# Meet Mr. Curly!



## Kruszakus (Mar 1, 2009)

For some odd reason, this male's antennae look like this...



























I hope that when she sees Curly's haircut, she won't give him one that he won't remember...
















Well, hope you like it! And I hope to have some babies soon as well!


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## revmdn (Mar 1, 2009)

Very nice.


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## kamakiri (Mar 1, 2009)

He's just trying to match your avatar!


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## Katnapper (Mar 1, 2009)

kamakiri said:


> He's just trying to match your avatar!


 :lol: :lol: :lol: !

Good luck with breeding them, Kruszakus!


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## hibiscusmile (Mar 1, 2009)

woohoo! he thinks hes the easter bunny!


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## Pelle (Mar 2, 2009)

Looks cool :lol: Good luck with them!


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## Kruszakus (Mar 2, 2009)

Well, two days from now I will attempt to mate them - I hope everything will go smoothly


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## yen_saw (Mar 2, 2009)

kamakiri said:


> He's just trying to match your avatar!


 :lol: :lol: :lol: 

For some reason it reminds me of the Grinch  

I remember one of my adult male idolomantis male has the same antenna too. It is probably happen during molting when blood pumping towards the entire body fail to reach the antennae (before it gets harden) so instead of straight antennae you have bends one. Best of luck with breeding.


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## Gurd (Mar 2, 2009)

Cool pics, best of luck with them mate


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## Emile.Wilson (Mar 2, 2009)

Nice good luck!


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## Dinora (Mar 3, 2009)

Kruszakus said:


> Well, two days from now I will attempt to mate them - I hope everything will go smoothly


I'd love to purchase one from you if a baby has that same curly 'do!

Keep me in mind, please!


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## Kruszakus (Mar 3, 2009)

Another male molted today - molted just about fine too, I hope he will be ready to mate one week from now.

Yesterday morning wing-buds on my other female were totally flat, in just about 30 hours they became thick as heck, and her abdomen totally changed in shape (it has flattened, and the copula is now more visible, like always just before molting into adult), and she molted into sub-adult only 9 days ago! They are some really quick developers once put in 35C...

*EDIT: I introduced the male to the female yesterday - he was not ready. But today it's a different story, as they are in copula right now. Keep your fingers crossed!*


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## yen_saw (Mar 4, 2009)

COngrate! Female will start to deposit ootheca soon after mating. and ootheca can hatch in as little as 2 weeks (in my case). Good luck! Here are couple of my E. fasciata pics taken about a year ago.

The adult male






Mating


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## Kruszakus (Mar 5, 2009)

I already PM'd you telling that she laid an ooth hours after mating. The ooth is quite big, about 16-18 mm long (and for some reason this female underwent one molt less and is barely 6 cm, so for her it's big), but I did feed her a lot with flies fed with honey and coated in pollen for 10 days, so it might be that.

I shall incubate the ooth in 28-30C, and re-mate the female a couple of times - I really want to have the 2nd generation


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## Katnapper (Mar 5, 2009)

Congrats on the mating and ooth, Kruszakus!!  Looks like you're off to a good start for the second generation.


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## yen_saw (Mar 5, 2009)

Kruszakus said:


> I already PM'd you telling that she laid an ooth hours after mating. The ooth is quite big, about 16-18 mm long (and for some reason this female underwent one molt less and is barely 6 cm, so for her it's big), but I did feed her a lot with flies fed with honey and coated in pollen for 10 days, so it might be that.I shall incubate the ooth in 28-30C, and re-mate the female a couple of times - I really want to have the 2nd generation


Ah i just read the PM  16-18 mm seems a little too big, it may not be a good sign but i hope they hatch out for you. Keep the ooth the same condition as the adult and just be patient  cos it only takes 2 weeks to hatch


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## Kruszakus (Mar 5, 2009)

Just like with the 20 cm gag, I exaggerated a bit...

I measured it now, seemed to be a lot bigger, but actually it's about 13 mm, still - it is kinda long...

Funny thing was, after depositing this large ooth, the female was still really fat...

*EDIT: They mated yet again. This time it lasted for a bit more than an hour, maybe that's the normal timespan for them. Next week I'm gonna introduce the other male to her.*


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## Kruszakus (Apr 1, 2009)

Eh...

Mr. Curly is dead. One of the females died shortly after reaching adulhood, and the other female did not produce any fertile ooths - what a bummer.

Guess that next time I need to get ahold of more specimen.


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## yen_saw (Apr 1, 2009)

Awwww bummer!! sorry  

I hope to travel to europe one day and be able to collect Empusa sp. in Spain or France. Hopefully you have better luck next time don't give up.


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## Kruszakus (Apr 1, 2009)

yen_saw said:


> Awwww bummer!! sorry  I hope to travel to europe one day and be able to collect Empusa sp. in Spain or France. Hopefully you have better luck next time don't give up.


There must be some breeders over in Spain who would be willing to go oit and collect some Empusa.

I never gave up - but I think that the fact that the previous owner brought them into diapause with flat abdomens, and 3 molts before adulthood might have screwed up those nymphs. Out of 5 pairs only 2 made it through diapause. It's a shame, but at least I know I can provide the proper conditions for them - having a cool cellar can be very helpful


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## hibiscusmile (Apr 1, 2009)

Will keep an eye open for good news from you on that!


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