# My experience collecting in Hong Kong and Malaysia



## yen_saw

First of all, my apology to members who have been PMing and Emailing wishing me for a great trip and asking for help. A week before my trip things get way too hectic which gave me very little time to sleep, I basically flew out of Houston without having much time checking my inbox and email. Currently I am in Hong Kong, it has been rainig dogs and cats for the past few days here in HK but i do intent to squeeze something out of my tight schedule to try my luck on couple of parks. My trip is mainly visiting relatives and touring around with my family so i only have about 2 days in HK and 4-5 days in Malaysia collecting bugs. While I cannot promise any mantis pic in this thread, my hope is to still finding some small species in HK (such as Leptomantella sp.) and probably Deroplatys and Hymenopus in Malaysia. Missing the trip last year makes me more determine in trying my best finding some mantis though. But most of all, i would just like to relax and enjoy the trip. I promise to upload some pics as soon as I have the chance taking some (depending on internet availability), it would be a great experience for me i am sure. Here is a pic I took in the airport waiting for the plane (Continental) to LAX. I am sure there will be more to follow.







Oh by the way, i will be returning PM/Email soon but if you don't see my reply in a week, it just mean i don't like you  only kidding!

Edit: new link to the same pic.


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## Rick

Good to hear from you Yen. Be safe and we look forward to those pics.


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## Emile.Wilson

Have fun and take care! I am also looking forward to some pictures


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## hibiscusmile

Think nothing of it Yen, I took care of all of it! :lol:


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## PhilinYuma

hibiscusmile said:


> Think nothing of it Yen, I took care of all of it! :lol:


Good to hear from you Yen, and if you have the choice beyween sending us Emails and having a good time, you know what to do!


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## superfreak

thats right, send the bloody emails!! LOL


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## revmdn

Have fun and relax.


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## mantidian

take care and beware of H1N1! touch wood touch wood..


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## Anleoflippy

Good Luck in HK and Malaysia!!!

And do not worry if you are visiting Borneo, especially the Tip Of Borneo (Kudat) B)


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## yen_saw

Sorry for being ignorant. I left Hong Kong few days ago, currently in Malaysia right now and travelling around most of the time so limited internet access. There are load of photos taken (mostly sight seeing pics) but i didn't bring my SLR camera so most are not quality pics. I spent couple of day collecting in Hong Kong and spotted some nice mantis species I hope to share here when i got the time to download all my pics in the computer. The mantis species are Creobroter, Hierodula, RHombodera, Acromantis, Leptomantella, Spilomantis, Odontomantis, Tenodera, and Statilia i could have seen more i forgotten. I hope to find some mantis in Mlaysia too, i should be going to Cameron Highland next Monday, but my collecting spots should mainly be 1000 ft below sea level (CH tourist area is about 5000 ft). Currently i am using my 8" Sony netbook w/ free wifi as i typed right now  

Shall be in touch all!


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## Rick

yen_saw said:


> Sorry for being ignorant. I left Hong Kong few days ago, currently in Malaysia right now and travelling around most of the time so limited internet access. There are load of photos taken (mostly sight seeing pics) but i didn't bring my SLR camera so most are not quality pics. I spent couple of day collecting in Hong Kong and spotted some nice mantis species I hope to share here when i got the time to download all my pics in the computer. The mantis species are Creobroter, Hierodula, RHombodera, Acromantis, Leptomantella, Spilomantis, Odontomantis, Tenodera, and Statilia i could have seen more i forgotten. I hope to find some mantis in Mlaysia too, i should be going to Cameron Highland next Monday, but my collecting spots should mainly be 1000 ft below sea level (CH tourist area is about 5000 ft). Currently i am using my 8" Sony netbook w/ free wifi as i typed right now  Shall be in touch all!


Look forward to the pics Yen. Stay safe.


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## revmdn

Good to hear from you. Don't worry about us, worry about having fun and finding bugs to photograph.


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## gadunka888

have fun! hope to see the pics soon! are you going to singapore?( if you are, beware of H1N1!)


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## wuwu

can't wait to see your pics!!


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## pohchunyee

Yeah!! Reply ASAP!!!  ...LOL... I am glad your trip has been a good one. Hopefully you can bring back US some new species...


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## Katnapper

Glad to hear your trip seems to be going well, Yen! Take care, enjoy, and I look forward to seeing and hearing of your trip when you get back.


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## OGIGA

Oh wow, I totally just missed this thread. Anyway, I hope you're having a great time, Yen!


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## kamakiri

OGIGA said:


> Oh wow, I totally just missed this thread. Anyway, I hope you're having a great time, Yen!


Me too...looking forward to the pictures!


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## Frack

Have a great time! Im also cant wait to see all your pictures, Im sure theyll be great.


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## lectricblueyes

Hey Yen! Hope you are doing well! Tell us all how it went! Good luck and safety to you on your adventures!


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## ABbuggin

Hope all goes well for you Yen!


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## PhilinYuma

Yay! The Mantid Maestro is safely back in Texas! Welcome home Yen!


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## Rick

PhilinYuma said:


> Yay! The Mantid Maestro is safely back in Texas! Welcome home Yen!


Where do you see that?


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## d17oug18

welcome back yen, good to see your ok.


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## pohchunyee

He replied our private message!


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## ABbuggin

d17oug18 said:


> welcome back yen, good to see your ok.


+1


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## yen_saw

Thanks for all the wishes! It was a fun trip. Although there were only 5 days of collecting out of the entire trip.

I want to thank Dinora and the Houston museum staffs here for caring for my mantis during my trip. Last year I have to get rid of all my Idolomantis, orchid, banded flower mantis, dead leaf, etc before the trip (which sadly never happened) :angry: 

Ok here we go.

One would wonder where to find a park in the bustling city of Hong Kong, not mentioning the over population in this tiny region. Searching around the net (thanks google!) and with recommendation from friends, I have decided to go with Tai Po Kau Nature Reserve. The park consists of a mixture of reforestation and original forest. I had a chance to meet up with a bug fellow here name Colin who suggested this park.

This is the main entrtance to the park..... i was feeling tired just by looking at the slope :lol: 







Fighting jet-lag and tireness, I marched on with Colin.






My son was right behind..... some other foreign jungle trekkers heading down, we must have been late! (it was around 11 AM)






Trees/vegitation along the trail
















Saw a hornet nest? hidden in the shrub along the trail











After some time, we came across a sign board.






Checking out where to go






To be continue.....


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## yen_saw

Continue walking up the hill and we finally reached the nature reserve area






The first mantis spotted appear to be of Hierodula sp. nymphs






We also spotted several walking sticks











Acromantis sp.






I accidentally stepped on a molting roach, not sure about the speices... ouch so sorry  






A catepillar hiding wihin the flower






A huge ant






Spotted a wild bananas but it was all green. Can't find any cool bugs except for ants and spiders.


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## Katnapper

I love walking/hiking on wooded trails like that.  It's very nice that they still have such places in those areas with such a high population of people!

The banana trees remind me of when I lived in Hawaii as a child. ^_^


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## agent A

Cool pictures!!!


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## ismart

Great finds yen! i'm so jealous right now :lol: .


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## agent A

must have been fun. did you collect mantids?


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## yen_saw

A Tenodera sp.











Creobroter sp






Surrounding trees






All kinds of bug hiding in this tree, which grow some lime fruit. including the annoying mosquitoes! :angry: 






Acromantis sp






a big snail






Lot of catepillars everywhere











Nymph of some bug?


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## agent A

Cool.


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## yen_saw

It was starting to rain by the time reach half way to the trail. We decided to come back to the same place 3 days later. this time both my son and I wore long sleeves. yup the mosquitoes were taking advantage of me wearing short sleeve and pants previously.






Along the way there were a group of students reserching the bugs within the area.






Ah Odontomantis nymnph






An adult tiger beetle






Another species of tiger beetle






Tiger beetle here is very alert and will fly without hesitation. This one was eating a bug so i could move closer and take a snap






A spider hugging the sign board






I sat my bag down and spotted a spider attacking a catepillar






It still wouldn't let the catepillar go after dropping out from my bag






There was also another spider feeding on a queen ant


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## hierodula

good luck yen


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## yen_saw

We spotted a few fast moving mantis nymphs which appear to look like Statilia sp. Further checking around the shrub we found this freshly hatched out ooth






I was trying to take pic of the hatchling but they were too fast. We also found another fresh unhatched ooth of possibly same species as the hatched on, it does look like the one of Statilia sp.






This is one small Rhombodera sp adult. i think she was old and small, only about 6 cm.











We also spotted some nice roaches
















bug?






Hierodula adult






A camouflage moth


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## yen_saw

Milipede






Some kind of parasitic wasp?






This time we walked further in along the trail






Surrounding











mushrooming






pond full of tadpole






A weevil bug.. i can see my friend in the pic haha!






THere are actually quite some photographers in this area. Very professional. This guy was sitting there like a stature for hours trying to photograph a dragonfly. We saw him on the way and by the time we leave the park he is still there in his same position.... :blink: 






Few more photographers trying to get the best shot of nature


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## yen_saw

Leptomantella sp nymph











More fern as we climb higher






This spider molt gave me the creep of the one similar to the movie in "Alien"






More tiger beetle
















Some fungus growing on wood






A metallic beetle






This one reminds me of stinky bug


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## Rick

Very cool to see all those species of mantids in one place in the wild.


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## ABbuggin

Nice! It must be awesome to have bred so many species, go into the wild, and actually get to see them in nature. B)


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## yen_saw

Without my SLR camera, taking photograph of wild insect can be challenging... here is the typical one

The digital camera sometimes cannot focus on what you wanted to.. especially the close object so the first pic showed blurly damserfly whle the focus was on the background







putting a white screen behind the subject allowed the camera to refocus on the bug.... the damserfly is quite big and was feeding on a treehopper so less alert






Holding to the focus and removing the white screen, i took another shot but it was getting dark and the subject is under-expose






So i switch on the flash and now the subject is over-exposed.






just some of the problem shooting pic in the wild without SLR camera.... grrr i should have brought mine &lt;_&lt; it could be frustrating sometimes.

Ok move on with more bugs. Sometimes, large insects are difficult to spot in the wild. this katydid is about 3-4 inches but camouflage well on the ground.






A grasshopper






Can you find anything here? (see next pic)






zooming in, Haha... well spot






ekkkkk another huge catepillar


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## yen_saw

Bummer... just realized i accidentally deleted some pics in my memory card.... :blink:  think i lost about 30% of my pics.... Damn!!!!!!


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## OGIGA

Where are all the mantises and oothecae??? j/k

Well, now I know where you went hiking because that sign said the place's name.  Looking forward to more updates!

edit: Oops, I guess I should have hit refresh before posting that reply.


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## Christian

I'm quite impressed: so many mantids in just 5 days? And Malaysia wasn't even included yet! Not bad, mate, not bad!


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## Katnapper

yen_saw said:


> Bummer... just realized i accidentally deleted some pics in my memory card.... :blink:  think i lost about 30% of my pics.... Damn!!!!!!


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## OGIGA

yen_saw said:


> Bummer... just realized i accidentally deleted some pics in my memory card.... :blink:  think i lost about 30% of my pics.... Damn!!!!!!


Sad day...


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## yen_saw

Fast forward to Malaysia. I had a chance to meet up with the legendary Michael Yeh. Possibly one of the very few surviving bug collectors who has been collecting for more than 40 yrs. But he is now mainly collecting only butterfly and some odd tiny bugs. He was kind to let me and my son stayed at his place in Ipoh for couple of day too. THe first place we went was the low land limestone area, i was wondering at first if we could find any bugs at those place......

The limestone hill
















As soon as we reached the place, there were butterflies everywhere!!

My son get ready for the hunt






So am I...






This is Mr. Yeh






Vegetation around the area











Me starting to beat the bush with the long stick with butterfly net






almost instantly I caught a mantis nymph (it is on my finger tip... might need to zoom in to see the mantis)


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## yen_saw

Collected some oothecae which might be of the Tropidomantis sp. (two of the oothecae hatched later.... bummer)






Lady bugs are plenty too






blue metallic color butterfly Michael said only found near limestone moutain.






Spotted a stick insect






zooming in






Odontomantis nymph!











Checking out more places to hunt.
















Mr. Yeh was checking out mainly tree hoppers while i am mainly after mantis. I released all the nymph collected in that area because i don't have the food to support them so it was like the catch and release thing, still lot of fun! I lost some pics from this collecting ground but i should dig up more pics later on.... stay tune.


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## revmdn

So cool. Mr. Yeh has one serious net.


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## OGIGA

Haha, Mr. Yeh's net is like so pro!


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## [email protected]

[SIZE=14pt]Hey cool pics Yen[/SIZE]


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## yen_saw

Damn lost some really nice pics on the collecting trip in Malaysia. Here are some photos that "survived".......

A huge and cool looking katydid






Some kind of treehopper Mr. Yeh caught. He managed to sell them all to Europe as dead specimen the next day :blink: 











Kenneth caught an odd looking thing which looked like a ball of lint, but the insect is pretty active... hard to believe something which appear so artificial could be a living thing. that is sure the most favorite bug for Kenny during this collecting trip!











We also saw a good size poisonous snake, appear to be some kind of pit viper.






Not all snake survive the road






There are many small mantis species but i couldn't find an adult bummer. I think the collecting method doesn't work for catching one. Another pic of a small nymph collected.






I caught a small fly and fed it to the odontomantis spotted earlier... but let the mantis go later i think it has much better chance surviving in the wild than me keeping it in the container for the next 3 weeks.






One of the nymph hatched from the wild collected ooth, they look really cool i released some of them and kept only a few. 3 made it to the USA.






That's about all for the lowland hunt in Ipoh the rest of my photos got burnt bummer  Next we went to Cameron highland, Mr. Yeh didn't follow us but suggested the hunting ground at 1000-2000 ft elevation, so Kenneth and I decided to do the hunt and then go on to the peak (about 5000+ ft) for a day or two vacation. Unfortunately, i lost some pics on the CH foothill hunt too......


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## Rick

That lint bug is very interesting. With the first pic I thought you were pulling our legs until I saw the others.


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## yen_saw

Rick said:


> That lint bug is very interesting. With the first pic I thought you were pulling our legs until I saw the others.


It sure is Rick, my son was thinking to keep it but i have no idea how to care for them so we let the cool bug go. this bug also has a cool way of escaping, it was kicking out part of its "lint" while running away, which reveals the head and part of abdomen on the other pic.

oh one more cool insect i found on my photo storage... this grasshopper moved like a wasp and look like one too at a distance, very interesting.






There are many insects at that area which look out of the world. Insects trying to imitate other poisonous or dangerous bugs too. I also spotted a small mantis nymph which look like a stick (could be of Ambivia sp) and so many varitey of butterflies too, shamely those photos didn't survive  Mr Yeh explained Ipoh is surrounded by mountains of limestone not found in any other places in West Malaysia, and also separated it from outside of Ipoh so the bugs are kind of different.


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## Gurd

Looks like you had a good time mate, some very interesting pics. OMG that is 1 mad looking grasshopper :blink:


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## ismart

Awsome pics yen! Keep em coming.


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## Katnapper

Very nice pics, Yen! Thank you for sharing them with us!  Hmmm... I really wonder what that interesting little lint-like bug was!  I also really liked the white moth with the upturned end of the wings; and that wasp-like grasshopper is GREAT!!


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## PhilinYuma

Really great pix, Yen. I remember seeing what looked a lot like a miniature version of your lint bug feeding on tomato plants (squish!) and Googled &lt;lint mealy bug&gt; I lucked out! http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/2847244833/


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## yen_saw

Thanks all!!

Phil, i think the one you found is something similar to what I saw in Malaysia. This one is much larger than the 3 mm lint bug mentioned on the link though. it was about 1.5 cm, but very similar looking.

So up we went to Cameron Highlands (CH) the following day. I took the new route which is the Simpang pulai way







Nice scenary along the way
















Vegetation long the route changes from low land grasses to fern as soon as we reached 1000ft elevation
















Every road site vegetation appear to be a good hunting ground afterwards. it was raining lightly in that morning and sun was coming up. just nice! So we parked the car on road side and starting to look around.






I was shocked to see an orchid mantis just sitting on the large leaf. it is so outstanding i wonder how they couldn't be picked up by birds or lizards.











More to come.....


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## ABbuggin

Wow. Great finds!


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## revmdn

That orchid stands out like a pretty sore thumb.


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## Christian

:blink:


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## cloud jaguar

Wow, thanks Yen for posting those great exotic pics! I got to take a nice mini vacation during lunch today just looking at them!


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## Rick

wow


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## yen_saw

Here is another one taken from far






It may look easy to spot but in the wild it is not as simple as just looking at the pic. When i was singing for my luck thinking i could find another one in minutes, i end up looking for some other bugs instead and couldn't find another until almost the end of the hunt where i did find another adult female orchid which appear to be yellow sitting on another leafy branch but she was old and unfortunately die few days later. The real challenge was really spotting the Deroplatys sp (dead leaf mantis). i am sure there are plenty of them out there as i found quite a few, but i could have gotten more.

Ok here are the remainig pics left from the rest of the CH trip, i must have lost more than 50% of the pics here.

As mentioned, spotting dead leaf isn't easy. especially the D. dessicata.






Ah ha, got you...






trying to make a run...






A large green mantis.... possibly the Hierodula sp.











Right on the edge of the rock






As night fall i starting to use my night cap (with lights on) and spotted more mantis


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## MingMing

Your pics are AMAZING!!!

Looks like you guys had alot of fun!!!

Can we plan one of this trips????????


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## ABbuggin

Wow! Are you keeping what you find?


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## yen_saw

ming ming said:


> Your pics are AMAZING!!!Looks like you guys had alot of fun!!!
> 
> Can we plan one of this trips????????


Thanks. My son and I had lot of fun there. i am amazed that there are actually very litle mosquitoes that place compare to the lowland, and the slightly cooler temp makes hunting more comfy.

A trip ?!?!? yeah why not! you from Mexico right? i would love to check out mantis in Mexico too. That region must have lot of exotic mantis it is like a mysterious zone waiting for mantis discovery  



ABbuggin said:


> Wow! Are you keeping what you find?


Finders keepers!  

So the light around us also attracted some male D. lobata






Now i hope the Rhombodera sp won't further complicate the hobby (assuming i am lucky to breed another generation) by this finding as i found quite a few of them in a rather small area, all seems to be 2-4 molts from adult.
















One of the cool mantis must have landed too close to our light source and got burn... what a waste cos it looks cool!
















Got back into the hotel that night and feeding the Dessi with a huge black criket found in the wild











This orchid just doesn't want to get into the cage


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## Christian

The dead one is called _Psychomantis_. I know, funny name, but I didn't name it...


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## revmdn

Oooh, I call dibs on your new nymphs when they hatch.  No really, for real.


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## yen_saw

Christian said:


> The dead one is called _Psychomantis_. I know, funny name, but I didn't name it...


really!?! :blink: ha! :lol: thank god it is dead or i might get into trouble  



revmdn said:


> Oooh, I call dibs on your new nymphs when they hatch.  No really, for real.


 :lol: hmmm...

Sadly, i couldn't find any mantis up in Cameron highland. The tourists have turn this resort highland into a bustling town. i will post some pics on CH on the other thread since there was no mantis found there. We went back to Mr. Yeh's home at Ipoh 2 days later. He brought out a container of dead mantis he collected from the aboriginal villagers. Apparently he has been keeping some dead specimen for me for a few months (i first contacted him by the beginning of the year). i will show some of the pics later if they are still in the photo storage. Stay tune....


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## ABbuggin

Christian said:


> The dead one is called _Psychomantis_. I know, funny name, but I didn't name it...


LOL. :lol: 

I can tell you have had a blast Yen!


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## OGIGA

Now your trip is starting to look incredibly awesome!!!! Take me with you next time.


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## pohchunyee

I need to go back to Malaysia for some bug hunting!!!!


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## cloud jaguar

Wow, i'd be just like a kid in a candy store!


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## MingMing

-A trip ?!?!? yeah why not! you from Mexico right? i would love to check out mantis in Mexico too. That region must have lot of exotic mantis it is like a mysterious zone waiting for mantis discovery  

Yep I live an hour south away from Cancun, I dont have a butterfly thingy but Im sure I could find one and then go to some junglish area  it would be awesome if you guys come or at least visit for some days


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## wuwu

OMG seeing d. dessicata and orchids in their native habitats! :blink:


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## Katnapper

Wow, Wow, and Wow!  Oh... and WOW!!  That's absolutely wonderful.


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## worldofmantis

.. now i really want to go, how did u get the mantid to go back home with you? im assuming u took a airplane there? did u ship them back to your house?


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## mantidian

bext time you go to malaysia, tell me!!! I live just next door.


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## yen_saw

OGIGA said:


> Now your trip is starting to look incredibly awesome!!!! Take me with you next time.


Sadly that's about the time I got for mantis hunting. Let me know when you go to HK next time Calvin.  at least you don't have to fly extra 4 hours like me to LAX/SFO, and that doesn't include the transite time bummer!



pohchunyee said:


> I need to go back to Malaysia for some bug hunting!!!!


Chun, you should!!!



Arkanis said:


> Wow, i'd be just like a kid in a candy store!


  ... I am a kid too. a big kid  



ming ming said:


> Yep I live an hour south away from Cancun, I dont have a butterfly thingy but Im sure I could find one and then go to some junglish area  it would be awesome if you guys come or at least visit for some days


Wow..... skip the mantis i am going to Cancun :lol: 



chris_carson said:


> .. now i really want to go, how did u get the mantid to go back home with you? im assuming u took a airplane there? did u ship them back to your house?


Hmmm... I am going to just say all mantis brought back from Asia made it alright to US soil. Let it be L1 nymph or adult. but not via ship. Sorry that's all i can say.  



mantidian said:


> bext time you go to malaysia, tell me!!! I live just next door.


I did, didn't I?

Here are the dead specimen Michael has been keeping it for the past few months for me..... A big thank to him, now i need to find a way and start a pinning collection for mantis.

Bark mantis-adult male, theopompa sp most likely












Bark mantis-adult female











looks like a subadult female











Load of dead leaf mantis, here a few of them





















More to come....


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## Christian

The first one is a _Humbertiella_ male, the other bark mantids are _Theopompa_, though. The dead leaves don't need an ID, I think...


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## yen_saw

Edit: got the species name!

Move on with more dead one.

The long neck mantis (Euchomenella sp)











Lagre green mantis (Hierodula sp maybe)











A small mantis, could be Tropidomantis sp
















The Malaysia unicorn mantis.... I had three specimens, this is one of it


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## Christian

_Euchomenella heteroptera_

_Camelomantis_ sp.

Can't tell that one from pics

_Tropidomantis_ sp.

_Ceratocrania_ _macra._


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## pohchunyee

Nice......... I am planning to go back to Malaysia this Christmas... fingers cross i won't get quarantine for a week...LOL.. I think I might take a trip to Cameron Highland!


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## yen_saw

pohchunyee said:


> Nice......... I am planning to go back to Malaysia this Christmas... fingers cross i won't get quarantine for a week...LOL.. I think I might take a trip to Cameron Highland!


There is a small chance I may return this Christmas depending on my youngest sister's wedding plan. If she decided to have it in Malaysia (she's currently residing in UK) and my current project stage completed before Xmas we could meet up.


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## Katnapper

Wow. Again. :blink:


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## pohchunyee

We can definately meet up... lets keep in touch!


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## Pelle

Very nice photo's! Looks like you had a great vacation


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## gadunka888

> bext time you go to malaysia, tell me!!! I live just next door.


me too! and visit singapore as well! :lol:


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## yen_saw

Yes keep in touch Chun. Thanks Pim, it was a great trip, too bad it is over, time flies when you have fun right :lol: Hope to visit Singapore next time too, it has been a while since I last this beautiful country.

More dead specimen....

This one has nice metallic hind wing.






This one is wingless.... but her hind wing pattern looks cool






Another small unknown species











There were always tons of dead specimen of other insects. Mr Yeh doesn't seems to care if they rot....






Large Chalcasoma






Huge cicada, which Michael broke it later showing us the body parts... what a waste! He doesn't care at all...






Another nice looking cicada






He also mentioned this one is poisonous






I thank him for a nice specimen lesson and starting my trip back to my home town 180 km away, time to pack my mantis. My next trip is back to Hong kong, so the mantis fly with me


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## revmdn

They have some big bugs over there, huh?


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## pohchunyee

Yeah, we have extremely huge bugs back home. I seen an ant the size of my pinkie. Stick mantis almost my arm length.... LOL


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## yen_saw

oh i left out this nice species, i believed it is a Ceratomantis sp.











Yup with dense tropical jungle there mean to be huge bugs. But i can see deforestation eating up lot of natural habitat. Cameron Highlands is one good example, plenty of commercial hotels nowadays.


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## revmdn

I like that last one a lot. Someone should get that one in the hobby soon.


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## Morpheus uk

So what mantids are you going to try and get in culture from all th ones you found?


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## Katnapper

I love the hind wing pictures... both the metallic and the other headless one! And the cidadas...  :blink: Wow... that one is huge!! It's a shame Mr. Yeh does not take better care with the specimens!


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## [email protected]

[SIZE=14pt]Yen your pics are just to cool, it looks like you had a time.[/SIZE]


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## Rick

Those cicadas are awesoe.


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## agent A

yen_saw said:


> oh i left out this nice species, i believed it is a Ceratomantis sp.
> 
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> 
> 
> Yup with dense tropical jungle there mean to be huge bugs. But i can see deforestation eating up lot of natural habitat. Cameron Highlands is one good example, plenty of commercial hotels nowadays.


Cool mantis!!!


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## gadunka888

whoa can i buy the dead mantises from you?


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## ABbuggin

agent A said:


> Cool mantis!!!


They used to be in the hobby only 1-2 years ago. Haven't seen any in the hobby for a while.


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## yen_saw

Morpheus uk said:


> So what mantids are you going to try and get in culture from all th ones you found?


I only brought back few species, and ooth of another species. I am currently concentrate on the dead leaf. I should have a good chance on D. lobata since i have quite a few adult females, but i only got one D. dessicata female. The next best species would be the Malaysian shield mantis since i have close to 9 medium-large nymphs. THe adult female orchid appear very fresh and so i hope to pair her up again, i would hope to breed this species again after dropping them when the market was flooded with orchid 3 yrs ago. Also outside chance of breeding Leptomantella, Tropidomantis, and Spilomantis since i only have 2-3 nymphs of each species. 


Katnapper said:


> I love the hind wing pictures... both the metallic and the other headless one! And the cidadas...  :blink: Wow... that one is huge!! It's a shame Mr. Yeh does not take better care with the specimens!


Yea those dead mantis have seen better days i am sure. Mr. Yeh can find those bugs easily i guess so he doesn't care much.


Darth mantis said:


> whoa can i buy the dead mantises from you?


 I have lot of extra dead leaf mantis (D. lobata) specimen you can get them for free. PM me for details.A day before flying back to Hong Kong from Malaysia, i started to pack them at my hometown, my son took some pics while i was packing.






D. dessicata nymph pair






Some of the D. lobata and a lone D. dessicata adult females






Also few adult male D. lobata






Gave them a greal meal before the trip











Checking out this green mantis which I gave it to my friend in Hong Kong later






Another D. lobata






The Malaysia shield mantis


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## yen_saw

More good news on the wild collected dead leaf mantis. The lone adult female D. dessicata was releasing phremone and the insect zoo was kind enough to give me an adult male, the pair mated yesterday yay!






The D. lobata pair from wild also mated but i lost a male. THe mated female produced an ooth the 2 days later.

Almost done






The proud mother and ooth











The adult male is still hiding in the net cage after mating. As usual the male of this species is a big sissy.






The D. dessicata female was hiding this morning like in the wild.






Ah apparently she is laying ooth






Has been a while since I last breed D. dessicata, lets hope I will have some nymphs soon.






So here is the end of my entire collection trip it turn out to be much better than I thought. Certainly, i would love to have another bug hunt trip in the future, but maybe in another place. Maybe some place in Spain or France, yeah the Empusa!


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## revmdn

I want some.


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## Katnapper

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you with the _D. lobata_ and _dessicata_!!!


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## Rick

Are those the same kind of shield mantids that have been in hobby Yen?


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## agent A

how cool!


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## Morpheus uk

lol, starting to make me sick how much luck people are having with mantids


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## pohchunyee

Yen is a lucky man who know where and how to get these mantises......!!!! Anyway anyhow..... D.dessica and D.lobata will be in the trade for a nice price again!! Wooohooooo


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## yen_saw

Katnapper said:


> I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you with the _D. lobata_ and _dessicata_!!!


Thanks Becky. Both finger crossed here.  



Rick said:


> Are those the same kind of shield mantids that have been in hobby Yen?


Most likely not. The one in hobby was from Indonesia originally. I have noted marking (near the thorax/abdomen joint) on the recently captured shield mantis not shown on the one currently in the hobby, the shield might be slightly wider too but these batch is still pre-sub/sub stage.



Morpheus uk said:


> lol, starting to make me sick how much luck people are having with mantids


So was it my luck on finding the mantis or breeding the mantis that made you sick? or both  



pohchunyee said:


> Yen is a lucky man who know where and how to get these mantises......!!!! Anyway anyhow..... D.dessica and D.lobata will be in the trade for a nice price again!! Wooohooooo


Lets hope so Chun, we will see. Time to wait for the ooth to hatch, hopefully.


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## Rick

Do you use any substrate in your net cages for humidity Yen? Just wondering as you seem to use them alot. Just wondering if misting would be enough.


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## yen_saw

Rick said:


> Do you use any substrate in your net cages for humidity Yen? Just wondering as you seem to use them alot. Just wondering if misting would be enough.


No substrate. But i mist 2-3 times a day on the net cages that hold for the Dead leaf species. It is warm and humid here in Southern Texas though.


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## OGIGA

I'm so surprised that you managed to get all those containers over here!


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## d17oug18

well kept secret, and if he let it out to us all, we all know we would use the same method getting ourselves caught and him not being able to get anything here =) so lets just let him keep that secret so we can all get exotic pets =)


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## massaman

maybe next time on another trip he can go for the larger mantis species or those that are rare and would be a find indeed!


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## Christian

Don't you think he would have collected also the "rarer" species if he had found them? There is a reason why they are so hard to find. By the way, finding _Hymenopus_ in the forest is rather difficult. I would like to see your success in mantid searching!


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## massaman

first off i dont have the resources to make trips like that and would have no place to stay or anything if i did go someplace foreign even if there was a possibility of me ever going someplace like malaysia or anywhere outside the us!I am lucky to get by with the little that i do have!


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## Christian

Of course not everyone can do such trips. But then you should appreciate the effort of those ones who do by congratulating them to the stuff they found and not by criticizing what they've missed.


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## Katnapper

I think Yen's trip was a great success!! We are _*extremely *_lucky to have someone who does have the means, and who is actually willing to go and spend his time and resources... not only to search for mantids, but to care for and breed what he finds with the intention of sharing these great species within the hobby to everyone! Not to mention the risks and problems he faces doing it.


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## beckyl92




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## yen_saw

OGIGA said:


> I'm so surprised that you managed to get all those containers over here!


 Yes i am glad all mantis made it alright. They flew with me from Malaysia - Hong Kong - Los Angeles - Houston. That's lot of travelling for the mantis  


massaman said:


> maybe next time on another trip he can go for the larger mantis species or those that are rare and would be a find indeed!


 yes maybe next time. To hunt for those extra rare specimen, I estimate one will need to continue stay on for weeks, if not months, plus a pair of extremely keen eyes and luck too, or a group of people with extra keen eyes can get it done in shorter period of time. I have a full time job in states(not related to bugs) so staying abroad for a long time is not possible. Maybe one day when I retired in Malaysia and still physically fit I might give it a try.  


Katnapper said:


> I think Yen's trip was a great success!! We are _*extremely *_lucky to have someone who does have the means, and who is actually willing to go and spend his time and resources... not only to search for mantids, but to care for and breed what he finds with the intention of sharing these great species within the hobby to everyone! Not to mention the risks and problems he faces doing it.


 Becky, i actually have lot of fun doing things not related to mantis at all you know  I have actually seen some rarer mantis during the trip, but they are either dead specimen or from the farm (not for sale). I was thinking to put this pics on the other thread since it has nothing to do with my bug hunting but will share it here too.

These specimen were offered on the Butterfly farm in Cameron Highland, I bought a few of them - relatively cheap. Sorry for the blurly pic the mantis is wrapped in plastic.

Theopropas elegans






P. davisoni











Toxodera?











Paratoxodera?






The one is from KL butterfly park. If there is a price tag I would have bought it.






compare to the size of my son's hand






Nice one






and this live D. truncata adult female from Penang Butterfly Farm


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## MingMing

wow... is it legal to buy dead insects and bring them back home? what about ooths??? did you bring any??


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## revmdn

Yet again, wonderful.


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## yen_saw

During my stay in Los Angeles, Francisco - who is a member here - also showed me some of his dead mantis specimen that are seldom seen in the hobby during my 2 day visit in LA (after flying in from HK). i will show more animals Francisco kept in the other thread later.

Choeradodis sp






D. truncata male






brancsikia sp






Nice!











Rhombodera sp






No idea...






This one look like the mantis i saw in Cameron highland... was it Psychomantis?






Another sp i have no idea






Check out the metallic mantis!






Well that's all folks....... I am currently planning a trip to Florida, not sure if it will materialize, we shall see. Thanks for checking out my hunting trip in this thread i hope you have fun going through it as much as I did in the wild.


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## yen_saw

ming ming said:


> wow... is it legal to buy dead insects and bring them back home? what about ooths??? did you bring any??


I have no idea about the dead mantis legitimate issue sorry. It is definitely easier bringing in ooth than live mantis.



revmdn said:


> Yet again, wonderful.


Thanks glad you like it.


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## revmdn

Neat-o!


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## pohchunyee

Thanks for sharing Yen. Your thread makes me feel like I was in the trip with you. So nice and all the collection you have... OMG!!


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## Christian

The first _Toxodera _is _T. fimbriata._ The second one is difficult to see because of the angle, but I suggest _Metatoxodera subparallela_. The third one (from the farm) is _T. beieri._ The group was revised recently, there are 5 genera now with 17 species.

The shield mantids of Francisco are _Choeradodis rhombicollis_. The rotten _Brancsikia_ is a _B. aeroplana_ nymph. I also saw _Ceratocrania macra, Humbertiella _sp., an _Idolomorpha _nymph and _Ambivia undata_. "No idea" is an _Acanthops_ sp. The following is a _Vates_ sp. male (has nothing to do with _Psychomantis_). The last male is not easy, _Plistospilota_ or _Calospilota _sp.


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## Gurd

Thanks for sharing Yen, maybe 1 day I will get a chance to go hunting.

Christian your knowledge about mantids is imense


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## chun

thanks for sharing, really enjoyed your photos, really miss the good food back in malaysia, hopefully next year.

i remember the Penang Butterfly Farm, they had a D. dessicata and T. elegans on display 5 years ago, along with gazillion 'manfaced bugs'. Glad to see you had a good time


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## Rick

Once again this thread delivers.


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## agent A

This is an example of how cool Mantidforum can be. We have met an excellent person here who shows us a great diversity within the mantis kingdom.


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## kamakiri

Wow. Thanks to Yen for sharing so many pictures...and to Christian for all the IDs. Most impressive.


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## Frack

Awsome pics! I really liked the ones of the roaches lol


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## gadunka888

agent A said:


> This is an example of how cool Mantidforum can be. We have met an excellent person here who shows us a great diversity within the mantis kingdom.


+1!


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## Eldur

my god this is so awesome! You´ve just been in bugheaven, I would love to visit a country like that one day, so many insects to see! Love your photos, they are too cool


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## massaman

too bad you could not talk to some of those dealers of the dead mantises like the Parymenopus Davisoni and make a deal if he can get a hold of live specimens or even a ooth and try to culture those!


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## yen_saw

Gez sorry i have forgotten about this thread.



pohchunyee said:


> Thanks for sharing Yen. Your thread makes me feel like I was in the trip with you. So nice and all the collection you have... OMG!!


Sure Chun glad you like it. Have fun this coming December. Becareful if you decided to go up to CH around that time as that's during the raining season. On our way up to CH in June there was a huge old tree fall on the road and basically block both way but the it was clear up pretty quick. Luckily no one was hurt. and this is the new Simpang Pulai way!


Christian said:


> The first _Toxodera _is _T. fimbriata._ The second one is difficult to see because of the angle, but I suggest _Metatoxodera subparallela_. The third one (from the farm) is _T. beieri._ The group was revised recently, there are 5 genera now with 17 species.The shield mantids of Francisco are _Choeradodis rhombicollis_. The rotten _Brancsikia_ is a _B. aeroplana_ nymph. I also saw _Ceratocrania macra, Humbertiella _sp., an _Idolomorpha _nymph and _Ambivia undata_. "No idea" is an _Acanthops_ sp. The following is a _Vates_ sp. male (has nothing to do with _Psychomantis_). The last male is not easy, _Plistospilota_ or _Calospilota _sp.


Thanks Christian for the identification. Good stuff!


Gurd said:


> Thanks for sharing Yen, maybe 1 day I will get a chance to go hunting.Christian your knowledge about mantids is imense


Glad you like it Craig! Let me know if you plan to travel one day. I agree Christian can identify them in his sleep haha!


chun said:


> thanks for sharing, really enjoyed your photos, really miss the good food back in malaysia, hopefully next year. i remember the Penang Butterfly Farm, they had a D. dessicata and T. elegans on display 5 years ago, along with gazillion 'manfaced bugs'. Glad to see you had a good time


Yes Chun, go go go! lot of food and bugs waiting for you there  


Rick said:


> Once again this thread delivers.


 Thanks Rick!


kamakiri said:


> Wow. Thanks to Yen for sharing so many pictures...and to Christian for all the IDs. Most impressive.


 No problem glad you like it.... and agree!


Frack said:


> Awsome pics! I really liked the ones of the roaches lol


Hey Dustin. HOw's life in Florida? Sorry i couldn't bring back any roaches for you  Getting pass my wife is much more difficult that passing through the custom check you know  Did you see I use the light cap during my CH bug hunt?  



Sachiko said:


> my god this is so awesome! You´ve just been in bugheaven, I would love to visit a country like that one day, so many insects to see! Love your photos, they are too cool


Yeah Sachiko. I am like a kid in Disneyland is what it is.... a bugheaven basically in any tropical forest. Glad you enjoy the pics too  



massaman said:


> too bad you could not talk to some of those dealers of the dead mantises like the Parymenopus Davisoni and make a deal if he can get a hold of live specimens or even a ooth and try to culture those!


The dealers of the dead mantis are the aboriginal villagers who collect the insects and sell them to the butterfly farm and park in CH. Species like P. davisoni wouldn't stay alive under the aboriginal people hand and usually perished before they were brought to the middle man. Besides, they probably get a good price for spreading a dead specimen too.


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## trojon

This thread was incredible.

Yen, I believe you should make a thread, almost as a tutorial, on how to do this collecting!

Many people spend money on holidays sightseeing and sitting on a beach (both things I do, and have done in Malaysia) - but I have never collected bugs, something I really need to get working on now I've seen it can be done! A great inspiration to this community. Whilst at university, myself and some professors thought that people like this were relatively non-existant in this day and age!


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