# Gray Ghost nymphs?



## agent A (Aug 6, 2012)

hey all, i have 9 ghosts left and a friend here also has 1 so in CT we have 10 and i noticed a few have taken on a lighter brownish gray color with a bit of greenish in between segments

these nymphs r L3/L4 now

r they on the road to becoming green nymphs??


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## frogparty (Aug 6, 2012)

No one can honestly answer that. Likely they'll stay similar to what they are now


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## frogparty (Aug 6, 2012)

No one can honestly answer that. Likely they'll stay similar to what they are now


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## rSon (Aug 7, 2012)

take some pics if you can


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## Mime454 (Aug 7, 2012)

I have one L5 Ghost mantid like this right now. He keeps getting progressively more brown with each day though.


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## Orin (Aug 7, 2012)

At L4 you can usually tell. If you're not sure they're probably not.


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## agent A (Aug 7, 2012)

rSon said:


> take some pics if you can


ok but first i gotta get new batteries for my flash


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## Mime454 (Aug 7, 2012)

I just had a ghost turn green yesterday after a molt. Do they ever turn back? It's L4.


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## Orin (Aug 7, 2012)

They can change back if kept dry or the cage decorations are changed. Also, the males always change back to brown (or at least a very dark brown green) at adulthood.


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## Mime454 (Aug 7, 2012)

Orin said:


> They can change back if kept dry or the cage decorations are changed. Also, the males always change back to brown (or at least a very dark brown green) at adulthood.


Why are there no green males? Is there an Evolutionary reason for it?


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## Orin (Aug 7, 2012)

Mime454 said:


> Why are there no green males? Is there an Evolutionary reason for it?


 Evolution does not reason. However, males don't stay green at maturity likely because their shape no longer resembles leaves and they'd stand out rather than blend in.


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## agent A (Aug 7, 2012)

Orin said:


> Evolution does not reason. However, males don't stay green at maturity likely because their shape no longer resembles leaves and they'd stand out rather than blend in.


i thought only females could be green to begin with...


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## Norlin (Aug 7, 2012)

If males were to not remain green because of their shape, wouldn't it stand to reason that females would face the same evolutionary process since they pretty much also do not resemble leaves any more?


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## Orin (Aug 7, 2012)

Norlin said:


> If males were to not remain green because of their shape, wouldn't it stand to reason that females would face the same evolutionary process since they pretty much also do not resemble leaves any more?


I'm guessing you're not familiar with this species nor how adults and nymphs appear?


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## Norlin (Aug 7, 2012)

Yep, only have four nymphs so far, three male and one female and all brown, no green so am only familiar with the nymph form and pictures of the adult form. The female has that extra "leafy" bit at the abdomen, but still the straight lines from the wings. So what I'm getting at is if the reasoning is that evolution rejected green for adult males based on the fact that they no longer look like leaves, wouldn't it have done so for the female as well? While the female may have somewhat more resemblance to a leaf, I'd still say as an adult the move away from the very leaf-like imitation of the nymph form, do they not?


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## Norlin (Aug 7, 2012)

Orin said:


> Evolution does not reason. However, males don't stay green at maturity likely because their shape no longer resembles leaves and they'd stand out rather than blend in.


Just to be clear, I'm not trying to dispute this hypothesis, just genuinely cuirious as to why it might not also apply to the female ghost.


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## Orin (Aug 7, 2012)

Norlin said:


> Just to be clear, I'm not trying to dispute this hypothesis, just genuinely cuirious as to why it might not also apply to the female ghost.


 The female looks like a big nymph with wings that blend into the body. The male is a big sheet of rectangular wings and does not resemble the nymph. If you think they look the same then we simply differ in our opinion of their appearance.


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## Norlin (Aug 7, 2012)

Orin said:


> The female looks like a big nymph with wings that blend into the body. The male is a big sheet of rectangular wings and does not resemble the nymph. If you think they look the same then we simply differ in our opinion of their appearance.


I'll have to wait until mine reach adulthood to form a solid opinion, so far everything is just based off of pictures for me


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## TySAAAN (Aug 18, 2012)

I remember hearing that only females are green. Well the person that I got it from told me to keep misting and keep it humid so its final molt will be green.


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## agent A (Aug 18, 2012)

my stercore colored female is shifting to a green color...


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## brancsikia339 (Aug 18, 2012)

You can't ever be able to fully tell what color your ghost is going to be until subadult or adult. Most if not all change their colors often in early instars


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## TySAAAN (Aug 19, 2012)

agent A said:


> hey all, i have 9 ghosts left and a friend here also has 1 so in CT we have 10 and i noticed a few have taken on a lighter brownish gray color with a bit of greenish in between segments
> 
> these nymphs r L3/L4 now
> 
> r they on the road to becoming green nymphs??


You should take a picture! That sounds really cool


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## petoly (Aug 19, 2012)

I noticed exactly what you are describing before my now adult ghost turned green. Just before it went to subadult it was still brown but it had some feint green specs. On the next Shed it was fully green (subadult) and when it became adult it still maintained it's green coloration.


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