# Giant Kenyan Bud-wing Mantis, PARASPHENDALE SP. KENYA



## Darkrai283 (Oct 19, 2014)

_*[17.08.14]*_

Bought two nymphs I sexed as a pair (hopefully I'm right) off Graham today at the Kempton Park Reptile Show.

Female


Untitled by darkrai283, on Flickr


Untitled by darkrai283, on Flickr

Male


Untitled by darkrai283, on Flickr


Untitled by darkrai283, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Oct 19, 2014)

[No message]


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## Darkrai283 (Oct 19, 2014)

_*[22.08.14]*_

I messaged Graham yesterday asking if he could give me any background info on this species as he's the one who collected them. (I think...)
Anyway, he replied today saying that he might have an ID on this species and is just waiting for a UK mantis taxonomist (Martin. S) to confirm. He also sent me a few photos of the adult female and said the notable differences between this species and other two more common ones here in the UK (affinis and agrionina) is that it is much lager, the wings are longer and the underwings are somewhat different.

I have not asked him yet but I believe this is IGM 264 as the female in Graham's photo greatly resembles it... just like brancsikia said in this thread back in February.

The thread

The two photos of IGM 264 taken from the IGM list:


Parasphendale comp 264 vs 261 by darkrai283, on Flickr


Paraspehendale spec2 NEU by darkrai283, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Oct 19, 2014)

*[26.08.14]*

The male moulted today. (Whooop!!!) It's so funny how they stuggle to eat small prey because of their wide-arms... much like the pics I've seen of C. humeralis but obviously not as robust/wide as theirs.

Male moulted to 5th instar
Moulting interval: ??? (first time he moulted since I got him)

...and comparing my pair with photos of P. affinis and P. agrionina online, I believe my pair are at this stadium:
Female: 5th instar (Pre-pre-subadult)
Male: 5th instar (Pre-subadult)

Anyway, new pics:

Female


IMG_9343 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_9335 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_9341 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_9337 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_9373 by darkrai283, on Flickr

Male:


IMG_9424 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_9384 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_9420 by darkrai283, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Oct 19, 2014)

*[07.09.14]*

The female moulted today.

Female moulted to 6th instar
Moulting interval: 16 days

Current stadia of the two nymphs:
Female: 6th instar (Pre-subadult)
Male: 5th instar (Pre-subadult)

Moulting pics:


IMG_9767 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_9778 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_9779 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_9784 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_9788 by darkrai283, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Oct 19, 2014)

*[07.09.14]*

Female

https://flic.kr/p/p8WQSL




IMG_9806 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_9902 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_9886 by darkrai283, on Flickr

Male


IMG_9818 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_9832 by darkrai283, on Flickr

Size comparison


IMG_9802 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_9840 by darkrai283, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Oct 19, 2014)

*[10.09.14]*

The male moulted today.

Male moulted to 6th instar
Moulting interval: 16 days

Current stadium of the two nymphs:
Female: 6th instar (Pre-subadult)
Male: 6th instar (Subadult)


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## Extrememantid (Oct 19, 2014)

Nice!!i would love to have this species soon


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## Darkrai283 (Oct 19, 2014)

*22.09.14*

The female moulted today to subadult.
Totally unexpected... She wasn't even showing signs of moulting so I moved her into a smaller enclosure with inadequate netting so that I could clean her's out. 5 minutes later and she started moulting lol.

Female moulted to 7th instar
Moulting interval: 15 days

Current stadium of the two nymphs:
Female: 7th instar (Subadult)
Male: 6th instar (Subadult)

Moulting pics


IMG_0147 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_0150 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_0151 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_0157 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_0159 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_0165 by darkrai283, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Oct 19, 2014)

_*[02.10.14]*_

The subadult male flared up properly for the first time at a P. paradoxa. He's due for his final moult soon as well as his wingbuds are plump.  

Pics


Untitled by darkrai283, on Flickr


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## dmina (Oct 19, 2014)

Nice pics.. nice little journal... Thanks for sharing...


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## Darkrai283 (Oct 19, 2014)

*[04.10.14]*

The male moulted to adult.  

Male moulted to 7th instar
Moulting interval: 24 days

Current stadium of the two nymphs:
Female: 7th instar (Subadult)
Male: 7th instar (Adult)

Moulting pics


IMG_0587 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_0589 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_0595 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_0600 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_0602 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_0607 by darkrai283, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Oct 19, 2014)

*[09.10.14]*

The male's full threat display.

Pics


IMG_0639 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_0641 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_0645 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_0646 by darkrai283, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Oct 19, 2014)

Extrememantid said:


> Nice!!i would love to have this species soon


Thanks. Hopefully, the bulky female won't mess up her final moult which is due in a few days (she stopped eating about 4 days ago) so that I can breed this species.  



dmina said:


> Nice pics.. nice little journal... Thanks for sharing...


The elipses makes me feel a bit uneasy. Did I post too many photos?  

Thanks.


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## Extrememantid (Oct 19, 2014)

No the more the merrier lol. I hope you can breed as well! Good luck  keep us updated on the moults


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## dmina (Oct 19, 2014)

No... I liked seeing the whole progression... Ditto on the updates...

Oh gosh... does anyone even know what ditto means anymore?... is the word obsolete?


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## Darkrai283 (Oct 19, 2014)

dmina said:


> No... I liked seeing the whole progression... Ditto on the updates...
> 
> Oh gosh... does anyone even know what ditto means anymore?... is the word obsolete?


I still frequently use it.


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## Sticky (Oct 20, 2014)

Your male is gorgeous and he knows it!


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## Darkrai283 (Oct 21, 2014)

_*[20.10.14]*_

The female has been wandering around all day to look for the perfect place to moult... and she finally decided to settle on the smoothest branch in there (I only put that one in to 'prop-up' the others). I can't encourage her to move anymore because she's already pumping her abdomen a lot and stretching her raptorials. :no: 



IMG_0948 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_0946 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_0951 by darkrai283, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Oct 21, 2014)

_*[21.10.14]*_

Woke up this morning to find her on the floor... but she hadn't started moulting yet so I took out that smooth branch from the moulting enclosure and hung her up again.

When I got home, she had successfully moulted to adult while I was away (probably moulted a couple of hours before I got home) but I found her on the floor again which leads me to believe that she damaged some of her tarsi while subadult in some way... and her fall in pre-moult while I was asleep probably had some effect on her too. :/

Unfortunately, she is lethargic and she probably fell while trying to make 'the flip' so she had inflated her wings while on the floor of the enclosure meaning that they were crumpled and so messed up. I really hope she didn't sustain any internal injuries from the fall as her body would've been very soft.  

She is a whopper considering that she's a Budwing species! 8cm from head to the subgenital plate... imagine how large she would be when gravid lol.

Pics


IMG_0952 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_0954 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_0953 by darkrai283, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Oct 21, 2014)

BTW, as her wings were still a little soft, I took advantage of it and tried to 'set' and 'straighten-out' her wings by wetting them with water and placing them into the normal position. I don't expect the wings to be in the correct position once the water evaporates but at least they'll be straight without the creases.  



Sticky said:


> Your male is gorgeous and he knows it!


Thanks Sticky.


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## MantidLord (Oct 21, 2014)

I just finished the first page and I just have to say I love threads like this. Excellent documentation and pictures


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## dmina (Oct 22, 2014)

She looks good...keep us updated I really enjoyed watching the grow...


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## Darkrai283 (Dec 8, 2014)

*[25.10.14]*

She got very weak so I put her down in the freezer.

Luckily, I contacted Graham and he said that he has a fresh, adult female he can spare.


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## Darkrai283 (Dec 8, 2014)

_*[29.10.14]*_

Received her in the post today; will take pics tomorrow.

_*[30.10.14]*_

She's a beaut.

Pics:


IMG_1180 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_1220 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_1201 by darkrai283, on Flickr


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## Darkrai283 (Dec 8, 2014)

*[11.11.14]*

Some more pics of the adult male and female.

Male:


IMG_1348 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_1351 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_1347 by darkrai283, on Flickr

Female:


IMG_1368 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_1358 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_1354 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_1363 by darkrai283, on Flickr


IMG_1359 by darkrai283, on Flickr


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## dmina (Dec 8, 2014)

great pics.. thanks for the update... they both like to show off...


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