# Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay



## PseudoDave (Aug 18, 2005)

Hi all,

Who was in chat last night whilst I was depressed about my last gravid Pseudocreabotre wahlbergii dying? Well, her legacy lives on my friends... Her second ooth is hatching as i type this. About 25 so far, one little dead guy who didnt make it out of the ooth completely, and a few more still coming out. Has cheered me up a bit, now all I can do is raise these little ones as best I can, wahoooo.

Regards,

Dave


----------



## Samzo (Aug 18, 2005)

Congrats mate


----------



## Ian (Aug 18, 2005)

nice one buddy  You will have to post some pix of it hatching, or...was it to late?

Cheers,

Ian


----------



## PseudoDave (Aug 18, 2005)

Not too late as such Ian, but my camera is no longer with us, it's gone to silicone heaven... Does anyone else find that electrical stuff ALWAYS breaks just as the warranty runs out? :x

It seems i judged the young one still on the ooth too soon, not dead, just having a rest. He's now walking around with his siblings  

Since this is my first time breeding this particular species, can anyone tell me any tips on these? How soon do they tend to start feeding? I've noticed they've all had a drink from the moist towel in the bottom of the pot/incubator and now are wandering around and then remaining still. If it's going to be a day or so before main feeding then it will help me seeing as the shop hasn't got fruitfly's at the moment and whenever I WANT aphids and blackfly to infest my plants, they dont!!! grrrr.... My entire garden looks pest free for once, right when I need little pests


----------



## yen_saw (Aug 18, 2005)

Hey Dave... finally!!!  Glad to hear her legacy lives on pal. COngrate!!

They start to feed and drink the next day. They are able to take larger fruit flies but i would go for smaller fruit flies for the first few meals. All the best!


----------



## PseudoDave (Aug 19, 2005)

Some more hatched from the ooth last night, bringing my total to 32 babies, most chuffed


----------



## willgood (Aug 19, 2005)

are you going to be selling any?


----------



## Ian (Aug 19, 2005)

nice one dave....out of interest, what are you rearing the nymphs in?

Cheers,

Ian


----------



## PseudoDave (Aug 19, 2005)

willgood: The nymphs would have been for sale but only within europe mate, they are now all spoken for, apart from the 5 i'm keeping for myself that is but i'm very keen on this species so there's no doubt i'll breed some again soon, ootheca i'd be able to send to places other than europe, but not the nymphs.

Ian: The nymphs are all in a medium sized geo at the moment with lots of twigs and eco-earth substrate, with a mesh lid.

Have already lost a couple of course, nature never lets all nymphs that hatch survive, have already witnessed cannibalism! Saw a little guy getting munched by his brother, another nymph walked near him so he abandoned his meal, now he's just staring at his brothers half eaten body, nice... :twisted:


----------



## willgood (Aug 19, 2005)

ok, i might want to buy an ooth once i become more experienced in this whole mantis thing


----------



## Ian (Aug 19, 2005)

dave....ever thought of using a butterfly net? Makes rearing piece of cake until bout L3, when I split them up. I will be stocking up on some rather large tos ay the least nets at the AES  

Cheers,

Ian


----------



## PseudoDave (Aug 20, 2005)

The geos with the mesh serve well, dont fix that which is not broken.


----------



## PseudoDave (Aug 20, 2005)

A few of the nymphs are now enjoying some 'gnats' from the pond. Sweep nets are so useful.

They're getting the most varied, probably most healthy diet of all my nymphs ever (apart from my hymenopus which always had this food), so hopefully they'll be nice and strong....and grateful!

Dave


----------



## PseudoDave (Aug 24, 2005)

I've had to seperate my nymphs already. Even with a constant and steady supply of food they have been taking eachother out all over the place. There is plenty of room but they all tend to gather in one area of twigs they seem to like and then the 'fighting' begins. It cant happen after today  At least this way i know that they're all getting individual food, I was planning on having to seperate them this early though.

Dave


----------



## Peekaboo (Aug 24, 2005)

Congrats on the successful hatch! Are you going to try any color experiments with the little guys? I hope to try that out in the future one day, quite possibly when I don't have as many mantids as I do now.

By the way, this is extremely off topic, but what does the word "chuffed" mean?


----------



## PseudoDave (Aug 24, 2005)

hehe, chuffed means 'happy, pleased', just in a british, commoner kinda way  

I wasnt planning on any colour experiments with these, I tried many in the past and didnt notice anything. Though there may have been a slight effect in H.coronatus at one point. Nowadays I tend to just keep them all the same, still seeing variations anyway.

Regards,

Dave


----------



## ibanez_freak (Aug 24, 2005)

he he,

my friend used the word chuffed a lot and then his drum teacher told him that "chuffed" means to be sexually fulfilled lol.

I'll delete this if it "insults" any one. Sorry wanted to share lol.

Cammie.


----------



## PseudoDave (Aug 25, 2005)

lol, i'd be chuffed being sexually fulfilled, so he was right...

The remaining pw nymphs are greedy, and very strong. I love the fact that though they're the size of a large ant, they will happily sit there waving their arms at me in defense


----------



## DMJ (Aug 25, 2005)

I thought the arm waving thing was a form of backing down or telling another PW "Dont eat me". I saw it on a video when 2 Otomantis sp. ran into eachother.


----------



## PseudoDave (Aug 25, 2005)

Pretty much any species does it, particularly when this young. I've seen them do it to fruit flys, crickets, eachother and me... I personally don't believe that it's a 'form of communication' to avoid eating a member of the same species, I think it's just a threat/defense display, that works, especially against another mantis who knows full well what it could mean if they got too close.

Dave


----------



## yen_saw (Aug 25, 2005)

yeah the arm waving thing is very common in spiny flower mantis hatchling. It is like telling other PW "Hey, Wanna get a piece of me?" :lol:


----------

