# Orchid Mantis Sexing



## bonsaimaster1 (Sep 15, 2015)

hello everyone, I need some help figuring out whether or not my Orchid Mantises are male or female. To me, they both look like males. I have posted some pictures down below of both of them. Please let me know!


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## MantisMatt14 (Sep 15, 2015)

Most likely males. Too small to tell though


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## Alikaren (Sep 15, 2015)

You can't judge sex by their thoraxes right now; They're way too young for that. Also it's hard to accurately count their segments because the area where the last few may be is somewhat concealed by the image's quality. It could help if you take an image of the side of their abdomen though. Females have a small ovipositor sticking out while males just have a flat end.


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## PIaf94 (Sep 15, 2015)

I say the orchid in the first pic is male and the second is female. Can't tell forsure because I will need a closer view of the abdomen, but orchids are sexable at L2 and above. The best way to tell is looking for a "notch" or "V" on the last segment of the abdomen. I've always sexed my orchids this way once they hit L2 so I can differentiate the females for breeding later


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## Ranitomeya (Sep 15, 2015)

Plaf is correct, you can sex them at L2 by looking for a notch in the subgenital plate of the female or the lack of a notch in the male. You just need a good light shining at an angle and good eyes or a magnifying glass of some sort.

The images are not clear enough to be sure of the sex of your mantises. The second image appears to show a notch, but it may just be a trick of the lighting.


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## Aryia (Sep 15, 2015)

The images aren't clear enough. Like Ranitomeya said, the only way to confirm male or female in a young orchid is to find the V notch in females. With the amount of jumping and running and the fact the notch is super tiny when they're younger I usually don't bother until L4. By L4 males will start developing wingbuds as well, whereas female wingbuds are a lot less pronounced.

Collar colors sometimes do not set in until L5. I have seen some males have greenish collars, it is not a reliable way to sex in my opinion. When I use collar color I also judge by size, wingbud size vs instar to determine sex. Always verify via the V notch though, when you see the notch it's 100% guaranteed female.


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