Chinese Mantis final moult

Chalc · Mar 28, 2017

Heya guys, I know a few of you have recently raised Chinese mantids, and I was wondering if the time in-between moults takes longer for the final one? Typically mine took around 11-17 days to moult each time, but I think I read somewhere that for some mantids the final moult can take up to a month. Is this true for Chinese mantids?

Teamonger · Mar 28, 2017

Yup, mine were molting every week like clockwork then took forever to finish up their last two. I did not actually note how long but a month seems about right for the final one.

Ocelotbren · Mar 28, 2017

I have two Chinese mantids right now and up until this most recent molt, which I think may have been to L7, they were taking 17-19 days. Note that I got them at about L3. This last molt took 23-24 days and it's possible that their next molt will be the final one, although I'm not positive. I'm new to this but that has been my experience with my first mantids.

I think temperature and feeding can have an impact on molt times though and I thought I'd add that their room is probably on the cold side. It stays at 68-70 F (20-21 C) during the day and 62 F (17 C) overnight thus far through the winter. We also lost power for four days during which time the room fluctuated a lot between 50 F (10 C) and 65 F (18 C). Might explain the longer times for me compared to Teamonger?

Teamonger · Mar 29, 2017

Yes I temp/feeding/humidity definitely plays a factor. My bug room is kept at a toasty 25 to 28 C (77 to 80 F), they were fed very well, and I had a humidifier on the communal nymph tank that kept the RH at about 40 to 60% at all times.

I was very surprised just how quickly my brood was molting as my first mantis last summer took ages as I was keeping him much colder.

Ocelotbren · Mar 29, 2017

@Teamonger Makes sense! I feed mine well but in the winter the humidity is low (I'm misting twice a day to compensate) and the temperature is overall on the lower side too. In the summer it will be a very different story though.