# Help ID please...



## Butterfly (May 4, 2007)

Ok Im a bit confused on the species I had, now that her ooths are hatching I think im calling them the wrong kind of Matind. Can anyone ID my bug?


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## Rick (May 4, 2007)

Stagmomantis for sure. Looks like stagmomantis carolina.


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## OGIGA (May 4, 2007)

Looks exactly like my stagmomantis californica. Well, I have yet to see mine do that with its wings.


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## Butterfly (May 4, 2007)

yeah shed do that when I touched her back. Thanks guys, I sure hope its a Carolina as I have 3 ooths from her, and just bought an ooth of Californicas from Rick. I do love my bugs but I like keeping a variety of em too!


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## Hypoponera (May 5, 2007)

I might be wrong, but I think you have _S. limbata_, the Bordered mantis. I think this due to the yellow hind wings. I have reared them before and they did quite well. I caught mine in Tucson, Az. Do you have any of the adult males? If so, check to see if the abdomen has 4 dark cross-bands. If the bands are present, you have _S. californica_. If there are no bands, you have _S. limbata_. But these bands are only on the males. If you do not have males then you will need to wait for adults to appear.


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## OGIGA (May 6, 2007)

I have an adult male. Can you describe the cross bands some more? I don't see anything special on mine (I've only checked the underside).


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## Rick (May 6, 2007)

> I might be wrong, but I think you have _S. limbata_, the Bordered mantis. I think this due to the yellow hind wings. I have reared them before and they did quite well. I caught mine in Tucson, Az. Do you have any of the adult males? If so, check to see if the abdomen has 4 dark cross-bands. If the bands are present, you have _S. californica_. If there are no bands, you have _S. limbata_. But these bands are only on the males. If you do not have males then you will need to wait for adults to appear.


We have that exact mantis here in the carolinas and we don't have s. californica. I am no expert but I think s. carolina.


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## Hypoponera (May 6, 2007)

Abdomen of male with 4 dark cross-bands on upper surface of first 4 abdomenal segments. I have also seen this described as "first 4 segments edged with seal brown"

Length: 45-50 mm

Range: California to Colorado and Texas. Also in Arizona and Nevada.

Green, yellowish or brown. Male wing brownish with pale mottling and cross veinlets, purplish at base. Female wing brown, purple, and orange-yellow. Wing of female dark or marked with ashy blotches. Slightly smaller, more slender, and with broader head then _S. limbata_, and usually darker in color. Some specimens taken in North-Western Arizona are almost black.

This info comes from my only sources which are all old and probably WAY out of date.


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## Hypoponera (May 6, 2007)

I will add descriptions of 2 other _Stegmomantis_ species found in California tonight. _S. limbata_ and _S. gracilipes_ None of these is found further East then Texas.


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## Hypoponera (May 6, 2007)

The Bordered mantis

Length: 45-50 mm

Range: Arizona to Texas and Mexico. Also in the Central Valley of California.

Green, yellowish or brownish. Male wing clear except opaque stripe along front edge. Female tegmina usually green, wing thickly spotted with lemon yellow. Abdomen of male with no dark crossbands.


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## Hypoponera (May 6, 2007)

Length: 58-61 mm

This is a rare species that appears to only be found in Arizona. Males are usually brown or green, females usually golden or yellowish. Appears very similar to other _Stegmomantis_ species, except it is quite a bit slenderer.


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## OGIGA (May 6, 2007)

This is great! Where does your information come from? If I (or we) can get the whole source, I'm sure it will benefit us all. I'll post a picture of my mantises next to a ruler later.


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## OGIGA (May 6, 2007)

Here's my male. I couldn't get a good view of his upper abdomen without him freaking out and running all over the place. I don't think he has anything noticeably dark on his upper abdomen though. Maybe I don't have stamomantis californica after all... he's larger than all of the lengths you gave.


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## Hypoponera (May 7, 2007)

My main source of info for these descriptions is from "How to Know the Grasshoppers, Crickets, Cockroaches and their Allies" by Jacques R. Helfer. mine is the 3rd edition copyright 1987. However, the first edition is copyright 1962 and I doubt much was changed between editions. As such, the ranges may not be truely accurate. I did manage to pick up my copy on Amazon for about $10 including shipping! The book also covers roaches and walking sticks in the US and Canada.

I just measured my specimens. None of my_ S. limbata_ measure less then 2 1/2 inches in length. So take the length info as an rough average only. The only way to see the crossbands is to open the wings completely. You may want to wait until the critter is dead to do this though. Fortunately, you do not need to know the exact species to do well with these guys. All the _Stegmomantis_ are easily reared in identical fashion. Your male looks quite healthy and probably happy and stress free as long as you don't try to find those bands!


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## JT (May 23, 2007)

ok, what relevance exactly does that have to mantis identification?? :evil:

(just so everyone that later reads this , knows. my post is in reference to someone posting a link to a porn site in this thread, that the moderators have since addressed ) thanks guys


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## Hypoponera (May 23, 2007)

None!! Just some BS post that the moderators need to hear about.


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## Way.Of.The.Mantis (May 23, 2007)

> The book covers walking sticks in the US and Canada.


 Surely you're not that old yet to need one of those...? :wink:


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## Hypoponera (May 23, 2007)

At my age, walking requires aid! I tried those Brit canes, but prefer an old Yank walkingstick!


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