Chinese Mantid question

[Chief Tom]

What's the easiest way for me to know how to see if they are female or male? 2 out of 3 have gone through their final molt. I should be able to tell what sex they are by now right? One out of the three has always been larger and ahead of them by over a week in molts. I assumed that it was a female, but I'm not sure all three look very similar despite the other one's size. I think that all 3 might be males. That's not going to help me at all.

 

[Rick]

Well if some are adults you should be able to tell just at a glance. But if you're new to this maybe not.

Here you go:

http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=7110

 

[hibiscusmile]

The girls have six segments and are also fatter even at this stage, males are slender.

 

[Mr.Mantid]

right now I have L4 Chinese mantids and I am also haveing trouble identifying the gender, I have counted 8 segments on two of my L4's.

 

[hibiscusmile]

That would indicate boys, but best to show photo, then we really know.

 

[Mr.Mantid]

Eh, I 'll just wait till they are adults, camera cant focus on the mantids quite yet.

 

[ismart]

There are plenty of chinese mantis pics on this forun, that you can use for comparison. They are deffinitely one of the more easier species to sex in my opinion. If you can post some pics? I can sex them for you.

 

[Chief Tom]

I think mine are all guys, because they all have more than 6 segments. I was hoping since one was quite a bit bigger than the others that it would be female. It just turns out that it's a really big male.

 

[Chief Tom]

Thanks all, i do have a female after all. Ironically it's the smallest mantid out of the group and has half of a back leg from a bad molt.

 

[Ntsees]

Thanks all, i do have a female after all. Ironically it's the smallest mantid out of the group and has half of a back leg from a bad molt.

Males tend to become adults faster than females.