# mantis species?



## yen_saw (Apr 1, 2007)

I know this is quite difficult at the moment since the nymph just hatch. But if any of you have any indication on what kind of species this one is - based on the following ootheca and L1 nymph pic - please repond. No worry about wrong guess i am all ear and open to any suggestion. The ootheca were from Northern Africa and had been incubated for about 3 months (at least)!

ootheca












Nymph - L1




































Many thanks! (Sorry i know too many pics which may not help at all)


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## robo mantis (Apr 1, 2007)

You may have to wait until next shed then maybe you could identify.


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## jplelito (Apr 1, 2007)

Yen,

My guess is _Sphodromantis_ of some sort - although the incubation time is rather longish, if wild collected it could have been in diapause I suppose - I didn't know they did that.

I have a picture somewhere of an L1 from when I had them years ago (_Sphodromantis centralis_) I will post tomorrow if I remember!

Maybe Christian can tell even as a first instar.


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## yen_saw (Apr 2, 2007)

That's what i was thinking at first Jon, although it doesn't match the usual sphdromantis nymphs' color at hatchling. Another info i forgot to add was the solid hard surface and darker color (resembling Hierodula ootheca minus the papery feeling) of ootheca. Thanks for your thought Jon.


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## jplelito (Apr 2, 2007)

Yen,

I added that pic I was talking about to the link above...

The ooth does look different, I agree, but it might be dried out or made during the dry season, which might also explain why it didn't hatch in a month like many warm-area mantids do.

Maybe something closely related... keep us updated as it grows, it may get easier to figure out what he/she is.

How many hatched out? That looked like a decent sized ooth.


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## Orin (Apr 2, 2007)

Hierodula patellifera has a smaller, really solid ootheca (not at all papery) like that but I don't believe the nymphs are that color and it's from Asia. If it's a Heirodula you may never figure out what species. Good luck!


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## Rick (Apr 2, 2007)

Sphodromantis is what I was thinking while looking at the ooth. The nymph doesn't look like it though. Interesting looking little guy though.


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## yen_saw (Apr 3, 2007)

> Yen, I added that pic I was talking about to the link above...
> 
> The ooth does look different, I agree, but it might be dried out or made during the dry season, which might also explain why it didn't hatch in a month like many warm-area mantids do.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the pic Jon, it does look like one. Only 17 nymphs hatched out from this ootheca, based on the ootheca size, i would have thought the hatching rate to be higher.

Yes Orin it does look like Hierodula Patelifera ootheca. At the moment, my guess is a species of SPhodromantis.


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## Orin (Apr 3, 2007)

It certainly looks like the S.centralis photo at L1


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## Christian (Apr 3, 2007)

Hi.

This species is imported frequently from Tansania since 2 or 3 years. It's a _Sphodromantis_, I wait for some specimens from a friend to determine them. The ootheca is typical, it may be a forest species.

Regards,

Christian


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## yen_saw (Apr 4, 2007)

Thanks Chrsitian, and i am aware that there are many Sphodromantis species so who knows! But at least we got sphodromantis!


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## Jenn (Apr 12, 2007)

They are very cute... Nice eyes. wonderful pictures yen


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## yen_saw (Apr 21, 2007)

Thanks Jenn. This species look very different after first molt, it turn into yellowish/greenish at L2, and right now it is L3 and bright green color.


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## OGIGA (Apr 21, 2007)

Dark red to bright green, that's interesting. I wonder how it'll end up.


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## yen_saw (May 21, 2007)

They grew up a little now, it is still difficult to see what exact species.


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## AFK (May 21, 2007)

i'm taking a shot in the dark here, but i'd say that is either _Hymenopus coronatus_ or _Panthera tigris_.


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## Rob Byatt (May 22, 2007)

> i'm taking a shot in the dark here, but i'd say that is either _Hymenopus coronatus_ or _Panthera tigris_.


You got the wrong topic mate ? :wink:

The ootheca looks like a _Hierodula_ sp. but the nymph seems more like a _Sphodromantis_ sp., but I really can't tell from the picture. Do you have a close-up of the head ?

Rob.


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## AFK (May 23, 2007)

okay, maybe i was off with the _Hymenopus coronatus_, but i still stand by _Panthera tigris_. if you don't believe me, google it up. i am, after all, an expert on invertebrates, especially with mantids.


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## yen_saw (May 24, 2007)

AFK, you are so wrong!! it is a woolly mammoth how could you miss it.....  

Brought the species to the museum, and was told it could be Sphdromantis Viridus. Anyway, i am letting it go for display in the insect zoo.


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## Rick (May 24, 2007)

> > i'm taking a shot in the dark here, but i'd say that is either _Hymenopus coronatus_ or _Panthera tigris_.
> 
> 
> The ootheca looks like a _Hierodula_ sp. but the nymph seems more like a _Sphodromantis_ sp., but I really can't tell from the picture. Do you have a close-up of the head ?
> ...


Exactly what I was thinking.


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## AFK (May 24, 2007)

> AFK, you are so wrong!! it is a woolly mammoth how could you miss it.....  Brought the species to the museum, and was told it could be Sphdromantis Viridus. Anyway, i am letting it go for display in the insect zoo.


are you nuts?! no way it's a woolly mammoth. woolly mammoths are extinct!you guys think i'm joking but i'm DEAD serious. more dead than a woolly mammoth, in fact. you guys will be the last ones laughing when you realize that i, expert on all things invertebrates, was correct in that this is clearly a _Panthera tigris_.


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