abdomen raising

[dakota]

why do nymphs raise their abdomens? i have wonder for a while why they do this.

thanks,

dakota

 

[FieroRumor]

Not sure. I don't think it makes tham appear larger, perhaps it helps them to avoid gettin their abs wet...those little guys can die if they get stuck to a drop of water...

Some adults do the up ab thang too...

 

[Lee2k4]

My Giant Asian does it, she only does it in defence.

 

[julian camilo]

i dont know either but alot of the species ive kept have some sort of markings on the upper side of the abdomen, be it eyespots with stuff like p.wahlbergii or just dark marking like gongs. others have black and yellow marks. although ive never seen gongs display these colours with any intent, unlike p.wahlbergii. maybe they have them up to allow them to display at any time? i really dont know, interesting question. i'll think about it some more.

 

[Christian]

Hi.

One theory is that they might equilibrate better as long as no wings exist. This does not explain, however, why others do not bend the abdomen...

Regards,

Christian

 

[nympho]

I think it helps with camoflage (how do you spell that :? )

breaks up the obvious insect outline of head-thorax-abdomen and makes them look less like an insect or anything much in particular; the flower mantises do this very well.