Bluish wing?

[yen_saw]

3 Hierodula Parviceps female molted into adult 2 days ago. 2 of them has blue hue on the wing which i thought would be temporary but the color remain after two days. The other one has normal marble wing. Is amazing how they can be so different.

Bluish wing

Marble wing

Anyone else experience other colors?

 

[Rick]

Great pics yen. I have two h grandis' right now that are different from others I have seen. The males wings are almost pink and a female is a yellowish green I'll try to get some pics up today.

 

[jplelito]

Yen,

Good pictures!

I find with a lot of species in the Hierodula/Sphodromantis look-alike group that individuals often have that pinkish or bluish sheen to their wings as adults. It's probably just a result of the pigments on their exoskeleton refracting light, and I wonder if it functions in recognition of each other somehow...

Then of course there is the basic green/brown difference, and I think that has at least something to do with humidity or the color in which they are reared. I used to have two miomantis group tanks and the one I did up with twigs, the other with some silk plants from Walmart... the plant tank always produced mostly (but genetics also: because some would be the opposite of everyone else) green individuals, and the twig tank mostly the yellow/beige color forms... and they both got sprayed the same times each day!

~Jon

 

[yen_saw]

Thanks Rick and Jon. I believed you are right about the result of the pigments on their exoskeleton refracting light. Pretty cool.

 

[nympho]

just a observation on what effects the brown/green variations.

i ordered some heirodula nymphs and they were green when i got them but soon disappointingly all turned brown under my cages conditions. problem is i cant mist the cage to keep up humidity because its got steel mesh which rusts!

I later managed to get another green mantis - thanx neil (13ollox) and instead of misting the cage i decided to take her out of the cage daily and spray with water the mantis iteself.

the mantis stayed green throught to adult!

so maybe they just detect water droplets on them rather than humidity.

 

[ellroy]

Do you heat your cages Nympho?

 

[nympho]

i use a heat mat. it gets the cage to about 24 c

 

[ellroy]

Ideal....when I use a heat mate and need constant humidity I put a pot of water on the base (over the heat mat) of the cage with a mesh cover....the heat makes it evaporate and you can just top it up when you need. It shouldn't leave standing water on the metal parts of the cage.

 

[Rick]

Here are the two I was talking about. The first is the male.

 

[jplelito]

Rick,

Those are some awesome pictures...

The brown and pink individual is of a color common in the Sphodromantis I used to rear. Curiously enough, brown females of that species never have the pinkish overtones.

The yellow individual, I see these turn up a lot in middle-aged nymphs in Hierodula, but never an adult that I've seen. I find that when a brown mantid nymph begins the switchover to green, (which is rare enough, it's the other way usually) they often go through an intermediate instar where they have that brilliant yellow color. You happened to be lucky to get one that 'decided' to start the change in her last molt!

Got any ideas WHY, though?

~Jon

 

[Rick]

These are not Sphodromantis though. They are heirodula grandis. Might of spelled that first part wrong but you get the idea. I raise them all the same. Every other grandis I have had has been green except for these two. The pics don't do the female justice though as she as really yellow wings and a yellow/green/brown body.

 

[jplelito]

I know they're not Sphodros... I was just saying you see this a lot in the Sphodromantis, which are very very closely related phylogenetically with the Hierodula group (and therefore probably have a lot in common with them in terms of their reaction to environmental stimuli).

I've reared H. membranacea before and you get a lof of the pink/brown males. In fact sometimes more than the green form. As for the females, they are as you have seen, just about always green.

 

[bruty2fruity]

i have a bluey grey grandis femail - shes a champ she has white spined on her forearms. so beautifull.

also just a question what size are male marbled mantids supposed to be cause my male is tiny

 

[yen_saw]

Rick, nice coloration on your H. Grandis male and female wings. I have never seen that color on any of my H. Grandis (Or H. Membreanecea - spelling :? ) which is almost leaf green.