Search results

You're probably just watching its gut being moved around by the muscular contractions of the abdomen. Digestion and absorbtion of nutrients works best if food is moving around and coming into contact with enzymes and the lining of the gut through which nutrients are absorbed.

Yes, sunlight is just a source of heat and they'll perch somewhere they can warm themselves up using sunlight. If they're too hot, they'll often hide beneath their perch or deeper into shrubbery to escape the sun's rays. Keep in mind that a radiator can dry out the room and your enclosures.

Perhaps it's because they so readily release defensive chemicals that they do not feel the need to curl up long for defensive reasons?

Parasitoids are usually pretty specific. If they're not species or genus specific, they are usually at least order specific. There are exceptions, but I don't believe you have to worry about tachinid flies parasitizing mantises if they parasitize caterpillars.

You can try growing a rose indoors. They should accept rose leaves.

Many are primarily scavengers and will feed on dead prey items you provide. You can also keep them with a colony of dwarf isopods and they can prey on those as well.

I can't find an adult female for these, so I'm going to put my two adult male Deroplatys truncata up for sale in hopes that someone has a use for them. I'd like $60 for both plus the actual cost of shipping. I purchased these as $25 dollar nymphs. Willing to consider trades and reasonable...

You should look up epigenetics. It's one of the ways mantises within the same species can vary in color. Yes, coloration is dependent on genetics in that they cannot produce a color unless they have the genes with the proteins that produce the pigment, but the expression of those genes can be...

Hanging upside down is easier on them since it doesn't require as much energy as standing upright and holding their heavier body parts up against gravity. It also makes them more secure as they can be high up on a perch, but hidden from predators like birds that might be flying above them.

Did her tarsi get caught on it? She might have felt threatened by the sensation of the blanket. Mantises will grab and attack things if they feel like they're caught or feeling threatened. When they do this, they're not swallowing what they're biting and chewing.

That is a male. Good indicators are the long, thick antennae and the body built for flight. If you look at the end of the abdomen, you can also see that it lacks the ovipositor and instead has a very male end with the claspers. The cerci on males are also longer and thicker than those on females...

Instead of parasitic wasps, I often get big tachinid fly maggots. :eek:

Springtails will naturally travel to the bottom of the enclosure and hide where there's moisture, so they will not be out in the open very frequently. They're only frequently on the surface if there is food or if they're kept in high humidity. If you are feeding something that comes to the...

That looks more like a Ceanothus Silkmoth or Glover's Silkmoth caterpillar than a Cecropia Silkmoth caterpillar judging by the coloration. They feed on Ceanothus, but will also accept willow leaves as well as a bunch of other tree and shrub leaves.

I'm looking for a subadult or an adult female Deroplatys truncata. My subadult males will be molting into adults soon. Alternatively, if you have a female and need males, I could send them to you once they've molted in exchange for some of the offspring.

It's not normal, but it happens on occasion. It's not certain whether it's due to genetics or rearing conditions, but in other insects skipping a molt or having an extra molt before maturing is caused by abnormal hormone levels.

Dead insects can rapidly start to decay and become filled with dangerous bacteria. If they died due to a bacterial infection, they obviously have a head start on that, so be careful with feeding dead insects. It's especially risky if you're unsure what they died from as there are many other...

They're normally not too picky and will lay on any sort of semi-rough to rough surface. If you were using cloth plants, I don't see why they might not have laid eggs on them. Smooth surfaces of plastic plants would not work, though. Just make sure it's not too dry in their enclosures or the eggs...

Mantises will chew off damaged/dead parts of their own body. It's possible the tips of his antennae were somehow damaged and he removed them.

Smoke in general isn't the best thing to have around most organisms and the volatile chemicals in all plants are meant to prevent herbivory or act as a biochemical defense against diseases. Some plant compounds affect invertebrates by poisoning them and killing them, but others do subtle things...