Diapausing Empusa Pennata Help?

[OctoberRainne]

I'm raising an ooth of Empusa Pennatas and they are hitting the L3 mark,and I know that in the future they will be needing a cold period,so I really need to know at what instar do you start this and at how cold and for about how long,I figure around 2 months. What is the best way to do this and do you also need to decrease the amount of light and food or no? Any help I would really appreciate as would hate to lose them all as subs,when there are so few out there as is. So if you have sucessfully done this please lend advice and let me know what you did,Thanxx,this is our first species needing this

Also is there a different start time for the females versus the males,like say at L6 and then at L7 for females or just as subs?

 

[gripen]

As subs cool them down to 50 degrees and decrease the amount of food.

 

[psyconiko]

not at subs.Around L4.

 

[wuwu]

how do people usually achieve this? sticking them into a fridge?

 

[OctoberRainne]

I've heard at L4 twice now but i've also heard as subs thats why I'm asking as they will be L4s in a single molt. What is the best way to achieve them around 50 degrees without a fridge,I'm thinking of moving them out of my hot room and into one much cooler,and I could run a seperate fan/mini AC unit on cool,but idk if that will chill them enough,I will have to do some experimenting but that could risk losing a few,either way it would still end up much cooler than my current room set up on them,Thanxx

 

[gripen]

Id is definatly sub not L4.

 

[psyconiko]

No.In the wild you will find some L5 around may-june,that means they overwinter when they are young

 

[Paradoxica]

Nikkko, How did you go about cooling them?

 

[OctoberRainne]

If I start the cool down at L4 would I need to do it again after L5 or so,or just once?

 

[psyconiko]

Just once should be enough but no idea how long,still experiencing.I will tell you tomorrow if they survived my fridge.

 

[aNisip]

From what it sounds like, you can either diapause at L4 or sub adult (or instars inbetween) ....in the wild not every mantis comes from the same ooth at the same time (like in captivity...) ...so when it gets cooler in the wild, some mantises will be L4 or L5 or sub adult or instars inbetween...you get the picture. So I am assuming it would be safe to say, as long as they are cooled at some point they will be okay.

 

[OctoberRainne]

Thats what I was thinking as it mainly goes by month,not instar,as in the wild they would hatch and grow in the sun for an uncertain period of time before their winter comes,so I'll try sometime before L6 I think,and just hope for the best,can try some at L4 and some later,see what results we can get,I am not willing to put mine in the fridge though lol,I'm going to try and cool blast them with this machine i have that runs both heat and cold air using water in an isolated room

 

[agent A]

wat if u got 2 of those very small coolers that are made of soft material that can be folded or compressed, like a lunchbox, and put one in the freezer until it got cold, then removed it from the freezer and put the mantis cups in it, and put the other cooler in the freezer, so they'd constantly be sitting in cool air

u would just be switching them around a lot and they'd stay pretty cool i'd imagine

 

[Danny.]

I hit up Christian on UKMF and here's what he told me.

Hi.

You should use °C, I am not familiar with F. Anyway, you can grow them up warm to hot until they are subadult. This is normally the diapause stage in Europe. I suppose you can grow them outside in CA all the time, in a mesh cage or similar. Just avoid frost and don't let them escape. If kept outside, they grow at the natural rhythm. If you keep them inside, they tend to grow faster, sometimes too fast, so they reach subadult stage too early. You can only grow them without diapause in a windowless chamber at 12/12 day cycle, otherwise they use daylength as diapause trigger.

Greets,

C.

 

[Danny.]

Just once should be enough but no idea how long,still experiencing.I will tell you tomorrow if they survived my fridge.

So what's the word Nikko?

 

[psyconiko]

I put some in the fridge and they survived.They are not even lethargic because of the cold,i am really surprised.

 

[wuwu]

so they're still eating while in the fridge??

 

[OctoberRainne]

Wow that is good news Nikko I think my fridge is just wayyy too cold so I'm still going to move mine to a cooler room when time comes,as it will not be cold outside by then I don't think,and blast them with air and maybe in a cooler of sorts since I don't have as many,but worse case I guess I could turn down the fridge and check it with a thermostat of sorts to keep them even cooler in there,keep us posted on how they continue to do in the fridge please

 

[glock34girl]

No problem with being in total darkness for 08 weeks? Also, is this a modified fridge for hibernation that runs in the 50F range or did you just pop them in next to your milk?