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Chivalry

Chivalry

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 24, 2011
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Location
Tennessee
The week after I put my C. gemmatus in their new communal home, one of them lost an arm, so I separated him, wishing I'd known who the bully was so I could separate them. Since then (several weeks) it's been okey dokey with the 4 still in there, until this morning, when I found the contents of the enclosure thus:

4 house flies.

2 exuviae

2 pale-colored little mantids who obviously just molted

1 FAT little mantis who molted a few days ago

... and an arm, dangling by a thread from the lid.

At first I wondered if another arm got chomped but no, that's all that's left. If only I could glue it on poor Lefty!

What the heck? Are they just now big enough that I HAVE to separate them? Is mantis just preferable to the taste of house fly?

The house flies are a relatively new thing, I upgraded them from hydei. The enclosure is an 80 oz deli cup for 4 creos around ... blah, I never knew what instar, probably L5-6 now. They're probably around 78-80 degrees. There are tons of hidey spots in the cup with greenery around the edges, but they always seem to hang out with their heads together, plotting which one is going to be voted off the island.

It's not like I have a creo shortage around here but geeeeez. Evil little monkeys. At least the perpetrator is easily narrowed down this time!

5460065_orig.jpg


 
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I really have no idea what instar they are (Scott wasn't sure b/c he had several at several different stages and they were a freebie)... the houseflies are pretty significantly sized compared to them. Gemmatus are smaller than picti, too. All I can tell you for sure is that they've molted twice, and I see no wing buds. Just fat little butts (they do not go hungry).

 
Some species are just like that. They can be territorial no matter how much food you give them. They feel they need space so they kill off their neighbors. Plus they may have a built in instinct to reduce competition thus increasing their likelihood of continuing their DNA. They're programmed for survival in the wild and though we replace that with a safe environment with plentiful food it doesn't rewire millions of years of instinct. I wish it did.

Since it looks like they all want to hang on the lid maybe glue something to the lid to break up the space so there is more separation between them. Or put them in a container with more surface area, though it looks like they have plenty of that already. That's all I can think to suggest.

 
I tried keeping my C. Gemmatus nymphs communally when they magically arrived at my house with my ghosties, it worked for about a week, then I just barely saved one from being dinner. I have kept them separately ever since. Amazingly, my budwings are happily communal while well fed. I have had no issues with them up until a later instar.

 
Yeah - feed them Blue Bottles, not House Flies. If you think they're too big, remember - they eat each other. That's pretty big.

Also, hiding spots, in my experience, are WORSE. Give them (more) space, and a clear line of site. They'll warn off any frisky siblings.

They aren't gregarious, but they will tollerate each other... to a point.

 
kr1cket said:
I tried keeping my C. Gemmatus nymphs communally when they magically arrived at my house with my ghosties, it worked for about a week, then I just barely saved one from being dinner. I have kept them separately ever since. Amazingly, my budwings are happily communal while well fed. I have had no issues with them up until a later instar.
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What instar, like L5 or older? That is amazing! I have heard that they are very aggressive.
 
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The biggest female Budwing will eat the rest like jelly beans at L5-6, trust me on that one, there SUPER aggessive.

 
I have moved to BBF for my Creo P.'s although two of them are still really skittish, the BB's end up gone two off my fatter (more agressive) ones get one BB & one HF just cause I have a TON of HF still and my Ghost just passed away & my Gongy I think is ready to molt...and my Sp. Lineola is so fat & huge BBF are like popcorn...I giver her like 5-6 a day just to use the Flys up!

 
angelofdeathzz said:
The biggest female Budwing will eat the rest like jelly beans at L5-6, trust me on that one, there SUPER aggessive.
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I know it, my female budwings are aggesive and will attack anything.

The males, however, are very timid with feeders and dont eat very much.

 
So far I have been lucky... I will separate them eventually, but they have been happily living communally for about a month... and my last pair I kept together also until they were almost subadult.

 

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