# Mio Mania!



## dgerndt (Mar 24, 2011)

I wanted to show off some of my favorite pictures of my little mios! I started with an adult female (unmated) and six L1 nymphs back in the beginning of November, 2010. Here are the results!

Cleopatra, adult female (unmated)

















Sadly, she passed away a few months ago. But before she went, she laid some ooths and they hatched! Here is one of her "clones" at L5.











(More photos to come)


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## dgerndt (Mar 24, 2011)

Next, here are my surviving nymphs.

Frito, female L2 (next to a L2-L3 molt and Cleopatra's first ooth)






Frito, L4











Frito, L7 (sub-adult)











Frito, molting to L8 (adult)






Frito, L8 (finally an adult!)
















(poopin'!  )


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## dgerndt (Mar 24, 2011)

Romanesco, L4 male. He had a bad molt, so I had to hand feed him.











Romanesco, L6











Romanesco, L7 (adult)
















I'm so proud of all my little mios!  

P.S. I apologize for the poor picture quality. My camera isn't so great at macros. &lt;_&lt;


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## psyconiko (Mar 24, 2011)

It is a really cute mantis!I have some(females only).Have you watched the male flying?it is really beautiful.They can live up to one year(female).


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## dgerndt (Mar 24, 2011)

Nikkko said:


> It is a really cute mantis!I have some(females only).Have you watched the male flying?it is really beautiful.They can live up to one year(female).


Yes, it really is pretty. It was actually really hard to get pictures of my male because he kept trying to fly to the corner of my room! :lol:


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## lancaster1313 (Mar 25, 2011)

I like the 2nd photo of Romanesco as an adult, he looks handsome with his posture and the way his antennae stand tall. :wub:


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## Marianna (Mar 25, 2011)

I loved seeing your pictures! How many do you have?????? Do they wear little nametags so you know who they are???


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## dgerndt (Mar 25, 2011)

@likebugs: Thank you! He stands like that a lot now that he's an adult. He's probably looking for a good spot to fly to! :lol: 

@Marianna: I only have two Egyptians left. I sold Frito, my "glow-in-the-dark" green female, to my friend just last night. It was hard seeing her go, especially after I watched her grow up from a tiny little L1 nymph.  

And yes, I make my own tiny "Hello my name is..." name tags for all my mantids. :lol: No, I either write their name on their enclosure, or I remember by small differences. For example, Frito pretty much always had crazy looking antennae; all bent and wavy. Even as an adult, her antennae bend upwards at the ends.


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## MantidLord (Mar 25, 2011)

Great pictures. So the males molt fewer times than the females?


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## hibiscusmile (Mar 25, 2011)

How cute they are, I know just what u mean, it is easy to tell them apart, a mama always knows which baby is which! :lol:


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## dgerndt (Mar 26, 2011)

@MantidLord: Yup! Males molt 6 times, and females molt 7 times. I was so surprised when Frito (my female) made it to L7 and still didn't have wings! :lol: As a result, males are significantly smaller than females.

@Rebbecca: You are so right! I could tell my little mios apart even when they were L1 and all in the same small deli cup. I love my little sweeties! :wub:


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## Precarious (Mar 27, 2011)

Cute little buggers! Nice photos.

And very encouraging to see Romanesco corrected his bad molt. He looks really beautiful as an adult.


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## PhilinYuma (Mar 28, 2011)

Great mantids, and you don't have to apologize for their quality. For hand held, available-light pics, these are excellent!


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## dgerndt (Mar 28, 2011)

@Precarious: Thank you! That means a lot coming from you, with your amazing macro mantis photos.  I never give up on my little mantids! I had to hand-feed him every day, and he was not very willing to eat from a needle. :lol: I was worried about his next molt, but he surprised me with a mid-night molt and it was perfect!

@Phil: Thank you! Natural sunlight is better for my camera, so I had to wait for sunny days. The bad thing is, sunny days are few and far between during Michigan winters.


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## ismart (Mar 28, 2011)

I did not realize how big that ooth was! :blink:


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## dgerndt (Mar 29, 2011)

ismart said:


> I did not realize how big that ooth was! :blink:


Haha, yeah, it was HUGE! It was her first ooth, and it was about the same length as the female who laid it! :blink: Every ooth afterward was smaller, though.


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## Ricardo (Apr 6, 2011)

Very cute ! Why didn't you try and mate them? You didn't want to raise some more?


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## dgerndt (Apr 8, 2011)

I'm going to mate my male with my other remaining female. She's younger, but only by a few molts.


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## dgerndt (Apr 23, 2011)

Both my mios are adults now! I'm going to mate them in a few weeks and give you guys a photo update.


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## Slinkytreekreeper (Apr 27, 2011)

The molt/ooth shot is excellent and I love nymphs on hands as it really helps with scale.


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## dgerndt (Apr 30, 2011)

Thanks!  I tried to be a little artsy with the molt/ooth photo.


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