PhilinYuma
Well-known member
This will be an ongoing thread on raising and, I hope, breeding P. wahlbergii.
I got rwo ooths from Frey on August 10th. They were wre typical long, thin flower mantis type ooths, dark brown and about 3cm long. I put them in a hatching chamber at 80F/80%RF and both hatched about 100 tiny, sparkly black nymphs on 082011. they were very active and waved their raptorial claws at each other when they met which may have ben a territorial or recognition signal. the "sparkle' would seem to make them more obvious to predators, but in fact acts as a a form of "dazzle' or disruptive camouflage, especially when the nypns are moving.
I started the nymphs on a mixture of wild mels and hydei on the second day. I made the mistake of keeping over 100 nymphs in an extended 1gallon plastic jug with a standard cloth top. They would do better in a 12'cube.
The nymphs started molting to L2 around 092981 at 80F/45%RH and took at least five days tfor the whole bunch to molt, and then there were a few outliers. The L2s are still black, but with white markings and with much less "glitter". At L2 I started them on a mixture of hydei and small HFs.
Over the past few days, starting at about 090611, they have started moulting to L3 timing the molt for when I made shipments. As of 091011, many are still at L2.
To be continued!
I got rwo ooths from Frey on August 10th. They were wre typical long, thin flower mantis type ooths, dark brown and about 3cm long. I put them in a hatching chamber at 80F/80%RF and both hatched about 100 tiny, sparkly black nymphs on 082011. they were very active and waved their raptorial claws at each other when they met which may have ben a territorial or recognition signal. the "sparkle' would seem to make them more obvious to predators, but in fact acts as a a form of "dazzle' or disruptive camouflage, especially when the nypns are moving.
I started the nymphs on a mixture of wild mels and hydei on the second day. I made the mistake of keeping over 100 nymphs in an extended 1gallon plastic jug with a standard cloth top. They would do better in a 12'cube.
The nymphs started molting to L2 around 092981 at 80F/45%RH and took at least five days tfor the whole bunch to molt, and then there were a few outliers. The L2s are still black, but with white markings and with much less "glitter". At L2 I started them on a mixture of hydei and small HFs.
Over the past few days, starting at about 090611, they have started moulting to L3 timing the molt for when I made shipments. As of 091011, many are still at L2.
To be continued!