Empusa pennata

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[SIZE=14pt]cool man on the mateing, hey what dose there Ooth look like can you show us please?[/SIZE]

 

[sbugir]

Ok, I'll take some for you. They are, but they don't get that hot. I make sure the cage never touches the light. The hottest "basking spot" in the cage is at 114 degrees (yes, both gongylus and empusa will sit there for hours :blink: ) but that is no were near the melting or combusting point of nylon.

Oh okay, I just made some 12x12x16 cages and I used nylon to hold in D. melonagaster, I was worried that if I get a heat mat or light it would just combust one day . Thanks for the insight.

 

[jarek]

so has anything hatched so far?

 

[ABbuggin]

They have been hatching! First ooth hatched only 2, second ooth hatched 5, and 3rd hatched 10! Does anybody know the hatch rate on these? By looking at the size of the ooths, 10 seems like a good number.

All the adults are still going strong!

Adult female, next to an adult female gongylus.

 

[sbugir]

Very cool. Ooths are cute looking

 

[ABbuggin]

I just had 4 more hatch from the one that originally hatched 10. So 14 from that one ooth.

 

[Pelle]

Nice

 

[ismart]

Very cool!

 

[ABbuggin]

Just had another 11 hatch from one ooth. These will go up for sale soon

Note: It only takes them 4-5 days to shed to L2 after hatching, pretty quick when compared to others.

 

[sbugir]

Ughh they're amazing. And congrats must be pretty damn cool.

 

[charleyandbecky]

I love the paper towel roll with all the mantids crawling all over it!

And the one sitting on the fingernail is precious.

 

[ABbuggin]

They are cute, they look a lot like L1 gongylus.

I just had a few more ooth hatch today. I probably have over 70 empusa from two females now! This is only the first half of their ooths hatching! (they lay small ooths 15 nymphs per ooth max)

 

[JoeCapricorn]

I am really interested in this species. The males are so cuuute with their feathery antennae!

Do you think you'll have any left at L5 for sale? If I were to get some, I'd only get perhaps one or two males.

 

[ABbuggin]

I am really interested in this species. The males are so cuuute with their feathery antennae! Do you think you'll have any left at L5 for sale? If I were to get some, I'd only get perhaps one or two males.

Sorry, all I have right now are L1-L3. I will be selling L2's very soon.

 

[JoeCapricorn]

Sorry, all I have right now are L1-L3. I will be selling L2's very soon.

I was wondering about L5 or later because I definitely only want a male for those cool feathery antennae.

Although not entirely sure, since in late December I'll be going to Alabama and I'm going to have to take any mantises with me (I currently have 4 baby sphodromantis centralis and 1 adult female Chinese). From what I hear, Empusa need to be very warm, so if I were to theoretically have one of the fellas, I'd need some way to keep them warm during the 14-hour+ drive to Alabama. Then there is actually being in Alabama, while a warmer place than Pennsylvania, still probably need a way to warm the Empusa up.

Probably best if I wait until after Alabama for any new mantises... so do you think you might have any males around early January? How big might they be?

 

[ABbuggin]

I was wondering about L5 or later because I definitely only want a male for those cool feathery antennae.Although not entirely sure, since in late December I'll be going to Alabama and I'm going to have to take any mantises with me (I currently have 4 baby sphodromantis centralis and 1 adult female Chinese). From what I hear, Empusa need to be very warm, so if I were to theoretically have one of the fellas, I'd need some way to keep them warm during the 14-hour+ drive to Alabama. Then there is actually being in Alabama, while a warmer place than Pennsylvania, still probably need a way to warm the Empusa up.

Probably best if I wait until after Alabama for any new mantises... so do you think you might have any males around early January? How big might they be?

I'm not sure how long I will be selling the Empusa. I am about to start selling them. Since I won't be charging for as near as much as they are worth, they will go quickly. I may be selling violin manitds in January, it depends when the ooths hatch.

 

[ABbuggin]

They are now for sale (see my add in the for sale section)

 

[ABbuggin]

Time for an update on these lovely fellas.

Had a few requests wanting to see how I kept them. You can see the container to the right is full of my gongylus ooths incubating next to the Empusa's lamp. The container inside of the net cage is a fruit fly culture. Feeds the mantids for at least a month.

And now for my 2nd gen.

L5 or L6 female lost count >_<

A male of the same age.

I apologize for the blurry pics. Empusa are just like gongylus as being photography nightmares. They NEVER sit still.

 

[yeatzee]

Possibly the most impressive crown out of all the species I know of. Looks almost like a religious headdress or something :lol:

 

[ABbuggin]

I agree. An adult females crown is actually more than twice the length of her head! :blink: