# Mantis mania!!



## guapoalto049 (Nov 4, 2010)

I've been taking lots of pictures lately, don't know why. It was mantis molt night a few days ago so I've got some nice fresh specimens.

First Violin ootheca (her buddy is carefully watching):







You wonder what it looks like when a mantis is about to shed? Here's a shot 3 hours pre-molt:






End result is an adult Rhombodera basalis!:






My budwing buddies, I think now L5:






Turning it into Chinese food:






R. basalis having filet mignon (badly mismolted Idolo  ):






L6 female Idolo:






another:






Female violin and Chinese. It is so hard to photograph violins:






Sub female shield and L6 Idolo size comparison:


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## guapoalto049 (Nov 4, 2010)

But wait! There's more!

Idolo ladies:






Fresh adult female shield:






Profile:






L6 Idolo dwarfing female subadult ghost:






Idolo, ghost, shield size comparison:






African chicks:






Asian chicks:






Big green showdown:






R. basalis size:






Ooth #2 on mattress:


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## Vulcain (Nov 4, 2010)

Hi !

Very nice pics, thank you ;-)


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## Colorcham427 (Nov 4, 2010)

hahahaha that one pic of the 3 that are clinging to that net cage, look like something out of the show cops. Your hands would be the cop of course!  lol

awesome pictures dude, keep them coming! Everybody could use more and more pictures to just gaze at!! thanks for sharing!


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## Jesskb (Nov 4, 2010)

Great pics!


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## kitkat39 (Nov 4, 2010)

Great collection of mantis! Man you've got some super duper GREEN on that Chinese!


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## guapoalto049 (Nov 4, 2010)

Thanks everyone!

@Brian: They were the usual suspects for Halloween lol

@kitkat: She and the shield could be twins! I have another one just as green, she doesn't stop moving though so its hard to snap a pic.

I'm really surprised at how thick the shield is. Her head and forelegs are noticeably bigger than the Chinese, though she's over 3/4" shorter!


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## LauraMG (Nov 4, 2010)

Love the pictures! And the narration for that matter! :lol: That ghost is a crazy pale color!


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## guapoalto049 (Nov 4, 2010)

Laura G said:


> Love the pictures! And the narration for that matter! :lol: That ghost is a crazy pale color!


Haha thanks. The ghost used to be bright green, then when she molted to subadult she turned yellowish green!


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## Zalonik (Nov 4, 2010)

Beautiful pictures! Your Chinese is so bright and green.  I also like the size comparison of the 3 of them to your hand.


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## Ricardo (Nov 5, 2010)

fantastic . I'm getting a shield mantis as well. But why are they called giant shield mantids if they aren't giant in terms of mantis puportions?

I mean they're pretty big but not as big as chinese


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## Rick (Nov 5, 2010)

Nice pics. How did you end up with an ooth on the mattress? :lol:


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## yen_saw (Nov 5, 2010)

Always cool to see different species on the same pic :clap: 

If the 'Rhombodera basilis' you have is subsequent generation from the stock i brought in back in 2006, it has been tentatively identified as Rhombodera cf. stalli IGM 119 recently, although nothing is confirmed yet.


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## guapoalto049 (Nov 5, 2010)

@Ricardo: maybe the "giant" is referring to the shield. As in mantis with a giant shield, rather than giant mantis with shield. They may not be as long as the Chinese, but I really think they're more beastly. Thicker frame-head, legs, body, everything.

Get a shield they are prob my favorite out of the group.

@Rick: Just what I get when I let a fat girl roam around my room for an hour haha!

@Yen: I am not sure of the IGM # on the Rhombodera, they're from Rebecca's stock. All I know is that I like em!


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## Ricardo (Nov 5, 2010)

I'm really getting attatched to my mio's. The size sort of discouraged me at first but they sure are fun and cute!

There's a lot more then meets the eyes ( at first glance ) with the little guys.

Can't wait for the shield mantis though!


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## greenmantid (Nov 5, 2010)

Did it lay an ooth on your matress?


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## Seattle79 (Nov 5, 2010)

Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, nice mantids!


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## sporeworld (Nov 6, 2010)

Beautiful! Especially the mixed breed comparrisons. Love to see your adult Idol female next to the Chinese...


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## angelofdeathzz (Nov 7, 2010)

Very nice pics!!! to bad about the Idolo turning into a feeder, I Hate when that happens, you raise them, care for them, then bam they go all mismolt on you. you wake up look in there and say #*%#  !!!

been there done that. Idolos and Gongy's you gotta love'em. :wacko:


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## guapoalto049 (Nov 9, 2010)

Sporeworld said:


> Beautiful! Especially the mixed breed comparrisons. Love to see your adult Idol female next to the Chinese...


I wish the Chinese adult could live that long! I have a hunch that the Idolo would be one of the few that could shadow Chinese. There is so much mis-information about mantid size, such as claims of 6" Chinese mantids. I've never seen one legitimately over 4".

I have seen a picture of a legitimate 12cm (4.75")Idolo female, so it would be neat to see them next to a Chinese...


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## Grebeniuk Sergei (Nov 9, 2010)

Here`s another one. Doesn`t lay oothes, though.  





More views:

http://picasaweb.google.com/115327137024649316191/Mantis#


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## The Gex Files (Nov 9, 2010)

They all look great! How big are the L6 Idolo in cm?


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## guapoalto049 (Nov 10, 2010)

greenmantid said:


> Did it lay an ooth on your matress?


haha yes right on the mattress!

@The Gex Files: The L6 are currently 5.5 cm. If I'm not mistaken (not an entomologist so correct if need be) applying Dyar's Rule will give me 10.75 cm adult female Idolos. Let's see if it actually applies!


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## The Gex Files (Nov 10, 2010)

guapoalto049 said:


> @The Gex Files: The L6 are currently 5.5 cm. If I'm not mistaken (not an entomologist so correct if need be) applying Dyar's Rule will give me 10.75 cm adult female Idolos. Let's see if it actually applies!


Thanks! We will be getting L3 and L4 today or tomorrow.


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## Precarious (Nov 10, 2010)

Nice pics! We need some Idolos with wings!


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