# Victoria Bug Zoo



## Emile.Wilson (Mar 14, 2009)

Hey i will be heading to the victoria bug zoo tomorrow and will be posting photos.


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## ismart (Mar 14, 2009)

Have a great time! I look foward to seeing some pics.


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## yen_saw (Mar 14, 2009)

Say Hi to Carol (Owner) for me if you got a chance to meet her. Have fun!


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## Emile.Wilson (Mar 16, 2009)

yen_saw said:


> Say Hi to Carol (Owner) for me if you got a chance to meet her. Have fun!


Did not have a chance to meet her  sorry.

Ok so i got back like one hour ago from victoria, all in all it was a ok trip. The boat ride there was very nice, but on our way back on the boat it was very wavey and i was feeling sick  . I left saturday at 11 and did not feel like going to the bug zoo that day so i went sunday. I have not been to the bug zoo in almost two years and it feels so small now. Well being interested in mantids i went right away and spotted these beauties.

















So i watched those girls for a while then i got bored, and started to wander around and took a peak at the cockroaches. This is probably one of my favourite enclosures because it is like a doll house.











Right next to that family are these guys.






So i stopped taking photos for awhile and i found this guy and needed to take a photo, probably one of my favourite photos of the day






Here is another spider.






Found this cricket hanging around.






Then went back to the mantids.






To be continued!


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## Emile.Wilson (Mar 16, 2009)

Also guys sorry about some of the photos i am a pretty bad photographer.

Here is some more photos of the shield mantis





















Then while looking at the leaf insects i found the male shield mantis











Finished hope you like it  !


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## Rob Byatt (Mar 16, 2009)

What they doing with a female _Choerododis_ ?


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## revmdn (Mar 16, 2009)

Looks like fun.


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## Christian (Mar 16, 2009)

@Rob: Don't worry, probably it's their only one. The are quite long-living and make good exhibition subjects. You only need one per year or so...


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## ismart (Mar 16, 2009)

Very nice pics Emile!

Looks like you had great time.

Is _choerododis_ in culture? Or has it ever been in culture? Just out of curiosity.


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## Christian (Mar 16, 2009)

They are actually not in culture, but were some years ago. However, that stock turned out to be rather difficult and didn't make it more than 1 generation. Definitely not a beginner species. _Idolomantis_ are easy compared to these ones.


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## Katnapper (Mar 16, 2009)

Neat pics, Emile! Thanks for sharing them.


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## ismart (Mar 16, 2009)

Christian said:


> They are actually not in culture, but were some years ago. However, that stock turned out to be rather difficult and didn't make it more than 1 generation. Definitely not a beginner species. _Idolomantis_ are easy compared to these ones.


Thank-you, Christian for clearing that up for me  . I had a feeling they would prove to be very difficult.


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## bassist (Mar 16, 2009)

Christian said:


> They are actually not in culture, but were some years ago. However, that stock turned out to be rather difficult and didn't make it more than 1 generation. Definitely not a beginner species. _Idolomantis_ are easy compared to these ones.


Too bad they look interesting.


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## hibiscusmile (Mar 16, 2009)

Yea looks great! Maybe some day//// Iwill get to visit...


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## Emile.Wilson (Mar 16, 2009)

hibiscusmile said:


> Yea looks great! Maybe some day//// Iwill get to visit...


if that day ever comes, have a good time


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## mr nick (Mar 17, 2009)

Great specimens..i think you just need to practice focus with your camera a little,its quite easy to rush but if you take your time and review in the viewfinder you should get good results...i took some great macro shots on a recent trip using a Fuji J150,which at £100 currently is a snip!

I recently visited a butterfly park in Singapore on my way back from Australia,which had a huge display of mounted insects including a large selection of Mantids..as soon as i get the chance i will post some pics..


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## mikemercer (Mar 18, 2009)

very nice bug zoo wish they had one around here


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## Omen414 (Mar 27, 2009)

sorry just wondering...are Choerododis really rare or hard to keep? they look cool (not that i expect to get one) just wondering why you say no ones has cultured them


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## Morpheus uk (Mar 27, 2009)

Im guessing hard to keep, their not rare though

Just non-existent cause they arent in culture :lol:


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## Christian (Mar 27, 2009)

They're both rare and hard to breed.


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## yen_saw (Mar 29, 2009)

The owner of the zoo (Carol) went to Bolivia Amazon and collected a female and ootheca for this species back in 2007. This species does live a long life (in mantis world). She (also an entomologist herself) is currently trying to breed them I wish her luck.


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## Christian (Mar 30, 2009)

If the ooth is from 2007 I don't think it will hatch anymore... :lol: 

Or did it already and there are more than this specimen?


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## yen_saw (Apr 1, 2009)

The ootheca hatched but she only managed to keep few to adult. I know Carol, been sending mantis for her bug zoo since early 2006.


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