# Pseudovates arizonae ( arizona unicorn mantis )



## wuwu

i can't believe that such a rare and beautiful mantis is native to the US. has anyone had any luck finding some yet? my dad goes painting in the mountains of AZ a few times a year, maybe i'll go with him next time.












this is a painting my dad did of the mountains in tucson, AZ. looks like Pseudovates arizonae habitat to me.


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## Ian

I agree, a lovely species that would be great to have back in culture. The last person I knew with them was Orin, but I think his stocks slowly died out? I have also heard they are just as hard to find in the wild, as they are in captivity.


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## deanola

they look very similar to the cryptic mantises, dont they


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## Ian

Yea, very much so...except without the mottled markings.


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## Yosei

Yeah, I have a friend that lives in AZ. He says if he's lucky he'll see at least one every year


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## wuwu

ian, do you know if he collected them from the wild or if he bought them from someone?

yosei, how come you don't ask your friend to send them to you when he sees them?


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## Ian

I am not entirely sure Wuwu. I presume they derived from captive bred stock...although maybe a few wild caughts were introduced at some point to strengthen blood lines.


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## Lukony

I have thought about going to AZ and taking the chance of looking for them. It would only mean a few hours drive. The only hard part is finding them since that desert is so vast and everything eats insects there. They are like the main food source.


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## wuwu

if you decide to go, they are found here in AZ:

Pinal Co.; Pima Co.; Sta. Catalina Mts.; Sabino Canyon; Rincon Mts.; Baboquivari Mts.; Sta. Cruz Co.; Sta. Rita Mts.; Cochise Co.; Huachuca Mts.; Dragoon Mts.; Chiricahua Mts.


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## francisco

HEllo All,

P arizonae is a wonderfull amntis too keep, they grow quite slow.

I had the chance of rearing a few nymphs to adulthood and get male and females at the same time. I was able to mate them and the females laid only a total of 3 ooth of which none of them hatched out.

I definatelly did something wrong but I hope I can get a second chance at them.

In the wild they are very dificult to find for some people and there are a few who find them every year.

I wonder if Orin will have some available soon????

They come to lights sometimes, to feed on the small insects, a friend found one at a tennis court , in Sedona. I think that is too North for them but he did send me a picture. So you never know when you will spot one.

regards

FT


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## Johnald Chaffinch

i love their heads! the eyes shape and thei colour, and the ace head crest.

actually, why do they have the hat looking things on their heads? i saw on a diagram that someone labeled that a simple eye was on the end of it but i dunno.

i see that orchids middle eye is a small green triangular eye, it's kind of built up a bit...

anyone know why they have head crests really long sometimes?

where are they originally from?

they're slightly conspicuous with their dramatic colour difference on their wings, you'd think they'd be easier to find


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## Orin

Finding more than one every few years is a feat few people have ever done and I've never heard of anyone finding more than three in a year(and those were little ones in November). Getting them to hatch out and grow to adult is very easy but getting a good mating and ootheca production is close to impossible. I've only raised them twice.


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## Lukony

I will just have to out there back packing for a week with some lights and car batteries. Maybe do some survival training at the same time. SHould be fun and I might find some other insects that are interest. Definatly some scorpions.


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## AFK

coloration may look conspicuous and dramatic, but it looks pretty camouflaged to me. wings look like leaves and the rest of the body branches. the long horn on the head looks like part of the branchy camouflage, but i'm not 100% sure the horn does look peculiar...i mean, it looks like 2 smooth fingers.


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## Lukony

Now that I think about it that horn might have something to do with letting off its body heat.


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## wuwu

that's a good theory. maybe when you catch some on your backpacking trip, you can prove it.


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## AFK

> Now that I think about it that horn might have something to do with letting off its body heat.


doubt this cuz some other mantids that live in much hotter conditions show that it's much easier for a mantis to evolve to handle and thrive in whatever hot temperature rather than to evolve methods to thwart off heat.


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## Rick

> Now that I think about it that horn might have something to do with letting off its body heat.


Insects are cold blooded and don't produce body heat.


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## AFK

> Now that I think about it that horn might have something to do with letting off its body heat.
> 
> 
> 
> Insects are cold blooded and don't produce body heat.
Click to expand...

i don't think the problem is the heat created within, but rather the heat absorbed from the outside. in ridiculous hot deserts, some beetles i think try to minimize their contact with the sand by standing tip-toe in a certain way. that's how hot the sand is, and that's how overly hot the environment is in that desert. however, arizona is nowhere close to that hot. in that desert, it would be possible for even a cold-blooded creature to have difficulty evolving its body to comfortably thrive on this temperature.

edit: also, cold-blooded doesn't refer to whether an animal creates heat...it only refers to if an animal has the ability to regulate its body temperature.


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## Christian

Hi.

The horn or crest found on the head is present in almost all Vatini to a more or less extent. Sometimes there are just two teeth, other species have a bilobate horn, which may even vary considerably among specimens.

It should have a cryptic function, at least, that is the primary function of such appendages in other species. The cryptic function may be found in dissolving the typical "insect shape".

Regarding the breeding of those, they seem to be rather complicated. We had _Vates weyrauchi_ for some generations, I had a single female of _Vates amazonica_ which did not lay any ooths, and currently we try to breed _Phyllovates tripunctata_ (a species looking similar to _Pseudovates arizonae_, but without lobes and with two teeth instead of a horn). I had two fertilized females, which laid several ooths, but just one hatched, producing 13 larvae, of which I managed to grow 12. They are not adult yet, but I fear this may well be the last attempt. There is a good chance that the laid ooths will not hatch, but hey, you never know...

Some collegues had _Zoolea gigas_ some 10 years ago, a breathtaking fabulous species, but, again, managed to raise just one generation.

There seems to be a trick with these fellows which still has to be cracked.

There is also one member of _Phyllovates_ in the US, a rather rare species called _Ph. chlorophaea_, found in SE Texas.

Regards,

Christian


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## yen_saw

> There is also one member of Phyllovates in the US, a rather rare species called Ph. chlorophaea, found in SE Texas.


Is the Phyllovates spec. in TX looks similar to the link below?

http://ttwebbase.dyndns.org/mantid/view/206.html

Christian, could you provide me the pic of that species (dead or alive) or the pic of Phyllovates tripunctata. I do not want to miss any chance of finding any mantis species living in Texas, though it is a big state!


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## Christian

Hi.

The species on terra-typica IS _Phyllovates tripunctata_ (the name was not actualized yet), at least that's the actual state of knowledge. I was told that the genus is currently under revision. Not the badest idea, indeed...

_Ph. chlorophaea_ looks very similar to _Ph. tripunctata_, but looks more slender, has a longer horn in the female gender and a comparatively longer pronotum.

It is known from all Central America and reaches Texas at Brownsville.

Regards,

Christian


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## yen_saw

Awww... Brownsville is right at the border of Mexico near Laredo... that's way too far unfortunately. Does Ph. chlorophaea live on the hill or grass field?


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## Christian

Hi.

There is no info on this available. Compared with other Vatini, it should be an ambush arboreal species. I do not think it lives in the grass.

Regards,

Christian


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## AFK

just bumping up my favorite mantis thread. 8)

anyone have any updates of this uber cool mantis?


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## Rick

> Now that I think about it that horn might have something to do with letting off its body heat.
> 
> 
> 
> Insects are cold blooded and don't produce body heat.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> i don't think the problem is the heat created within, but rather the heat absorbed from the outside. in ridiculous hot deserts, some beetles i think try to minimize their contact with the sand by standing tip-toe in a certain way. that's how hot the sand is, and that's how overly hot the environment is in that desert. however, arizona is nowhere close to that hot. in that desert, it would be possible for even a cold-blooded creature to have difficulty evolving its body to comfortably thrive on this temperature.
> 
> edit: also, cold-blooded doesn't refer to whether an animal creates heat...it only refers to if an animal has the ability to regulate its body temperature.
Click to expand...

I know what it is. But warm blooded animals produce their own body heat. Desert animals can withstand the heat of their environment. I have a desert lizard that sits directly under his heat lamp for hours on end with the temps over 140 degrees.


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## Orin

Both US Pseudovates and Phyllovates are very rare. I saw a great picture of the Texas Phyllovates posted in the gallery at insecthobbyist a few years ago and I imangine it's still there for anyone who wants to see that sp.


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## mantisdeperu

Hi all My friends. Here a link to another Pseudovates specie: Pseudovates peruviana.

http://mantidforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php...ght=pseudovates

Regards.

Christian Fernando


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## fangsheath

Hi folks, I was the one who posted the images on pethobbyist some years ago. That individual was my introduction to _Phyllovates chlorophaea_, a lovely species I am still learning about. At the time I thought it was a female, having never seen a female of this species or a photo of one. Currently I have a female and am hoping to get a mate for her. If not I will try to find some egg masses. This species seems to prefer viney growth with a wispy or curly character. I am hoping to get a captive group of them established.

http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/index.php?p...p;si=fangsheath


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## yen_saw

Howdy fangsheath! glad to see another Texan here. Have you kept this species (Phyllovates chlorophaea) for generations or they are all wild caught species. Those are wonderful pics, and the species on the pic is a male?! Please share more pics here if you have and let me know if you ever visit Houston.


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## fangsheath

The few I have had thus far have been wild caught. Here are some shots of a female I obtained in late 2003. I want to finally try to start a colony this coming year.

http://home.att.net/~fangsheath/P1010020.JPG

http://home.att.net/~fangsheath/P1010029.JPG


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## wuwu

beautiful


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## fangsheath

My _Phyllovates_ produced an egg mass this morning. From what little I have read, mantids will produce infertile oothecae, but they tend to be small and deformed-looking. This one looks pretty normal to me. What do you folks think? Do we have ignition here?

http://home.att.net/~fangsheath/P1010023.JPG


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## Ian

Wow, congratulations! Do you have any more photos of your actual mantis?

Regarding the ootheca, was the female mated?


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## fangsheath

I don't have any other shots of this particular individual yet, but I can rectify that. I received her as an adult, hopefully she had already bred.


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## Ian

Was she a wild caught female? If so, I would think the ootheca would be fertile.


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## Christian

Hi.

The ooth loolks like a typical, but rather small _Phyllovate_s ooth, so I think you will only know if it was fertile when the young hatch. Think about a possible diapause. I would overwinter the ooth outside, except at very cold days.

Regards,

Christian


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## fangsheath

Yep, she is wild caught. Here are some shots of her.

http://home.att.net/~fangsheath/P1010025.JPG

http://home.att.net/~fangsheath/P1010026.JPG

http://home.att.net/~fangsheath/P1010028.JPG

http://home.att.net/~fangsheath/P1010032.JPG


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## mantisdeperu

Hello. I attach the contribution of my friend Julio Rivera, Neotropical mantids specialist, about the differences between Pseudovates and Phyllovates.

Thanks Julio.

*[SIZE=12pt]Hello there. Yes, Phyllovates and Pseudovates are very [/SIZE]*

similar to each other. However, there are several

obvious differences that are easier to pick when you

compare males and females of both genera. Phyllovates

species are usually larger and stouter than those of

Pseudovates. Additionally, Phyllovates doesn’t show

lobes in the middle and hind legs, whereas Pseudovates

has lobed legs but these lobes less numerous and

smaller than those showed by the genus Vates. These

lobes are usually more developed in the females and

that’s is why males of Pseudovates might be confused

with Phyllovates.

I hope this information will help to clarify this

issue

Julio Rivera.

Additional here a Vatinae key for some Vatinae's genus.

*CLAVE PARA LA DETERMINACIÓN DE LOS GÉNEROS DE VATINAE HALLADOS EN EL PERÚ *

1 . Tubérculos ocelares de los ocelos posteriores proyectados en procesos cónicos o foliáceos, alargados o cortos, pero siempre notorios; patas medias y posteriores presentando lóbulos en número y posición variables ó ausentes........…………………...…….……...................3

1’. Tubérculos ocelares de los ocelos posteriores no proyectados y protuberantes de manera normal; fémures medios y posteriores con un solo lóbulo distal en posición ventral…………………………………………………………..2

2 . Pronotum tuberculado sobre la dilatación supracoxal……….....Heterovates Saussure.

2’. Pronotum liso y sin tubérculos…….........Chopardiella Giglio-Tos.

3 . Patas medias y posteriores sin lóbulos y con las tibias a veces visiblemente curvadas…………………………………………Phyllovates Kirby.

3’. Patas medias y posteriores lobuladas en mayor o menor medida y con las tibias no visiblemente curvadas…………………………………………………4

4 . Fémures anteriores con un lóbulo dorsal triangular preapical; tubérculos ocelares posteriores lanceolados, y alargados…..........Zoolea Serville.

4’. Fémures sin tal lóbulo; tubérculo ocelar de los ocelos posteriores cónicos o triangulares, no muy largos……….……………..……………………………….5

5 . Patas medias y posteriores fuertemente lobuladas; tegminas no presentando un par de manchas oblicuas de color pardo sobre el medio del área discoidal……………..……………...........…....……….....Vates Burmeister

5’. Patas medias y posteriores con lobulación moderada y menos pronunciada; tegminas presentando 2 manchas pardas y oblicuas sobre el área discoidal……………………………....………………….Pseudovates Saussure. (Tomado de Rivera, 2004)

Francisco, please help us with the translation

Regards


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## Ian

Beautiful photos fangsheath, thanks for sharing.


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## AFK

WOW WOW WOW! this thread suddenly took a pleasant plot twist in the mix! consider this thread subscribed!


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## Rick

> My _Phyllovates_ produced an egg mass this morning. From what little I have read, mantids will produce infertile oothecae, but they tend to be small and deformed-looking. This one looks pretty normal to me. What do you folks think? Do we have ignition here?http://home.att.net/~fangsheath/P1010023.JPG


Infertile ooths look exactly the same as fertile ooths.


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## yen_saw

Beautiful pics Dave. The ootheca looks exactly the same as what I received from Chrsitian (Peru). Lets hope the ootheca hatched out alright and kindly please keep us update. Now I am not sure which species I have, pseudovates or phyllovates :? , but it seems like Pseudovates Arizonae has very visible lobes not seen on adult PSeudovates Peruviana (or is it Phyllovates tripunctata???).

I have about 30 nymphs hatching out from one large ooth and only 10 from another small ooth recently, the other two oothecae hatched out amonth ago yielded 25 and 32 nymphs so not many hatched and without going through any diapause.












The oldest nymphs i have are now L3 but took them as long as a month to do so, am expecting another 5-6 months before they reach adulthood.


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## ponchot

Cool photos fangsheath, keep em coming.

Wow those ooths are small, &amp; I thought

Chinese Ooths were hard to find in the wild!!


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## yen_saw

Apparently, Phyllovates chlorophaea is not uncommon (as compared to Pseudovates Arizonae) in southern Texas especially area along Mexico border. I received an e-mail from an insect expert there, some good info for anyone who likes to keep this species. Here it is;

_I have been finding the species with great regularity here at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. Since mid-October I have seen one or more individuals virtually every day in our butterfly garden, usually lurking near the flowers of Eupatorium odoratum or similar plants, often eating some pollinating insect. I have also encountered them many times at night in the park maintenance yard, where a particularly bright light tends to accumulate large numbers of insects, on which the mantids then feed. I have yet to observe any outside of our park, and also have yet to see one ovipositing. I have not seen mating in progress but have encountered males and females close together on plants a couple of times (I have photos of that too, have not had time to post them to the Guide yet). I have encountered a few late-instar nymphs but noticed no really young ones yet._

Climate conditions here are subtropical. Temperatures in the winter generally do not get lower than 40 degrees at night, and are regularly above 60 in the daytime. Summertime temperatures average in the mid- to high 90s in the daytime and lower 70s at night. In generally the air is dry, with most of our rainfall coming in September and early October, and humidity being higher through November than during the rest of the year. Note that Brownsville does get rain more frequently and have higher humidity than we do here in Hidalgo County, due do its closer proximity to the Gulf of Mexico.

Observations of this and other mantis species peaked following the September rains, but as these were observations of adult mantids, the nymphs may have been present unobserved much earlier in the summer. Also, as most of the observations have been around Eupatorium blooms, the adults may have been present earlier but less conspicuously because they were not being concentrated by the presence of the flowers and associated prey insects.

If you have any other questions, do not hesitate to ask.

Cheers,

Josh

Joshua S. Rose, Ph.D.

Program Specialist

World Birding Center

Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park


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## padkison

Here's a link to a picture of one taken at that park (posted on Bugguide).

http://bugguide.net/node/view/71465/bgimage


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## MantisDude15

i live here in arizona. if anyone has a clue as to where i could find one of these, i could try and get some for the forum members  any suggestions?


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## Shelbycsx

> i live here in arizona. if anyone has a clue as to where i could find one of these, i could try and get some for the forum members  any suggestions?


Keep me in mind if you ever find any, as I'd love to get a few. :wink: I'd even like to breed 'em since no one in USA that I know of is caring for them. :!:


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## yen_saw

Took me a while to find this old link, reason was some Mexican Unicorn mantids hatched out for me today!!  

Here is the ooth I received last year.






and about 35 nymphs hatched out today! Hopefuly more to come tomorrow.






This species is Phyllovates chlorophaea. Hopefully i can raise some to adulthood. I will take a better shot later.


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## yen_saw

Wanna share some pics of L1 nymph for this species. You can vaguely see the two "teeth" on the head even they are just L1.


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## yen_saw

Just another update on this species. Almost all of them have molted into L3, the "horn" is getting visible. They are very hardy species and very communal although they seemed to be hungary all the time, no casualty due to cannibalism, in fact it is zero casualty so far. Hopefully they can breed for another generation.


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## the mantinator

wow good job yen keep us updated


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## yen_saw

Thanks Wayne. Is amazed we have such cool native species. I know at least two people keeping them at the moment, lets hope the availability for this species increase among hobbyists in the future.


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## stevesm

They're so SMALL!  Amazing little things.


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## Rick

Cool yen. Will look forward to when you sell some.


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## the mantinator

youra pioneer in exoctic mantids as you are the first to sucsessfuly captive breed these.

P.S is there still a big number of them still alive?


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## yen_saw

Thanks guys.

I haven't bred this species yet, they are from wild caught adult female species which produced fertile ootheca. I have a good hatch from the ootheca, i sent 11 to another breeder and still have all the rest of 30 nymphs at L3. It is looking good as they are eating and growing together fine, a communal species so far.


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## yen_saw

Now at L5.


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## OGIGA

Looks a lot like one of those ancient Egyptian paintings. :lol:


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## ellroy

Thats one funky looking mantid Yen, good job as always!

Alan


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## yen_saw

> Looks a lot like one of those ancient Egyptian paintings. :lol:


 Strangely they do look alike  although i am sure they are not related  

Thanks Alan. Here are couple more pics


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## yen_saw

Another molt gone.... my guess is 2-3 molts away from adulthood.






This one looks like the old time western movie where two cowboys facing off each other






Part of the group in my net cage


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## OGIGA

Nice! It looks like you have quite a few of them in your net cage.


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## yen_saw

Yeah i have 15 in one foot cube net cage and 16 in another, so far no casualty due to cannibalism yet, even when food are limited, they will just stare at each other, rather skittish. Right now they are 1.5 inchlong and capable of handling blue bottle, but hand feedling is difficult as they will just run away. It is interesting to see how the long thorax vibrates when they caught a fly.


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## wuwu

i'm glad this species is bigger the p. peruviana. i was kinda dissappointed in their small size. if they're 1.5" at L5, i guess they'll be around 3" as adults.


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## yen_saw

Yes John, it is longer than the Peruvian species. My female subadult is about 2.5 inches so probably it will reach 3 inches at adult. Subadult male is slightly shorter but not by too much.

Subadult male











Subadult female


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## yen_saw

First adult male Phyllovates Chlorophaea matured into adult today. It is beautiful, hard to believe we have such exotic looking mantis in the USA. He is slightly lessthan 3-inch, i believed adult female will be at least 3 inches.































It is confirmed that they are communal species!!!


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## OGIGA

That's a pretty awesome mantis! Hmm, if they're so communal, I think I'll consider this kind some time in the future.


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## AFK

nice. let's change the status of this bugger from rare to most common in arizona! :twisted:


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## yen_saw

AFK, this one is from Texas not Arizona. I think the title is misleading, i should have created a new post for this Phyllovates Chlorophaea species instead. I did see "wings" all over my cage this morning but did not take a close up look, chances are good that i have my first adult female today. Will post a pic up later. One sad note, i messed up with the moult count, it appeared that female need an extra molt to mature but have doubt about it as i am getting adults from both gender almost the same time.


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## yen_saw

SUbadult female











Marking on wing for female






Adult female





















Group of adults and selected subadults


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## mantisdeperu

Hi guys. Here one post of one Peruvian Vates specie.

Best regards.

http://mantidforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8176


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