Alexander's Mantids: 2012 - Present

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The L4 Griffin is male after all! Counted 8 segments. So finally I can name him... Peter!! Hahaha... Peter Griffin! Had to. If I get a female, I wanna name her Lois!

And then sad news... Octber 24th, Zeltor passed away. I put the Heterochaeta together, and Amico got ahold of her abdomen. It hardened and there was dried blood coming out. I didn't see it happen but it's obvious that was the cause. Today her abdomen became soft instead of hard and it was leaking really badly. She was slow and weak too. So I put her down. :( RIP Zeltor. Sad to lose her, I've had her for so long, and she only had one molt left. I separated them now, I won't be putting this species together again.
Nice :D I named my remaining Griffins Stewie and Brian lol.

Sorry to hear Zeltor got a fatal injury. Was you trying a communal setup as she was too young to mate still right?

Saw the video of Tacca strange the two little flaps moving - no idea. Seems almost like spiracles but not sure about them being that high up.

 
Sorry to hear about zealtor bro!!

That mustve been tough, unfortunately if heterochaeta has been separated early on it seems to be hard to reintroduce them communually.. I myself gave too many away and am worried if ill have a sustainable group this year. there are about 20 l6s still. How many chaetas do you still have bro?

 
Nice :D I named my remaining Griffins Stewie and Brian lol.

Sorry to hear Zeltor got a fatal injury. Was you trying a communal setup as she was too young to mate still right?

Saw the video of Tacca strange the two little flaps moving - no idea. Seems almost like spiracles but not sure about them being that high up.
Lol nice

Yeah, I was trying to see how theyd react together, it was okay at first but then that happened.

That was Heterodox, but it is very strange eh??

 
Sorry to hear about zealtor bro!!

That mustve been tough, unfortunately if heterochaeta has been separated early on it seems to be hard to reintroduce them communually.. I myself gave too many away and am worried if ill have a sustainable group this year. there are about 20 l6s still. How many chaetas do you still have bro?
Thanks man

Oh really, you should keep them together from the beginning huh, that does make sense.

20 seems like a lot to me lol, i have 2 females and 3 males. My first female just reached adulthood, I'm stoked

 
October 25th

#5 Idolo reached L4:

5_idolo_l4_by_alexandersmantids-d9f76ey.jpg


October 28th

#1 Idolo reached L4:

1_idolo_l4_by_alexandersmantids-d9f76l6.jpg


October 29th

Brahma (female Hierodula xishaensis) reached adulthood:

brahma__adult_by_alexandersmantids-d9f76rm.jpg


October 31st

Chip (male Hierodula xishaensis) reached adulthood:

chip_adult__by_alexandersmantids-d9f76yl.jpg


And Kamakiri (original female Heterochaeta species) also reached adulthood:

kamakiri__molting_to_adulthood_by_alexandersmantids-d9f778t.jpg


kamakiri__adult_by_alexandersmantids-d9f77ez.jpg


kamakiri_by_alexandersmantids-d9f77jd.jpg


kamakiri__adult_female_heterochaeta_sp__by_alexandersmantids-d9f77ot.jpg


kamakiri__my_pet_alien_by_alexandersmantids-d9f77vk.jpg


She is exactly 5 inches. Awesome!

November 1st

#3 Idolo reached L5:

3_idolo_l5_by_alexandersmantids-d9f781k.jpg


 
yay! congrats on your journey with chaeta you should be proud bro!!

kamakiri is beautiful

i love the three green light sensitive eyes.

 
yay! congrats on your journey with chaeta you should be proud bro!!

kamakiri is beautiful

i love the three green light sensitive eyes.
Thanks man! It's awesome to see her adult form! She is definitely beautiful, and yeah those are awesome! She's such an alien.

 
November 4th

Peter (male Polyspilota griffinii) reached L5!

peter__male_griffin_mantis__l5_by_alexandersmantids-d9gwj1j.jpg


November 11th

#6 (male Idolomantis) reached L4!

6___idolo___l4_by_alexandersmantids-d9gwjd6.jpg


November 16th

Neptune (male Heterochaeta hatchling) reached what I believe is L6, based on his size!

neptune__male_heterochaeta_sp__by_alexandersmantids-d9gwjl3.jpg


Burlap fabric works well for these guys!

TBC

 
I mean like, do they live the longest out of any species? I had a ghost once almost reach 2.
Ghosts definitely can live a long time. I'm not sure how long Heterochaeta can live, this is my first time owning them. I'm guessing around a year, but I'm not positive.

 
November 16th

Peter, the male Polyspilota griffinii, reached L6.

peter__l6_male_polyspilota_griffinii_by_alexandersmantids-d9h5myi.jpg


November 17th

Blaar, the male Phyllocrania paradoxa, also reached L6! The female is taking FOREVER.

blaar__male_phyllocrania_paradoxa_by_alexandersmantids-d9h5meb.jpg


blaar__male_ghost_mantis_by_alexandersmantids-d9h5moh.jpg


He looks AWESOME.

November 20th

#1 Idolomantis (female) is the second to reach L5.

1___idolo___l5_by_alexandersmantids-d9hb1ze.jpg


I think it's time to name the little Idolos!

TBC

 
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November 23rd

Baline (female Idolo) reached adulthood!This is the best day of my life! I'm seriously so happy that she made it. I've wanted to own an adult Idolomantis for years. She's amazing, a perfect specimen, I'm freakin' stoked. I used the polyester mesh fabric again and it worked like a charm. Her safety net was drawer liner which I moved towards her once she was ready to hold onto something on her own. I wasn't exactly sure where she would molt and she ended up being a bit too far away from the wall of the container so I manually held the drawer liner in front of her and once she got a good grip, I pinned it to my shelf. The rest she did on her own.

It took her 65 days to reach adulthood after molting to subadulthood!

For this molt the humidity was at 75-80%. Temp was around 75-80F.

And I really can't say it enough... POLYESTER MESH FABRIC!!!

Another tip, while you do need a tall container, it's better to have one that is narrow. And align the sides with drawer liner or polyester mesh fabric so they can grab on and flip. Even this tank was too wide for her, she couldn't reach the wall of the container, I had to help her or else she may have fallen.

I'm so proud of my girl!! We did a lot to get here, lol. And boy was it scary!!

baline_molting_to_adulthood__idolomantis_diabolica_by_alexandersmantids-d9hs4kk.jpg


baline_molting_to_adulthood__idolomantis_diabolica_by_alexandersmantids-d9hs4y5.jpg


baline_molting_to_adulthood__idolomantis_diabolica_by_alexandersmantids-d9hs572.jpg


baline_molting_to_adulthood__idolomantis_diabolica_by_alexandersmantids-d9hs5h1.jpg


baline_molting_to_adulthood__idolomantis_diabolica_by_alexandersmantids-d9hs61q.jpg


baline_molting_to_adulthood__idolomantis_diabolica_by_alexandersmantids-d9hs6ub.jpg


baline__adult_female_idolomantis_diabolica_by_alexandersmantids-d9hs73i.jpg


She is exactly 4 inches!

The male, Heterodox, has started pulsing and his wings are looking more swollen. So he will be next!

 
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