Big male and tiny female.

[lancaster1313]

I will be letting them have a go in a few days. Has anyone else had a pair with such proportions? Sorry, my photo came out huge. :blush:

 

[Ntsees]

I'm pretty sure it's happened to everyone of us because it did for me. I try to prevent this by feeding the female lots of food when it's still in the instar stage.

 

[Rick]

Looks about right. He is longer, but much more petite. Normal.

 

[LauraMG]

They look like a great pair!

 

[lancaster1313]

I just recieved the female, I had been trying to find a wild one but no luck. When I opened the package I was expecting something bigger as I have never seen another mantid of this species in person. I love the way she looks, I can't wait until my wild ooth hatches, and for her to lay fertile ooths of her own. In photos that I have seen of them mating, the males looked smaller with smaller heads. I am glad to know that it looks normal. I was afraid that he wouldn't fit. :lol:

 

[mantisboy]

I just recieved the female, I had been trying to find a wild one but no luck. When I opened the package I was expecting something bigger as I have never seen another mantid of this species in person. I love the way she looks, I can't wait until my wild ooth hatches, and for her to lay fertile ooths of her own. In photos that I have seen of them mating, the males looked smaller with smaller heads. I am glad to know that it looks normal. I was afraid that he wouldn't fit. :lol:

As I am typing this I am mating a male that is slightly longer than the female. Don't if he live afterwards since it might be easier for her to grab him. They were both fed well before hand so I think it should be o.k.

 

[lancaster1313]

He survived the first round. :lol: He connected at 8:20PM, it took a couple of minutes of disconnecting and reconnecting to get it right. At around 1:30AM, I found her alone, and later found him. Was that long enough to fertilize? I will post pics soon. They ended up on thier backs for a while. :lol: I think his weight pulled her down. It didn't stop them, they seemed to be in a daze.

 

[Ntsees]

Was that long enough to fertilize?

It should be. Mines only mate for about 30 minutes and then the males hop off, but that's with my species only.

 

[lancaster1313]

He was dragging her down, after a couple of hours. :lol: The connection.

 

[ismart]

Wow! The size difference is pretty significant! :blink: It's amazing the size difference of the same species in different locations.

 

[LauraMG]

Ha! What great pictures likebugs! He looks like he's the dominant one in this relationship! :lol:

 

[lancaster1313]

:lol: It really seemed so. Once he established his position, she relaxed, like when a kitten is picked up by the scruff. :blink: After all I have read about mantid copulation, I didn't expect to see that. He might not be so lucky if I decide to let them mate again. :mellow:

 

[LauraMG]

Well, my female molted to an adult today and is smaller than the adult male I have! She is heartier, but he's a good quarter to half inch longer than she is!

 

[MantidLord]

Let's hope the male isn't like mine. I don't know if mine is a mutant, because he's bulkier than the deceased female.

 

[LauraMG]

Let's hope the male isn't like mine. I don't know if mine is a mutant, because he's bulkier than the deceased female.

I really hope not! I would be heart broken if this beautiful female was eaten! She's friggin' purple! Unbelievable coloration

 

[lancaster1313]

My little Hulk got another chance to mate the other day. Shorty was not having any of it. :mellow: I think she is scared of him. She ran away acouple of times and tried to fight him, so I put them away. I don't think it would be right to have let him do it when she was that frightened. I will try again later, she was pionting her abdomen down for most of last night.

 

[LauraMG]

How long has she been an adult? I'm using your experience as a drawing point to mate my Carolinas! :lol:

 

[lancaster1313]

I got her from ismart on Aug 26 when she was already an adult. They mated on the first try on Aug 29, and she laid a nice ooth on Sept 9. I think that she was young when I got her, but ismart probably knows how old she is. It just seems like she wasn't in the mood when I introduced them a second time. She does these cool movements that my other mantids do not do. Maybe its a Carolina female thing. :lol:

 

[LauraMG]

Ok, I figure I'll wait about 2 weeks before I try to breed her. It's my pretty purple girl. She looks just awesome!

What motion is it that you're referring to? Wiggling? Pumping? I've seen all kinds of strange booty movements