# First Adult Mesopteryx alata.



## Malakyoma (Feb 10, 2013)

This molt was a surprise. Soup wasn't showing any signs of molting. He ate, his wingbuds weren't swolen, he seemed to be hanging out as normal. On the other hand my majuscula's wings have been swolen for a few days. So I keep checking up on them to see if they're molting yet, and last night when I did my evening misting I found soup molting to adult! Soup is now an adult male mesopteryx, waiting on his lady friends to follow suit.
































I'll post pics of the others when they molt in this thread. Otherwise, any requests?


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## Mime454 (Feb 10, 2013)

Looks almost like an anorexic tenodera.


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## agent A (Feb 10, 2013)

Looks like a tenodera


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## D_Hemptress (Feb 10, 2013)

"soup" i love it name, that great!


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## Danny. (Feb 10, 2013)

Mime454 said:


> Looks almost like an anorexic tenodera.


Or a anorexic limbata in the second pic.


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## twolfe (Feb 10, 2013)

Wow. You have an adult already. I thought mine were ahead of yours, but none of mine have molted to adults yet. I've been raising mine communally though, and they may not get enough food. I noticed they've been giving each other threat poses lately. I may need to separate them.

Soup is an interesting name for a pet mantis...


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## Malakyoma (Feb 10, 2013)

Tammy Wolfe said:


> Wow. You have an adult already. I thought mine were ahead of yours, but none of mine have molted to adults yet. I've been raising mine communally though, and they may not get enough food. I noticed they've been giving each other threat poses lately. I may need to separate them.
> 
> Soup is an interesting name for a pet mantis...


They're that communal you can keep them together to subadult? I never kept any of them together because I didnt want to risk losing a single one to cannibalism. of the 15 I received, only 1 mismolted and I have 14 left. I'm quite happy with that percentage.

For everyone commenting on his name, I like to use part of the scientific name of a species to name them. So here's how I deduced Soup's name

Mesopteryx alata

*Meso*pteryx alata

Meso is like Miso

Miso is a type of Soup

Tada

I'm not very original lol.


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## Malakyoma (Feb 10, 2013)

And yes the males look like Tenodera, but the females are bulkier with stubby wings and bright green. Very different from the males. I can't wait for one of mine to molt so I can show you guys.


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## twolfe (Feb 10, 2013)

Malakyoma said:


> They're that communal you can keep them together to subadult?


I have too many mantids right now to keep all of them separate. I do have my Orchids separated as well as most adults. I have the most problem with cannibalism at L2/L3. These guys crawl all over each other, and even when I was low on food at times, they never tried to grab one another. They do grab flies from each other.

So far I haven't lost any to cannibalism. I sold 6, lost 2 to mismolts (one while I was just away a few days ago), and I have 16 of them left.


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## hierodula (Feb 10, 2013)

How long is he??? Awesome mantis BTW looks great


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## Malakyoma (Feb 11, 2013)

Here's a video of Soup eating a mealworm.

http://youtu.be/sFchwNQp_Zk


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## agent A (Feb 11, 2013)

Tammy Wolfe said:


> I have too many mantids right now to keep all of them separate. I do have my Orchids separated as well as most adults. I have the most problem with cannibalism at L2/L3. These guys crawl all over each other, and even when I was low on food at times, they never tried to grab one another. They do grab flies from each other.So far I haven't lost any to cannibalism. I sold 6, lost 2 to mismolts (one while I was just away a few days ago), and I have 16 of them left.


I'll take a few off your hands if u want :shifty:


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## hibiscusmile (Feb 12, 2013)

Good looking guy! he should be about 7"?


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## Precarious (Feb 12, 2013)

Nice. My second female became adult tonight. The adult male should be ready to breed soon.

I also raised mine communally. Started with 5. Only lost one to a female sub. So long as you give them plenty of space and food they do pretty well together.

They look kind of like a cross between Tenodera and Brunneria. Very long and thin. I got quite a bit of color variation between mine. I'll post photos when I get a chance.

Here's something odd. My first female's wings only extent to about 2/3 the length of the abdomen. The female who molted tonight has wings that cover all but the last segment. Never saw that in any other species. She's definitely female and larger than the males so no mistakes in sexing.


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## agent A (Feb 12, 2013)

Precarious said:


> Here's something odd. My first female's wings only extent to about 2/3 the length of the abdomen. The female who molted tonight has wings that cover all but the last segment. Never saw that in any other species. She's definitely female and larger than the males so no mistakes in sexing.


Gynandromorph???

Its possible...


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## Malakyoma (Feb 12, 2013)

Precarious said:


> Nice. My second female became adult tonight. The adult male should be ready to breed soon.
> 
> I also raised mine communally. Started with 5. Only lost one to a female sub. So long as you give them plenty of space and food they do pretty well together.
> 
> ...


Really? Everything I've seen on the females shows them with stubby little wings that barely reach half their abdomen. I dont have any myself yet but every picture I've seen.


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## Precarious (Feb 13, 2013)

Malakyoma said:


> Really? Everything I've seen on the females shows them with stubby little wings that barely reach half their abdomen. I dont have any myself yet but every picture I've seen.


Positive. Check these photos I just took. As you can see they extend nearly to the end of her abdomen and they lack the bold stripe on the side that the males have. She is 4.5". The male is 4".






No mistaking that is a female abdomen. You can clearly see the spout at the end. Plus the females are much bulkier than males.


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## Malakyoma (Feb 13, 2013)

First time I've ever seen wings on a female that long. then again they ARE new to culture so everything is a learning experience. I plan on keeping mine for a number of generations. Great pics as usual


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## Mime454 (Feb 13, 2013)

Are these as aggressive as Tenodera? They seem pretty neat!


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## Precarious (Feb 13, 2013)

Mime454 said:


> Are these as aggressive as Tenodera? They seem pretty neat!


No. Like I said, I raised them communally. Personally, I think they are more interesting than even the pink Tenodera superstitiosa. More interesting behavior. When nymphs threaten each other they flatten and curl the abdomen like a scorpion tail. I got mine as a gift and I enjoyed them more than I thought I would.

If I can get them bred I'll be selling nymphs.


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## Malakyoma (Feb 13, 2013)

I noticed that too. Their threat display is very much like Scorpion mimicry. I sent a message to Yen about it but he said he thought it was nothing. The way they suck in the sections on their abdomen and the long parts on the tip of the abdomen even look like a stinger. And you may have raised yours communally but mine will hunt down crickets as if they're starving even when they're incredibly fat. Moreso than even my hierodulas do.


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## Precarious (Feb 13, 2013)

Malakyoma said:


> And you may have raised yours communally but mine will hunt down crickets as if they're starving even when they're incredibly fat. Moreso than even my hierodulas do.


They are very aggressive eaters and they can eat more than you'd expect but they don't get aggressive with each other beyond making threats. Yen warned me that the females will become cannibalistic once they get larger than the males but 1 loss out of 5 is about as good as you'll do with just about any species considered communal. None of mine are missing antennae or anything so I know they don't scrap and wrestle like many other species when kept communally.


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## Malakyoma (Feb 13, 2013)

Precarious said:


> They are very aggressive eaters and they can eat more than you'd expect but they don't get aggressive with each other beyond making threats. Yen warned me that the females will become cannibalistic once they get larger than the males but 1 loss out of 5 is about as good as you'll do with just about any species considered communal. None of mine are missing antennae or anything so I know they don't scrap and wrestle like many other species when kept communally.


Then I know what I'm doing next generation. I kept them all separate to avoid losses but if you haven't had many at all then I'll give it a go. I have 13 individuals so if you dont get them bred I will, and I can send some more your way if needed. I plan on keeping them going for a long time though. One of my favorite species.


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## agent A (Feb 13, 2013)

Precarious, the ovipositor of the long wing female is kinda unisually shaped, could u get comparison shots of her ovipositor and a normal short wing female's ovipositor

If they r the same shape, they r both surely females

If they r different, u might have a gynandromorph


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## Precarious (Feb 13, 2013)

agent A said:


> Precarious, the ovipositor of the long wing female is kinda unisually shaped, could u get comparison shots of her ovipositor and a normal short wing female's ovipositor If they r the same shape, they r both surely females If they r different, u might have a gynandromorph


It's a normal ovipositor identical to the other female.


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## agent A (Feb 13, 2013)

Precarious said:


> It's a normal ovipositor identical to the other female.


Aw  

It wouldve been cool if it was a gynandromorph though


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## yen_saw (Feb 13, 2013)

agent A said:


> Aw  It wouldve been cool if it was a gynandromorph though


Sorry to dissappoint you. It is normal to see both half wing or 3/4 wing version from adult female for this species.


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## Precarious (Feb 13, 2013)

yen_saw said:


> Sorry to dissappoint you. It is normal to see both half wing or 3/4 wing version from adult female for this species.


Good to know! Thanx!



agent A said:


> Aw  It wouldve been cool if it was a gynandromorph though


The master has spoken. Now lay your lady-boy fantasies to rest.


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## angelofdeathzz (Feb 13, 2013)

lady-boy...Haha! :lol:


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## agent A (Feb 13, 2013)

Precarious said:


> The master has spoken. Now lay your lady-boy fantasies to rest.


Darn  just normal variation of the species

Maybe next time...


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## yen_saw (Feb 13, 2013)

This type of variation also been spotted on our native species, adult male Litanuetria minor. Although majority have full set of wings.


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## gripen (Feb 13, 2013)

Yen do you still have extra of these?


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## Precarious (Feb 13, 2013)

gripen said:


> Yen do you still have extra of these?


You have to reply to his comment so he knows you've addressed him. I doubt he will check back in on this thread.


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## Mime454 (Feb 13, 2013)

What country do these come from?


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## Malakyoma (Feb 13, 2013)

Mime454 said:


> What country do these come from?


An island southeast of Taiwan.


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## sally (Feb 13, 2013)

yay! soup is really cute.


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## gripen (Feb 13, 2013)

Precarious said:


> You have to reply to his comment so he knows you've addressed him. I doubt he will check back in on this thread.


Thanks for the tip  . I will E-mail him anyway.


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## Malakyoma (Feb 13, 2013)

gripen said:


> Thanks for the tip  . I will E-mail him anyway.


Let me know if he doesn't. I have a female molting to adult and I can send you some when I have them.

Also making a new molt time lapse out of it. Lucky I caught her when I did.


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## gripen (Feb 13, 2013)

Thanks for the offer man


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## yen_saw (Feb 18, 2013)

gripen said:


> Yen do you still have extra of these?


I have ooth i don't need it let me know if you still interested.

Mating pair







Female laying a week ago











Final product






Another ooth from other female


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## Mime454 (Feb 18, 2013)

Wow! I love this species already.


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## Malakyoma (Feb 18, 2013)

Now that I have adult males, looking at that picture lets me know just how huge the females are.


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## yen_saw (Feb 18, 2013)

Malakyoma said:


> Now that I have adult males, looking at that picture lets me know just how huge the females are.


Yeah about 11 cm. Gentle giant.


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## Malakyoma (Feb 18, 2013)

yen_saw said:


> Yeah about 11 cm. Gentle giant.


After what I've seen them do to their food I wouldn't say "gentle"


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## Digger (Feb 18, 2013)

Mike, if your hansome boy decides to get into the marketing profession you can call him (wait for it)......................

-------------------------------------------------

....................................................................................

soupy sales


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## Malakyoma (Feb 21, 2013)

It seems my final ratio is 9 male to 4 female. 6 males are adult, no females yet.


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## twolfe (Feb 21, 2013)

Malakyoma said:


> It seems my final ratio is 9 male to 4 female. 6 males are adult, no females yet.


For most species, a ratio like that would be great.

None of my females has molted to an adult either. But Yen sent me one of his adult females, and she is huge! I had her on the window screen in the laundry room last night. She caught a few of the flies that were loose in the room. Afterwards I started to hand her flies. I was going to feed her until she pushed them away. What an appetite. I finally got tired and went to bed. It's a good thing I got a huge order of flies from Bug Trader.


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## Malakyoma (Feb 21, 2013)

Tammy Wolfe said:


> For most species, a ratio like that would be great.
> 
> None of my females has molted to an adult either. But Yen sent me one of his adult females, and she is huge! I had her on the window screen in the laundry room last night. She caught a few of the flies that were loose in the room. Afterwards I started to hand her flies. I was going to feed her until she pushed them away. What an appetite. I finally got tired and went to bed. It's a good thing I got a huge order of flies from Bug Trader.


I'm stuffing all my females too. 3 are sub one is presub. the sub females are about the size of the adult males lol. I cant wait for some of them to molt.


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## gripen (Feb 21, 2013)

Do you have any pics of the sub females?


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## Malakyoma (Feb 21, 2013)

gripen said:


> Do you have any pics of the sub females?


I'll grab some today. didn't think anyone would be too interested


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## Malakyoma (Feb 21, 2013)

K I snapped some pictures today. Just the one female but I got some good shots.


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## gripen (Feb 21, 2013)

Wow I love the color! They have such tiny heads!


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## aNisip (Feb 21, 2013)

They resemble b borealis so closely! Awesome stuff Yen, Mike, Tammy, and Will!

Cheers,

Andrew


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## twolfe (Feb 21, 2013)

AndrewNisip said:


> They resemble b borealis so closely! Awesome stuff Yen, Mike, Tammy, and Will!
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Andrew


When Yen sold them, he mentioned in his ad, "This species looks like a cross-breed between chinese mantis and Brunneria borealis."

I have a Brunneria borealis in the net by the M alata, and I got confused one day when I saw only one mantis in the net, and I thought it ate its roommate. Then I looked more closely and remembered that I had moved the Brunneria downstairs the day before.


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## Sticky (Feb 22, 2013)

gripen said:


> Wow I love the color! They have such tiny heads!


Yes, they look so dainty! I like thier racing stripes too.


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## Malakyoma (Feb 22, 2013)

Some more shots of the boys:

Archy






Iskie






Tattle






Terry






Mesa











Benedict being a jerk






Soup






Soup, Gimpy, and Rusty. Their favorite spot in the communal cage.






Hope you enjoy. I'll have a video of Benedict's threatening behaviour up in about a half hour.


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## Malakyoma (Feb 22, 2013)

Threat display video:

http://youtu.be/hUZwYj8-s4A


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## Malakyoma (Feb 28, 2013)

One of the females molted to adult yesterday. I just snapped some pictures for you guys. Another female just finished molting and is drying her wings.


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## sally (Feb 28, 2013)

I love the stripes also. So nice when they make it to adult!


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## Precarious (Feb 28, 2013)

The happy handshake...


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## sally (Feb 28, 2013)

That is so amazing.


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## Malakyoma (Feb 28, 2013)

The reprodcuctive organs of males look so weird. like they're constantly hanging out. How long was it before your female started calling?


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## Precarious (Feb 28, 2013)

Malakyoma said:


> The reprodcuctive organs of males look so weird. like they're constantly hanging out. How long was it before your female started calling?


I didn't see any calling but I didn't keep her in clear view. I tried to mate them several times. The male showed interest but didn't try to mount. This time he attacked her as soon as I brought him out. I mean that literally. She was freaked out and striking at me trying to defend herself. I always intervene and catch the strikes to protect the male.

This female became adult 1/31. The male on either the same day or 2/07. I lost track of the males.


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## Malakyoma (Feb 28, 2013)

So about a month or so. I'll keep an eye on my females to watch for calling


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## agent A (Mar 4, 2013)

oouch malakyoma what happened to your fingernail??


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## Precarious (Mar 6, 2013)

First ooth...


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## agent A (Mar 6, 2013)

Precarious said:


> First ooth...


they r small for the adult size &lt;_&lt; 

i must say you have a very shiny finger :tt1:


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## Malakyoma (Mar 6, 2013)

agent A said:


> they r small for the adult size &lt;_&lt;
> 
> i must say you have a very shiny finger :tt1:


Its probably because of how thin they are. I'll be mating mine soon, the females are getting ready to call.


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## aychen222 (Mar 6, 2013)

gosh i want these so bad.


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