# Metallyticus violaceus hatch



## Precarious (Jul 5, 2013)

They may not look like much now but as they mature they will become metallic and colorful.




























Built more like a roach than a mantis...






Take note they have 2 spikes at the tip of the tibia...
















Look how flat the face is...


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## Precarious (Jul 5, 2013)

Size refference


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## scytheclaw (Jul 5, 2013)

excellent species and fantastic photos

really like these myself but waiting till got bit more experience under my belt


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## Paradoxica (Jul 5, 2013)

Cool, I like the black with green trim on them once they dry out. Good luck with them!


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## psyconiko (Jul 5, 2013)

Wonderful!!Where did you get them?


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## Precarious (Jul 5, 2013)

Nikkko said:


> Wonderful!!Where did you get them?


I traded a dud ooth to some sucker. :tt2:


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## OctoberRainne (Jul 5, 2013)

I can't wait to see them get that metallic color,Congrats on the hatch


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## psyconiko (Jul 5, 2013)

Precarious said:


> I traded a dud ooth to some sucker. :tt2:


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## aychen222 (Jul 5, 2013)

They look very strong, probably the largest proportion of leg-size to body-weight out of all the species of mantid that I have seen.


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## wuwu (Jul 5, 2013)

WOW. looking forward to seeing more photos and videos!


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## thalassarche (Jul 5, 2013)

wuwu said:


> WOW. looking forward to seeing more photos and videos!


^ me too! They look fantastic already.


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## sally (Jul 5, 2013)

Such beautiful little nymphs


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## Ambystoma (Jul 5, 2013)

Do want.


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## Sticky (Jul 6, 2013)

We are very blessed to have you on this forum. Your photos are always beautiful and amazing! Thank you Precarious for sharing your adorable nymphs!


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## agent A (Jul 7, 2013)

can u show us a pic of the ooth they came from??


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## Precarious (Jul 7, 2013)

Sticky said:


> We are very blessed to have you on this forum. Your photos are always beautiful and amazing! Thank you Precarious for sharing your adorable nymphs!


Thank you for the kind words.



agent A said:


> can u show us a pic of the ooth they came from??


Nothing to see. It was laid between 2 pieces of paper towel so only slivers of ooth showing on each end. You can see it at the very beginning of the video. I didn't even know which side the nymphs would hatch from. That's why you can see the white plastic end of a straight pin in the video. I mounted the ooth hanging by the paper towel. Once I saw which side they were hatching from I pinned it up so that side was facing down.


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## hibiscusmile (Jul 8, 2013)

lovely, just lovely, I wish you could take some pictures of a milkweed flower, I think it would be wonderful.


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## Dracus (Jul 8, 2013)

Superb pictures!


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## shaneckc (Jul 8, 2013)

Any idea where these species are native to? I live in southern California and I can almost swear that I saw one of these the other day. Like you said, built more like a roach than a mantis, but now that I've seen these I'm second guessing my initial distinction upon seeing it...


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## Precarious (Jul 8, 2013)

aychen222 said:


> They look very strong, probably the largest proportion of leg-size to body-weight out of all the species of mantid that I have seen.


Those legs are built that way so the can book! These little things are FAST. You can see that immediately after hatching they move in sudden bursts. A few took off during filming and it was a nightmare to get them in the cup. Not only because of their speed but because they lay so flat to the ground. You can't pick them up like a normal mantid. They won't climb on board if you put your finger just above their head. You have to maneuver something flat, like a piece of paper, in front of them while they're moving and hope they don't jump off as you move it to the cup.



hibiscusmile said:


> lovely, just lovely, I wish you could take some pictures of a milkweed flower, I think it would be wonderful.


Hmmm... I'll see what I can do.



shaneckc said:


> Any idea where these species are native to? I live in southern California and I can almost swear that I saw one of these the other day. Like you said, built more like a roach than a mantis, but now that I've seen these I'm second guessing my initial distinction upon seeing it...


They're native to Thailand. If you saw a mantis with a similar build it was likely one of the bark mantid species native to North America.


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## Mime454 (Jul 8, 2013)

How many hatched? Do they seem hardy so far?


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## Precarious (Jul 8, 2013)

Mime454 said:


> How many hatched? Do they seem hardy so far?


Looks like 20 or 21. No deaths so far.


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## Mime454 (Jul 8, 2013)

Awesome.


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## agent A (Jul 8, 2013)

are they eating mels or hydei??


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## Precarious (Jul 8, 2013)

agent A said:


> are they eating mels or hydei??


Considering they are only slightly bigger than hydei I wouldn't even bother trying. I haven't directly witnessed them eating but I have mels and spring tails in there.


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## agent A (Jul 8, 2013)

Precarious said:


> Considering they are only slightly bigger than hydei I wouldn't even bother trying. I haven't directly witnessed them eating but I have mels and spring tails in there.


wow I thought they were bigger due to the pics of them on your finger

unless you have a tiny finger...


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## Precarious (Jul 8, 2013)

agent A said:


> wow I thought they were bigger due to the pics of them on your finger
> 
> unless you have a tiny finger...


I'm only 3'2" but my hands are normal size. My feet are double normal size and I take a size XXL hat due to Hydrocephalus.

Ok, not really...

Do I need to take a pic of a hydei on my finger for comparison? Good, cause I have better things to do.

I think you need to take another look at that pic. Nymphs is only like 1/8 the length of the tip of my finger. It's maybe 1.5 the length of a hydei, but then again, I have large hydei so maybe you're thinking of the smaller ones.


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## agent A (Jul 8, 2013)

oh I see now

thank you for the clarification


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## hibiscusmile (Jul 8, 2013)

I am going with the 3' picture in my head! :shifty: I think the pic is great and that baby must really be tiny if smaller than hydei.


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## Precarious (Jul 19, 2013)

L2 now. Finally caught one eating a melanogaster...


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## aNisip (Jul 19, 2013)

Nice stuff Henry, the second photo of the metal eating he is like, "I'm slowly putting the mel down...just don't take another pic! :0 "

:lol:


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## MantidLord (Jul 19, 2013)

That's awesome. I don't think I've ever seen a pic of them eating.


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## ShieldMantid1997 (Jul 20, 2013)

Creepy looking!


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## Precarious (Jul 20, 2013)

MantidLord said:


> That's awesome. I don't think I've ever seen a pic of them eating.


Eventually I'll get video.


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## agent A (Jul 21, 2013)

cool!!! they are kinda cute!


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## ShieldMantid1997 (Aug 6, 2013)

How are they doing so far?


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## brancsikia339 (Aug 7, 2013)

Incredible!!! :clap: :clap: :clap: 

Congratz on the hatch!!


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## Precarious (Aug 7, 2013)

ShieldMantid1997 said:


> How are they doing so far?


So far so good. Very few losses. Nothing too exciting to report.


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## Lou (Apr 19, 2014)

Any updates on how these guys turned out?


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## Precarious (Apr 19, 2014)

Lou said:


> Any updates on how these guys turned out?


They take a very long time to mature and I slowly lost them one by one. Didn't even get any adults. Oh, well. You can't win them all.


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## Lou (Apr 19, 2014)

Precarious said:


> They take a very long time to mature and I slowly lost them one by one. Didn't even get any adults. Oh, well. You can't win them all.


I'm so sorry to hear that! They were very unique and very cool looking.It looked like an interesting project,I'm sorry they didn't make it.They were in good hands.


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## TheBeesKnees (Apr 21, 2014)

oh gosh, these were some beautiful looking nymphs! It would have been great to see them mature, but they're so tiny... I'm not surprised they proved difficult to raise. You certainly put a great effort forth, though! And it's a pleasure just to see photos of the nymphs. I'm really sorry to hear it didn't pan out :C &lt;3


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