and catch up.


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## ABbuggin

My empusa have decided to change my plans for me.







Inflated wing buds!!! I have 2 females and one male that have inflated buds. First adult is only days away. Keep in mind, they aren't even 2 weeks old as sub adult yet. :blink: :blink:


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## ABbuggin

Female shed to adult at about 1pm!!! I'll have pics just as soon as I get my camera.


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## agent A

How long were they in diapause for?


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## bassist

He didn't put them through diapause yet.


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## ABbuggin

bassist said:


> He didn't put them through diapause yet.


Yep. They couldn't wait. :lol: 1st male is a few days away and the 2nd pair is about a week away give or take a few days. Best part is, the female has pink/white/green wings!! :wub: 

She was adult in 10 days. :blink: :blink: :blink:


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## jarek

ABbuggin said:


> Yep. They couldn't wait. :lol: 1st male is a few days away and the 2nd pair is about a week away give or take a few days. Best part is, the female has pink/white/green wings!! :wub: She was adult in 10 days. :blink: :blink: :blink:


may be you could give it a try and breed them, and then i'll have more confidence if it works out for you


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## ABbuggin

Pics!











Isn't she beautiful. :wub: The white should be mostly replaced with a light green.  
















Look how long the horn is!






Red/black coloration inside the arms, just like gongylus.











Next to a ghost adult female.






Next to a sub adult female gongylus.


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## sbugir

Beautiful, I think the last two pics are the same  . Are they really rarer than Idolo and Gongylous?

Hee hee nvm you changed the pic while i posted


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## ABbuggin

lemmiwinks said:


> Beautiful, I think the last two pics are the same  . Are they really rarer than Idolo and Gongylous?Hee hee nvm you changed the pic while i posted


Lol, yep fixed the pic. They are much rarer than gongylus and idolomantis. I've only seen them for sale twice.


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## mantidsaresweet

Andrew I wish the best of luck in breeding these and getting them into the hobby in the US.


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## Kruszakus

You gave them any kind of diapause?


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## ABbuggin

Kruszakus said:


> You gave them any kind of diapause?


I never had a chance. Cristian told me to begin diapause starting the 2nd week of their subadult life. I noticed inflated wing buds by day 5 of her subadult life. :blink: In addition, the rest of the Empusa, have followed suit.



> Andrew I wish the best of luck in breeding these and getting them into the hobby in the US.


Thanks! First male is only a few days away.


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## jarek

how long is she?


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## Rick

Very nice.


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## ABbuggin

jarek said:


> how long is she?


From horn to wings, 75mm or about 3 in.


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## jarek

that sounds right, are gonna try and breed her?


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## ABbuggin

jarek said:


> that sounds right, are gonna try and breed her?


You bet. First male to shed to adult is only a few days away. I have a 2nd pair not far behind, and I have an addition set of males that are a bit father behind the rest. (2 female, 5 male)


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## jarek

ABbuggin said:


> You bet. First male to shed to adult is only a few days away. I have a 2nd pair not far behind, and I have an addition set of males that are a bit father behind the rest. (2 female, 5 male)


maybe good move would be to cool them to see, if the first pair is going to breed with no problems.


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## ABbuggin

jarek said:


> maybe good move would be to cool them to see, if the first pair is going to breed with no problems.


As I have already stated a few times, the 2nd pair is already getting inflated wingbuds, it is too late for a diapause. I've been getting a lot of advice from Christian, and he believes (from the situation they are at) it is best to go ahead with them and keep them warm.


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## jarek

ABbuggin said:


> As I have already stated a few times, the 2nd pair is already getting inflated wingbuds, it is too late for a diapause. I've been getting a lot of advice from Christian, and he believes (from the situation they are at) it is best to go ahead with them and keep them warm.


how long doea take for them mature?


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## ABbuggin

I was told to pair them 1-2 weeks after shedding.


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## jarek

ABbuggin said:


> Lol, yep fixed the pic. They are much rarer than gongylus and idolomantis. I've only seen them for sale twice.


i don't think they should that rare, but this is due to our lack of acknowledgement for this species i think.


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## ABbuggin

jarek said:


> i don't think they should that rare, but this is due to our lack of acknowledgement for this species i think.


I was referring to their rarity in the hobby. I've wanted them for years. When I first saw them for sale years ago I couldn't get them, but when I saw them for sale about 2 months ago, I had to get them. :wub:


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## ABbuggin

Update:

The adult female's wings have darkened into a *beautiful *pastel green, pink, white. :wub: I believe this species is only 2nd to the orchid mantis in terms of beauty. :wub: :wub:






















Check out the abdomen texture/coloration!!  






I also have a very dark sub-adult male!






Angry sub-adult female. :lol:


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## mantidsaresweet

Your right it is a close call between them and the orchid. They are really beautiful!


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## yen_saw

Beautiful, reminds me of Empusa fasciata, my batch gone through diapause which took a long time to molt into adult. They did breed though. Best of luck to you.


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## jarek

her pronotum is also gettnig green


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## Katnapper

Interesting thread and pics, Andrew.  I've been reading up for help in rearing my 2 _Empusa fasciata _that are left from the ooth that hatched in the post from Frey. I think they are the same sex though.  Too early to tell yet. But your pics of this similar species are beautiful, and give me hope of what to look forward to.


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## jarek

Katnapper said:


> Interesting thread and pics, Andrew.  I've been reading up for help in rearing my 2 _Empusa fasciata _that are left from the ooth that hatched in the post from Frey. I think they are the same sex though.  Too early to tell yet. But your pics of this similar species are beautiful, and give me hope of what to look forward to.


if you think they are the same sex, i hope they're females cuz I think I got only males


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## ABbuggin

Thanks for the kind words everybody. I can't wait to breed them either.


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## Emile.Wilson

Wow, I am super jealous right now  , that female is gorgeous!


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## ABbuggin

Emile said:


> Wow, I am super jealous right now  , that female is gorgeous!


She is really surprising me! The colors become more and more vibrant everyday! I beleive my first male will shed to adult in just a few hours.


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## Emile.Wilson

Lucky! Make sure to take some photos


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## ABbuggin

Male shed to adult, but I missed the process.  He did an excellent job, and I will post pics in a day or two, he is still rather soft/weak.


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## ABbuggin

Ok, finally pics of the "new" male (had another one shed today).  His antenna are very feathery (like gongylus males), they remind me of hair when you blow in them. :lol: 
















Goofy antenna! :lol: :lol:











Next to my female.  

Will have a go at the mating process next Tuesday. I was told to pair them when the male was 1-2 weeks old, he will be a week and a half old at that time.


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## jarek

I like his antenna


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## Pelle

Cool Good luck!


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## Emile.Wilson

Nice pictures, you got to love those guys


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## ABbuggin

I now have a total of 2 adult pairs.  I just introduced a male with a female today and he is currently mounted and searching for her rear. :lol:


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## sbugir

Great ABuggin, I'm glad to hear that a beautiful species are gettin it on!  , and will have generations of course.


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## ismart

Fantastic andrew! I hope they lay you many ooths!


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## wero626

Wow they look cool i got a ooth so cant wait to have little guys like that good luck with them =]


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## ABbuggin

Ok, a bit of a twist. The male was mounted on the female for 6 hours before I went to bed, he was still on her when I went to bed, I never saw them connect. When I woke up, they were separated, and to my surprise, the female had laid an ooth! I am not sure if they mated or not, but I have reason to believe that they did. Prior to yesterday, she had laid an infertile ooth (very small). The ooth she laid during the night is over 3x as large, this is what makes me think that they mated. Of course, jut so be sure I'll introduce the male again, and will hopefully actually witness mating.


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## Rick

I am sure you will keep the ooth just to be sure. Let us know if it hatches. If you ever have a hatched ooth you don't want let me know.


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## ABbuggin

Rick said:


> I am sure you will keep the ooth just to be sure. Let us know if it hatches. If you ever have a hatched ooth you don't want let me know.


I am going to be keeping it for sure, it looks much better than the one she laid a few days ago. I'll make sure to save a hatched ooth for you.  Incubation time if fairly short about 2 weeks or so.


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## sbugir

ABbuggin said:


> I am going to be keeping it for sure, it looks much better than the one she laid a few days ago. I'll make sure to save a hatched ooth for you.  Incubation time if fairly short about 2 weeks or so.


That is short... Out of curiosity, will you be selling nymphs?


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## ABbuggin

lemmiwinks said:


> That is short... Out of curiosity, will you be selling nymphs?


Once I have enough for myself, I will sell nymphs.


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## sbugir

ABbuggin said:


> Once I have enough for myself, I will sell nymphs.


Awesome, theyre cute little doods. The wing color on the female? was amazing.


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## ABbuggin

lemmiwinks said:


> Awesome, theyre cute little doods. The wing color on the female? was amazing.


I agree, the males have the same wing coloration also.


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## jarek

how often does she lay ooths?


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## ABbuggin

jarek said:


> how often does she lay ooths?


Well considering she has only laid two ooths, I dont know. She did lay them a few days apart form each other.


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## ABbuggin

Male mounted twice today. First time I'm not sure if they mated, but the second time I finally caught them in the act!!


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## mantidsaresweet

Great job Andrew!

I was wondering how you keep them hot because in my house it only gets around 73 degrees F.


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## ABbuggin

mantidsaresweet said:


> Great job Andrew!I was wondering how you keep them hot because in my house it only gets around 73 degrees F.


Same way I do for my gongylus. 60w lights. I have several, and in effect, the ambient temperature in my bug room reaches 82-84 during the day.  I only use one light for a 1ft cube, but the light is 1" away from the cage.


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## mantidsaresweet

I would love to see some pics to give me an idea if thats not too much trouble.


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## sbugir

Hey ABbuggin, aren't those net cages made out of nylon? :huh: Because if they are, wouldn't they burst into flames? (exaggerated  )


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## ABbuggin

mantidsaresweet said:


> I would love to see some pics to give me an idea if thats not too much trouble.


Ok, I'll take some for you.  



lemmiwinks said:


> Hey ABbuggin, aren't those net cages made out of nylon? :huh: Because if they are, wouldn't they burst into flames? (exaggerated  )


They are, but they don't get that hot. I make sure the cage *never *touches the light. The hottest "basking spot" in the cage is at 114 degrees (yes, both gongylus and empusa will sit there for hours :blink: ) but that is no were near the melting or combusting point of nylon.


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## [email protected]

[SIZE=14pt]cool man on the mateing, hey what dose there Ooth look like can you show us please?[/SIZE]


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## sbugir

ABbuggin said:


> Ok, I'll take some for you.  They are, but they don't get that hot. I make sure the cage *never *touches the light. The hottest "basking spot" in the cage is at 114 degrees (yes, both gongylus and empusa will sit there for hours :blink: ) but that is no were near the melting or combusting point of nylon.


Oh okay, I just made some 12x12x16 cages and I used nylon to hold in D. melonagaster, I was worried that if I get a heat mat or light it would just combust one day  . Thanks for the insight.


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## jarek

so has anything hatched so far?


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## ABbuggin

They have been hatching! First ooth hatched only 2, second ooth hatched 5, and 3rd hatched 10!   Does anybody know the hatch rate on these? By looking at the size of the ooths, 10 seems like a good number.

















All the adults are still going strong!






Adult female, next to an adult female gongylus.


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## sbugir

Very cool. Ooths are cute looking


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## ABbuggin

I just had 4 more hatch from the one that originally hatched 10. So 14 from that one ooth.


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## Pelle

Nice


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## ismart

Very cool!


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## ABbuggin

Just had another 11 hatch from one ooth.  These will go up for sale soon  

Note: It only takes them 4-5 days to shed to L2 after hatching, pretty quick when compared to others.


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## sbugir

Ughh they're amazing. And congrats  must be pretty damn cool.


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## charleyandbecky

I love the paper towel roll with all the mantids crawling all over it!

And the one sitting on the fingernail is precious.


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## ABbuggin

They are cute, they look a lot like L1 gongylus.  

I just had a few more ooth hatch today. I probably have over 70 empusa from two females now! This is only the first half of their ooths hatching!   (they lay small ooths 15 nymphs per ooth max)


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## JoeCapricorn

I am really interested in this species. The males are so cuuute with their feathery antennae!

Do you think you'll have any left at L5 for sale? If I were to get some, I'd only get perhaps one or two males.


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## ABbuggin

JoeCapricorn said:


> I am really interested in this species. The males are so cuuute with their feathery antennae! Do you think you'll have any left at L5 for sale? If I were to get some, I'd only get perhaps one or two males.


Sorry, all I have right now are L1-L3. I will be selling L2's very soon.


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## JoeCapricorn

ABbuggin said:


> Sorry, all I have right now are L1-L3. I will be selling L2's very soon.


I was wondering about L5 or later because I definitely only want a male for those cool feathery antennae.

Although not entirely sure, since in late December I'll be going to Alabama and I'm going to have to take any mantises with me (I currently have 4 baby sphodromantis centralis and 1 adult female Chinese). From what I hear, Empusa need to be very warm, so if I were to theoretically have one of the fellas, I'd need some way to keep them warm during the 14-hour+ drive to Alabama. Then there is actually being in Alabama, while a warmer place than Pennsylvania, still probably need a way to warm the Empusa up.

Probably best if I wait until after Alabama for any new mantises... so do you think you might have any males around early January? How big might they be?


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## ABbuggin

JoeCapricorn said:


> I was wondering about L5 or later because I definitely only want a male for those cool feathery antennae.Although not entirely sure, since in late December I'll be going to Alabama and I'm going to have to take any mantises with me (I currently have 4 baby sphodromantis centralis and 1 adult female Chinese). From what I hear, Empusa need to be very warm, so if I were to theoretically have one of the fellas, I'd need some way to keep them warm during the 14-hour+ drive to Alabama. Then there is actually being in Alabama, while a warmer place than Pennsylvania, still probably need a way to warm the Empusa up.
> 
> Probably best if I wait until after Alabama for any new mantises... so do you think you might have any males around early January? How big might they be?


I'm not sure how long I will be selling the Empusa. I am about to start selling them. Since I won't be charging for as near as much as they are worth, they will go quickly. I may be selling violin manitds in January, it depends when the ooths hatch.


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## ABbuggin

They are now for sale (see my add in the for sale section)


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## ABbuggin

Time for an update on these lovely fellas.  

Had a few requests wanting to see how I kept them. You can see the container to the right is full of my gongylus ooths incubating next to the Empusa's lamp. The container inside of the net cage is a fruit fly culture. Feeds the mantids for at least a month.  






And now for my 2nd gen.  











L5 or L6 female lost count &gt;_&lt;











A male of the same age.






I apologize for the blurry pics. Empusa are just like gongylus as being photography nightmares. They NEVER sit still.


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## yeatzee

Possibly the most impressive crown out of all the species I know of. Looks almost like a religious headdress or something :lol:


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## ABbuggin

I agree. An adult females crown is actually more than twice the length of her head! :blink:


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## Chien_Ming Lee

Wow!

They look like Violins.

Nice pic :lol:


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## ABbuggin

Thanks. Both Gongylus and Empusa are in the same family, so naturally, they share a lot of similarities.


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## sbugir

Hey AB,

Have you tried keeping the Empusa and Gongylus together?


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## ABbuggin

lemmiwinks said:


> Hey AB,
> 
> Have you tried keeping the Empusa and Gongylus together?


To some extent. I actually have a gongylus male that it ahead of all my other nymphs (considerably larger) and I'm keeping him with my sub empusa. A female sub-adult empusa is basically the same size as a male sub-adult gongylus.  

I really should post some pics of my 2nd gen sub adult empusa soon.


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## neps

Great images, and a nice account of your experience with this beautiful species! Thanks for sharing the info!


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## hibiscusmile

You take such beautiful pictures Andrew!


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## ABbuggin

Thanks guys. B)


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## ABbuggin

Well, I just took a look at my breeding stock. I didn't count, but a few males and females are beginning to get inflated wing buds! :clap: Shouldn't be long before I get adult pairs. ^_^


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