# What species is this?



## JoeCapricorn (Aug 29, 2010)

So I have two of these mantises, they've recently molted to adult. Initially I thought they might've been genus Rhombodera, then Peter Clausen said that they were Hierodula multispina afterall, but their resemblance to pictures of Sphodromantis is hard to ignore, so I think it is possible these fellas are actually Sphodromantis viridis?



























Those are images of the cerci, wingspot, small white spines on fore-arm and the markings on the underside of thorax.

The resemblance is uncanny to this mantis in this video:

 - a comment made by a user indicated S. viridis. Could it be possible that I have a S. viridis? Or is it possible that S. viridis just looks similar and is easily confused with H. multispina?


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## LauraMG (Aug 29, 2010)

I don't know about the species, but definitely a female!


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## Rick (Aug 29, 2010)

I am not familar with multispina but those look like Sphodromantis to me. If Peter said they were multispina than I am sure he is correct.


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## JoeCapricorn (Aug 29, 2010)

I did find another video of Sphodromantis viridis, and in both of those videos the mantis looks quite different from mine and the "mantis religiosa" video.

Whatever mantis I have, the resemblance to the first video is uncanny and quite interesting, as that is one of the videos that got me into raising them as pets and is also one of my favorite mantis videos. The end, how the mantis wiggles her antennae and looks so happy is classic, then she looks up and toward the left of the screen.


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## yen_saw (Aug 30, 2010)

It is the green color morph of Hierodula cf. multispina IGM 200. Most of mine are dark brown. Originally from Sipsongpanna, in Yunnan China.


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## Precarious (Aug 30, 2010)

Love the pics!


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## ismart (Aug 30, 2010)

If you received these mantids from Peter, than they are _Hierodula multispina_ IGM number 200. The reason i know this is because i sold them to Peter. I myself initially received them from Yen. I have both green and brown morphs of this species.


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## JoeCapricorn (Aug 30, 2010)

Thanks for the answers guys!

I guess it is fitting for them to be both named "Tao" and "Te", if the species is from China! I wonder if the species has a particular common name, since lately I just refer to them as my two scamps.


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## JoeCapricorn (Sep 7, 2010)

I saw one of them do a threat pose just now, it was so funny how I could coax her to do it and then get her to just crawl on my hand and be all cute and peaceful :3 Right now she is following the typing on my screen and it is quite entertaining to see her turn her little head... but anyway what got her to do a threat pose was the shadow of my finger seen through the slitted lid of the kritter keeper she is in as I move it back and forth. The threat pose she did was exactly like how Kit (H. membranacea female) did hers, except H. membranacea have those black and red "stripes" in between their abdominal segments. How they spread their arms outward but keep them folded, puff up their wings and show their red "fangs" (as I like to call them, they look neat) are both pretty much exactly the same.

I should try to get a picture of it. In the mean time, kind of on topic, any idea on how to induce a D. lobata to threat display without causing her to freak? I saw how cool they appear when they do that.


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