Controlling the mantids colour?

[collinchang635]

I read somewhere that the colour of the mantid when it becomes adult depends on the humidity or temperature in its cage. Is this possible? If it is, how would the mantid turn out if there is a low humidity in its cage and vice versa.

 

[chrisboy101]

I read somewhere that the colour of the mantid when it becomes adult depends on the humidity or temperature in its cage. Is this possible? If it is, how would the mantid turn out if there is a low humidity in its cage and vice versa.

i think its like.. the lower the humidity the darker the colour. and the higher the humidity the lighter the colour

 

[idolomantis]

i think its like.. the lower the humidity the darker the colour. and the higher the humidity the lighter the colour

i keep spirit high hum, she turned green insteed of black whithout a molt..

 

[The_Asa]

I haven't seen anything conclusive come from this. I'm more inclined to believe it comes from genes. I've tried this with ghosts, and any change noticed seemed to be coincidental.

 

[Rick]

Forget it. Cannot be done.

 

[Birdfly]

Some species will change to favour their surroundings (Pseudocreobotrasp etc) others use humidity as a guide (Miomantis sp etc) and others use light levels (Sphodromantis sp etc) and some just seem to defy all reasoning! there maybe other types of polymorphism ?

 

[mrblue]

firstly, this has been discussed more times than i can remember, please use the search function.

i agree with rick. whatever the factors affect the colour of mantids, i dont think we fully know what they are, let alone how to control them all, let alone which combinations of which factors will yield which results. i keep p.paradoxa and g.gongylodes in the same container (therefore same humidity and heat and type of/amount of light), fed with the same type of food, and they still vary in colour (p.paradoxa not so much, but g.gongylodes more drasticaly). i also keep p.ocellata in near identical conditons (though individually) and again there is a great variation between them all (some have become a very bright green which i have never seen before first hand in this genus, only in photos). so i have no idea what affects the colours, i just wouldnt reccommend trying to actively control it, i dont think we understand it enough to be able to do that.

 

[OGIGA]

I recall something about higher humidity leads to greener colors and lower humidity to browner colors. This is obviously for the mantises that resemble grassy colors. The logic is that the grass is green if it's more humid. Then, mantises blend in better. Anyway, it's still currently inconclusive.

 

[MantidLord]

It depends on the species. If that was the case, then my Iris oratorias wouldn't be green in this desert wasteland.

 

[collinchang635]

What would happen if you put an Ant mantis in a place with high humidity? Would it become light green?

 

[mrblue]

What would happen if you put an Ant mantis in a place with high humidity? Would it become light green?

if it did, it probably wouldnt be (just) because it was somewhere with higher humidity.

 

[Birdfly]

Some species will change to favour their surroundings (Pseudocreobotra sp etc) others use humidity as a guide (Miomantis sp etc) and others use light levels (Sphodromantis sp etc) and some just seem to defy all reasoning! there maybe other types of polymorphism ?

Obviously in captivity there are other factors that will ultimately change your results ie tungsten light (unnaturally low and drying light) low light, ambient temps and humidity possibly even food or lack of wild variety. What ever the reasons mantids kept in captivity in seemingly identical conditions can differ greatly in their colours but in the wild it has been shown to be that the major factors in mantid polymorphism are light level (natural uv), humidity and back ground colour.

With humidity obviously comes plant growth so it pays to be able to change colour to suit your background hence green in high humidity and various shades of brown as humidity decreases.

Light levels also affect certain mantids, the theory being high light levels equal no or low amounts of cover (leaves) so a mantis is most likely to change to brown to suit its immediate environment. low light would therefore equal more cover and a mantids best interest would be to change to green as soon as its next moult.

Other mantids, notably the flower mimics are more cryptic if they can change to suit the colour of the flowers they are on or near too, Hymenopus coronatus is limited to the best of my knowledge to pink and white which are the colours of the flowers found were they are but Pseudocreobotra whalbergii etc are more variable with greens, whites, reds & purples, no blue apparently, shame.

Other species only really change hues ie light or dark brown and variations in between Deroplatys desiccata

Fire melanism is covered in this thread http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=11332 page 2 or 3 i think

 

[Christian]

There is a factor most people forget: color polymorphism works at the population level. You can keep the mantids as humid as you want or stuff the cage full of green plants, there are still mantids which remain brownish. Statistically, most mantids turn green (or brown, if kept dry and in tan cages), but some will always retain the other possible colors! As people only have a few mantids, one cannot assess the real percentage of the different colors, as this requires a large sample size. This works best with mantids which switch regularly between green and brown (yellow or black is also "brown"). Stuff like Gongylus or Phyllocrania are usually brownish, the green form is rare. You cannot achieve the same results as with Sphodromantis or Mantis. As long as there are only about 10 mantids in the cage, every result of home experiments will look like a pure coincidence. If you want to learn something about polymorphism, you need a lab which allows for climate and light control and a sample size of at least 30 specimens per treatment!

 

[The_Asa]

As long as there are only about 10 mantids in the cage, every result of home experiments will look like a pure coincidence. If you want to learn something about polymorphism, you need a lab which allows for climate and light control and a sample size of at least 30 specimens per treatment!

Have you done this with successful results? (I don't mean to sound skeptical.)

 

[Christian]

Not really, as I have not the space needed. But others did (or collected large samples from the wild, which also can be used). Check the references in the other thread, also Gillon & Roy (1968).

 

[The_Asa]

Thank you.