# Gongylus, gongylodes



## ABbuggin (Jul 25, 2008)

Well here are a few pics of some L1's. I'll post some more again when I have some L2's. B) 












Here's a pic of some that are hatching from the 1st. ooth


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## idolomantis (Jul 25, 2008)

already has lobs on the abdomen *jelous*


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## ABbuggin (Jul 25, 2008)

idolomantis said:


> already has lobs on the badomen *jelous*


You should see the ones on their legs.


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## mrblue (Jul 26, 2008)

my favourite species!


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## Pelle (Jul 26, 2008)

Nice pics, good luck with them!


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## chrisboy101 (Jul 26, 2008)

cute


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## darkspeed (Jul 26, 2008)

chrisboy101 said:


> cute


very


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## MANTIS DUDE (Jul 26, 2008)

Forgive me, but im not good with the scientific names. :lol: Is there a non scientific name for that mantid? Im guessing small devils flower mantid.


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## idolomantis (Jul 26, 2008)

MANTIS DUDE said:


> Forgive me, but im not good with the scientific names. :lol: Is there a non scientific name for that mantid? Im guessing small devils flower mantid.


eeeeeehhhhh! an F- for names, wandering violin mantis XD

it aint a flower mantis ant it aint small. lol it grows up to 5 inches. its cryptic


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## Thorska (Jul 26, 2008)

everyone i know here in the UK calls them "Indian Rose Mantids" but i definately think that "Violin Mantis/Wandering Violin Mantis" is a much better common name


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## ABbuggin (Jul 26, 2008)

MANTIS DUDE said:


> Forgive me, but im not good with the scientific names. :lol: Is there a non scientific name for that mantid? Im guessing small devils flower mantid.





Thorska said:


> everyone i know here in the UK calls them "Indian Rose Mantids" but i definately think that "Violin Mantis/Wandering Violin Mantis" is a much better common name


I've always known their common name to be Wondering Violin Mantis (but I call them violin mantids for short)


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## obregon562 (Jul 27, 2008)

> it aint a flower mantis ant it aint small. lol it grows up to 5 inches. its cryptic


5 in.? really? i missed that!

Great looking mantids AB!


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## mrblue (Jul 27, 2008)

mine have reached 3 inches at best.


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## ABbuggin (Jul 27, 2008)

They are now L2, I'll post pics when I get back home from a trip.


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## The_Asa (Jul 27, 2008)

5 inches? :blink: I thought it was closer to 3 and 1/2


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## ABbuggin (Jul 27, 2008)

The_Asa said:


> 5 inches? :blink: I thought it was closer to 3 and 1/2


The females reach 10 cm. wich is 4 in.


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## ABbuggin (Jul 27, 2008)

double post


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## mrblue (Jul 27, 2008)

i must not be feeding them right as this is the biggest girl i ever had   :






ps - its long dead, not crippled.


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## The_Asa (Jul 27, 2008)

That's what I thought the size was-Mrblue's pic.


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## idolomantis (Jul 27, 2008)

they do get bigger then that.


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## collinchang635 (Aug 4, 2008)

Really cool pics!


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## ABbuggin (Aug 4, 2008)

I Like Mantis said:


> Really cool pics!


Thanks! I forgot to post pics (forgive me lol) so I'll put some up later on today.

AB

PS. I'm actually expecting some 3rd instars pretty soon. B)


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## mrblue (Aug 5, 2008)

just thought i'd post a few new photos here, hope you dont mind, i didn't think it was worth starting a whole new thread.


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## idolomantis (Aug 5, 2008)

me want.


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## mantidsandgeckos (Aug 6, 2008)

idolomantis said:


> me want.


me too


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## Mantis_Whisper (Aug 6, 2008)

I've always wanted one of this species, but they're so hard to find and so expensive. :angry: 

Beautiful picture though.


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## ABbuggin (Aug 6, 2008)

Here you guys go, 3rd instars now.  






I love their yellow eyes!






might save this photo for the yearly competition  






notice the color inside their forearms


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## The_Asa (Aug 6, 2008)

Very nice!


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## ABbuggin (Aug 7, 2008)

Ok this is weird, I just had a gongy shed to L3 and it is _green_! I have never seen a green gongy. lol

I'm amazed at their color variations. So far I have: a red one, a green one, some very dark brown (almost black), some that are a chocolate brown, and a bunch of the normal tan color.

I'll post pics of them later on today


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## Giosan (Aug 7, 2008)

ABbuggin said:


> Ok this is weird, I just had a gongy shed to L3 and it is _green_! I have never seen a green gongy. lolI'm amazed at their color variations. So far I have: a red one, a green one, some very dark brown (almost black), some that are a chocolate brown, and a bunch of the normal tan color.
> 
> I'll post pics of them later on today


Really wanna see those pics  Try to get a shot with all of them in a row so we can see the difference even better!


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## ABbuggin (Aug 7, 2008)

Giosan said:


> Really wanna see those pics  Try to get a shot with all of them in a row so we can see the difference even better!


I will definitely take a pic of each color variation. Taking a pic with all color variations in the same shot could be diffucult, they dont like standing still once you move them. :lol:


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## The_Asa (Aug 7, 2008)

Do that! I eagerly await  I have never seen a green one before. A green adult would be very impressive!


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## collinchang635 (Aug 9, 2008)

The_Asa said:


> Do that! I eagerly await  I have never seen a green one before. A green adult would be very impressive!


Yeah!  I would love to see one too! :lol:


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## idolomantis (Aug 9, 2008)

hey you lazy one we are waiting here


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## collinchang635 (Aug 9, 2008)

GGAAHHHHH! I can't take it!!!! Must see green gongy!!!!!


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## idolomantis (Aug 9, 2008)

I Like Mantis said:


> GGAAHHHHH! I can't take it!!!! Must see green gongy!!!!!


*trows water in your face* you ok?


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## ABbuggin (Aug 9, 2008)

lol you guys are funny.  I have been very busy the past few days.

I'm uploading the pic now.


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## idolomantis (Aug 9, 2008)

ABbuggin said:


> lol you guys are funny.  I have been very busy the past few days. I'm uploading the pic now.


we know, we dont know and great


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## ABbuggin (Aug 9, 2008)

Time for more pics (L3)  






uncropped mug shot  






one of the darker color versions






double fisted  






profile shot






finally the green one B)


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## The_Asa (Aug 9, 2008)

That's a cool mantis

now make it a darker shade of green


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## ABbuggin (Aug 9, 2008)

The_Asa said:


> That's a cool mantisnow make it a darker shade of green


I'll give it a shot. I really want a black/very dark brown and a dark green gongy. B)


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## collinchang635 (Aug 9, 2008)

Oooooo..... I like the green one. :lol:


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## Dixon Wragg (Aug 11, 2008)

idolomantis said:


> already has lobs on the badomen


Uh-oh; that's a bad omen!

Sorry--couldn't stop myself.


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## idolomantis (Aug 11, 2008)

Dixon Wragg said:


> Uh-oh; that's a bad omen!Sorry--couldn't stop myself.


ooooh [email protected] thank for noticing O_O


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## mrblue (Aug 11, 2008)

heres one of my green girls (its only the girls that seem to turn green, ive never seen a boy turn green).


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## ABbuggin (Aug 11, 2008)

I just looked at my 12 gongys and I have 6 male and 6 female.


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## idolomantis (Aug 11, 2008)

oh lmao lucky


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## riegs22 (Aug 11, 2008)

SUCH a cool species,

I just got to keep telling myself one day.

hope breeding all goes well good luck.


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## collinchang635 (Aug 12, 2008)

ABbuggin said:


> I just looked at my 12 gongys and I have 6 male and 6 female.


You're really lucky!  I have three ant mantids and I think all of them are female. :blink:


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## ABbuggin (Aug 12, 2008)

I Like Mantis said:


> You're really lucky!  I have three ant mantids and I think all of them are female. :blink:


Well, its about time I had some good luck. About a month ago I had 15 New Zealand mantids set aside for breeding purposes, all were male. :angry: I also have 4 Arizona Unicorn mantids that I won in a contest, all are male.  At least I've worked it out to get females for both sp.


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## mrblue (Aug 12, 2008)

ABbuggin said:


> About a month ago I had 15 New Zealand mantids set aside for breeding purposes, all were male


    you win, hands down. the worst luck i ever had was 6 males of a species, and then 5 males of another species. 6/6 split is pretty good though, i hope you can make these more available in usa and bring the prices down.


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## obregon562 (Aug 12, 2008)

gorgeous bugs AB! i wish you much luck! ill be the first (or second or third...haha!) to buy some of your second generation!  

Oh, and you gave ME one of your female NZs!


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## ABbuggin (Aug 15, 2008)

Got my first L4 yesterday!  Should have a few more today!


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## ABbuggin (Aug 15, 2008)

I just got another L4 and it is SUPER green!! It is the greenest gongy I've ever seen (even in pics). I will post pictures later on today.


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## idolomantis (Aug 15, 2008)

the more i read this stuff the more i want them


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## ABbuggin (Aug 16, 2008)

Time for pics.  

I just realized that the gongylus are shedding to L4 after just 6 days! I must be keeping them perfect because I thought this species grew slowly.  

The green in most of the pics is paled because of my cameras stupid flash...but i did get one pic of its natural hue. B) 





















That is its natural hue :wub: :blink:


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## mrblue (Aug 16, 2008)

i'm no expert but unless you have a really good flash that you can control and is made for macro type stuff then it often ends up making the shot very washed out. try taking some with no flash, depending on how much light is around you may get some blur but even just one desk lamp should be fine (though this can often make the pictures very high contrast dark/light, with the light being very stark (unless you somehow soften the lamps light). but a couple of lamps or even just natural light yields better results (in my opinion) and truer colours. unless there is no way of turning the flash off on your camera in which case i don't really know what to suggest. maybe still do the same (shoot in bright natural light so the camera does not feel the need to use flash). try it out, would be good to get some green gongy pics, havent seen many around.


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## ABbuggin (Aug 16, 2008)

Hmmmmm, now that I look at it, photobucket really paled the pics.  New pics will have to wait because my camera is down now.


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## mrblue (Aug 16, 2008)

if you think photobucket somehow distorts or compresses your pics, you might want to try flickr, its also free and useful.


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## collinchang635 (Aug 18, 2008)

Hope your mantid becomes dark green!


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## mrblue (Aug 20, 2008)

got my first ooth on monday, very happy :lol:


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## collinchang635 (Aug 20, 2008)

mrblue said:


> got my first ooth on monday, very happy :lol:


Is it fertile?


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## ABbuggin (Aug 20, 2008)

Nice.  Is it just me, or does it look small?


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## mrblue (Aug 20, 2008)

it is small compared to some other species ootheca (only about 1cm main body length) and slightly small compared to the norm with this species, but i have never had a g.gongylodes ootheca longer than about 2cm (main body length, minus the foam and that spike thing they end it with).

EDIT: ilikemantis - it is fertile to the best of my knowledge (female was mated before laying it).

EDIT: the same female laid another ootheca of the same size earlier to day, only 4 days after the first. this brings to mind a topic sometime last year about size of p.wahlbergii ooths. somebody suggested that some females wait longer between laying but lay longer oothecae, while some females (for whatever reason) lay more frequent, shorter oothecae. anyway this is the shortest interval between oothecae i have ever experienced (of any species).


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## tnienhaus (Aug 20, 2008)

they're all so beautiful


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## The_Asa (Aug 20, 2008)

mrblue said:


> EDIT: the same female laid another ootheca of the same size earlier to day, only 4 days after the first. this brings to mind a topic sometime last year about size of p.wahlbergii ooths. somebody suggested that some females wait longer between laying but lay longer oothecae, while some females (for whatever reason) lay more frequent, shorter oothecae. anyway this is the shortest interval between oothecae i have ever experienced (of any species).


I haven't seen anything shorter than 4 days before. I imagined it could happen but I didn't think it would be of this species. You are feeding her very well?


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## mrblue (Aug 21, 2008)

The_Asa said:


> I haven't seen anything shorter than 4 days before. I imagined it could happen but I didn't think it would be of this species. You are feeding her very well?


yes, i try to keep all my mantids as well fed as possible (especially mated females, and excluding of course males that i am trying to slow down). maybe it has something to do with the fact she is being kept in a container with one other mated female and one adult male? my girlfriend supposed that laying more, smaller oothecae may be a reaction to the "competition" in the same container? she thought maybe a female that feels unthreatened may be willing to "put more of her eggs in one basket" (if you will) so will lay longer oothecae, than one that feels in some way threatened or that these are not ideal conditions for the young, and so lays more smaller ones in different places to kind of "hedge her bets" or "cover all bases"? this is just COMPLETE SPECUALTION of course, just something we were discussing. it would be nice to get other peoples thoughts.


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## The_Asa (Aug 21, 2008)

mrblue said:


> yes, i try to keep all my mantids as well fed as possible (especially mated females, and excluding of course males that i am trying to slow down). maybe it has something to do with the fact she is being kept in a container with one other mated female and one adult male? my girlfriend supposed that laying more, smaller oothecae may be a reaction to the "competition" in the same container? she thought maybe a female that feels unthreatened may be willing to "put more of her eggs in one basket" (if you will) so will lay longer oothecae, than one that feels in some way threatened or that these are not ideal conditions for the young, and so lays more smaller ones in different places to kind of "hedge her bets" or "cover all bases"? this is just COMPLETE SPECUALTION of course, just something we were discussing. it would be nice to get other peoples thoughts.


That's an interesting idea. Amusing that your girlfriend came up with it :lol: I usually keep my mantids seperate, even if communal, so I can't really add anything to your speculation.


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## Kruszakus (Aug 21, 2008)

I think Gongylus are a bit gay...


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## idolomantis (Aug 21, 2008)

O_O lmfao why?


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## Kruszakus (Aug 21, 2008)

Because that's probably why I like them so much, hehehe


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## idolomantis (Aug 21, 2008)

Kruszakus said:


> That's probably because why I like them so much, hehehe


 :lol: :lol: :lol: LMFAO!!!


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## ABbuggin (Sep 2, 2008)

Got the first 5th instars over the holiday weekend. :wub: I'll post pics later on today.


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## ABbuggin (Sep 2, 2008)

Pics of my first 5th instars:





















Soon to be 5th instars.  

They are all one instar ahead of scedule according to Teir.


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## ABbuggin (Sep 16, 2008)

got my first 6th instar today!  I'll post pics soon.

They are almost adults! :wub:


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## Kruszakus (Sep 16, 2008)

You are kinda slow  I got mine as L3 or L4 four weeks ago and even the females are just about to turn sub-adult, two males are already sub - gut-loading does the trick


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## ABbuggin (Sep 22, 2008)

Kruszakus said:


> You are kinda slow  I got mine as L3 or L4 four weeks ago and even the females are just about to turn sub-adult, two males are already sub - gut-loading does the trick


6th instar is sub-adult for the males.  The past months I havn't had to bother with gut loading, I've been catching wild food, much better than the same diet over and over again.  That will change in a few weeks though, it's beginning to get cool here.


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## Kruszakus (Sep 23, 2008)

Have you got female's sub-adult wingbuds close up pictures? I'd fancy seeing that.


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## ABbuggin (Sep 23, 2008)

Kruszakus said:


> Have you got female's sub-adult wingbuds close up pictures? I'd fancy seeing that.


Not yet, my males are sub-adult, but the females are sub-sub.


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## mrblue (Sep 23, 2008)

Kruszakus said:


> Have you got female's sub-adult wingbuds close up pictures? I'd fancy seeing that.


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## Kruszakus (Sep 23, 2008)

mrblue said:


>


I have Idolomorpha adults, which are 8 cm long. L6 Gongylus (pre-sub) are far bigger than sub-adult Idolomorpha (that includes the males as well). Jesus - how big do those beasts gonna get? 11 cm?


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## idolomantis (Sep 23, 2008)

Kruszakus said:


> I have Idolomorpha adults, which are 8 cm long. L6 Gongylus (pre-sub) are far bigger than sub-adult Idolomorpha (that includes the males as well). Jesus - how big do those beasts gonna get? 11 cm?


thats possible.

9-12 cm


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## Kruszakus (Sep 23, 2008)

idolomantis said:


> thats possible.9-12 cm


Yeah, I noticed signifficant differences in size between some of my females - eighter some are small, or I have one really big girl - she looks to be about 1/4 larger than the other females.

Man, all those people looking for an interesting species should consider getting this one - I've not been so excited about any species since I got Idolomorpha last year


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## idolomantis (Sep 23, 2008)

Kruszakus said:


> Yeah, I noticed signifficant differences in size between some of my females - eighter some are small, or I have one really big girl - she looks to be about 1/4 larger than the other females.Man, all those people looking for an interesting species should consider getting this one - I've not been so excited about any species since I got Idolomorpha last year


yeah i want them, but i first need to set up a heatlamp.


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