# Wide arm mantis eating orchid mantis



## yen_saw (Nov 5, 2006)

One of my adult male orchid mantis couldn't strencth his wing during molting (after i accidentally spray him during molting). So i let this lady get a meal (expensive meal i have to say).


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## xenuwantsyou (Nov 5, 2006)

I guess it's better to not let the energy get wasted and let it move on up the good ol' food chain.


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## infinity (Nov 6, 2006)

Yeah, sad to say, I recycle my mantids too... I hate doing it because I respect them but in my opinion, better use of a mantis than just freezing it...

I just can't watch it happening


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## wuwu (Nov 6, 2006)

hey yen, are you putting your c. humeralis in high humidity? none of my mine are green.


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## padkison (Nov 6, 2006)

Nice pictures. I put the last one as background on my computer.


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## Rick (Nov 6, 2006)

I love the wide arms. Am waiting for mine to mature.


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## yen_saw (Nov 6, 2006)

She is a huge female, considering the adult male orchid is only the size of her forearm.



> hey yen, are you putting your c. humeralis in high humidity? none of my mine are green.


I seldom spray adult wide arm mantis. Maybe that's the reason why?

Note: I have noticed that female of this species molted into adult sooner than the male. Does this happen to you guys too?

Another sad note: I am going to drop this species out from my list, hopefully you guys can carry on with this species.


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## Rick (Nov 6, 2006)

> She is a huge female, considering the adult male orchid is only the size of her forearm.
> 
> 
> > hey yen, are you putting your c. humeralis in high humidity? none of my mine are green.
> ...


Yeah my female is subadult and the males are pretty small still. I mist mine every other day and the female is green.


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## wuwu (Nov 6, 2006)

i mist mine like once a week or so. all of mine are brownish/grey, pretty much the same color except the males are a darker shade with black blotches and the females are a lighter shade. 2 of my females and 1 male are sub, and 2 male and 1 female are sub sub.


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## yen_saw (Nov 6, 2006)

> pretty much the same color except the males are a darker shade with black blotches and the females are a lighter shade


I believed male of this species is always dark brown in color when adult.


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## CockroachYet (Nov 6, 2006)

-Sweet-bitter mantis poetry but anyway is mantis poetry. Excellent and very rare good fine images. Best regards.


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## ThrAwNy (Nov 9, 2006)

I have two green jade subadult female and a male that is a grey color with black markings, they have been subadult for about 2 months now, I am amazed at how long they take to become adult, they are not big eater either but the females still looking fat, I also mist their cages everyday.

I have read the females are this specie to be very aggresive and often eat the male.

I've also read that a trick would be to place the female into the fridge a bit just enough that she become slow, and then attache a string around her predatory arms, that way the male could jump on her. It does sound really silly doesn't it?


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## Rick (Nov 9, 2006)

> I have two green jade subadult female and a male that is a grey color with black markings, they have been subadult for about 2 months now, I am amazed at how long they take to become adult, they are not big eater either but the females still looking fat, I also mist their cages everyday. I have read the females are this specie to be very aggresive and often eat the male.
> 
> I've also read that a trick would be to place the female into the fridge a bit just enough that she become slow, and then attache a string around her predatory arms, that way the male could jump on her. It does sound really silly doesn't it?


Silly? Yeah and I doubt it will work.


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## rickyc666 (Nov 17, 2006)

woah, thats one cool, chunky looking mantis. It looks like its on steriods. How big do they grow? (its hard to get an exact idea by comparing to the orchid as he's havin a bad day) :lol: 

p.s. Would this be cilnia humeralis? ive never seen one before so googled it.

cheers


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## yen_saw (Nov 20, 2006)

> woah, thats one cool, chunky looking mantis. It looks like its on steriods. How big do they grow? (its hard to get an exact idea by comparing to the orchid as he's havin a bad day) p.s. Would this be cilnia humeralis? ive never seen one before so googled it.
> 
> cheers


Yes it is Cilnia Humeralis, they grew up to about 2.5-3 inches but very bulky.


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## rickyc666 (Nov 20, 2006)

I think they look cool. Ive just possibly found some for sale too which is good timing. But before i buy them, what conditions do you keep them in? humidity and temp that is.

cheers


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## wuwu (Nov 20, 2006)

they are very low maintenance, just keep them in the same conditions as s. lineola. i've found that they like to hide in decor though, so give them plenty of that. they rarely stay on the top like some species.


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## yen_saw (Nov 20, 2006)

Cilnia Humeralis is from places like Cameroon so temp./humidity of around 80F/70% is alright. I spray them more often at younger age and less when they are L5 and above. No problem taking insects like flies, crix, or moth.


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## rickyc666 (Nov 20, 2006)

cool. cheers for your advice guys.


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## Gabrieloak67 (Jan 31, 2007)

Yen.

I'm with you, best to recycle what you can with dead or dying mantids. i suppose morally no different than feeding it any of the hundreds of other crickets, flies, moths etc. However, even when i see a mantid being eaten on TV (by a chameleon or scorpion or whatever) I feel slightly haunted, like I'm watching some kind of abuse..I guess I've been way to fascinated with mantids for way to long!


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## yen_saw (Jan 31, 2007)

Actually, i only feed mismolted mantis that didn't look too unhealthy or infected by diseases. I wouldn't recommend feeding dead or dying mantis to another healthy mantis especially when the cause of dead (or dying) mantis is in question. You never know what kind of illness they can pass on to another mantis. I also wouldn't recommend feeding injured mantis to another because they might still post a threat and attack another mantis. The reason I fed him (The adult orchid male) to the Wide Arm female was the cause of mismolting is due to oversparying on the molting mantis. Besides, the adult male orchid mantis is no match to the Wide Arm female so in no way he can inflict any damage to her.


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