Female orchid molt into subadult

[LauraMG]

Very near to the beginning:

Pulling her claws out:

One out, one to go! "The money shot" as Precarious calls it! :lol:

Doing the dangle! This part terrifies me when I watch them molt!

As best I could get through the cup of her attachment to her former self:

 

[angelofdeathzz]

just love the molting pics, very happy for you Laura

 

[more_rayne]

Awesome successful molt!

 

[LauraMG]

I have to confess I thought she was a subadult already, so I was EXTREMELY disappointed to see she wasn't an adult at the end of this molt! :lol: She had the largest pre subadult wings I've ever seen!!! I wish I would have been able to take more clear pictures without the plastic cup in the way. Maybe I'll start an open faced molting cage.....

I have about 20 minutes of video of it too which I will post as soon as I can figure out how to time lapse it.

 

[Seattle79]

Nice close up shots.

 

[jamerman]

Wow, I hope I can catch my chinese in the act. Every other molt was fait accompli by the time i checked on him.

Well, aside from the last one where he fell and i had to rescue him from a tangle of sticks on the bottom of his

cage. Luckily he was fine afterwards. I didn't know at the time how dangerous that could be.

 

[sjb123]

congrats!

 

[LauraMG]

Thanks guys! Here is the finished product! I swear this species has the longest claws EVER! They're as long as her entire body!

 

[Ghostie]

Wow is that "Orchie"?

She's lookin' great!

Good luck! =)

 

[LauraMG]

Wow is that "Orchie"?

She's lookin' great!

Good luck! =)

It sure is! She's HUGE! Such a well mannered lady

 

[hibiscusmile]

scary huh!

 

[guapoalto049]

Thanks guys! Here is the finished product! I swear this species has the longest claws EVER! They're as long as her entire body!

Cool pics, they really do have some huge arms! You should measure those bad boys

 

[LauraMG]

Cool pics, they really do have some huge arms! You should measure those bad boys

It's hard to get her to stick them out, but I will try! She's so gorgeous she just takes my breathe away! :wub:

Ok, the best I got is that they were around 1 and a quarter inches long! I think they're slightly longer, but getting a reach out of her while holding a tape measure is a little difficult! Definitely over 1" though

 

[guapoalto049]

It's hard to get her to stick them out, but I will try! She's so gorgeous she just takes my breathe away! :wub:

Ok, the best I got is that they were around 1 and a quarter inches long! I think they're slightly longer, but getting a reach out of her while holding a tape measure is a little difficult! Definitely over 1" though

Over half the size of the mantis I'm assuming? They look proportionally way bigger than other species, except maybe Idolomantis. They really are gorgeous, I'm hoping one day that I can raise a few (after I'm done waiting hand and foot on my Idolos ).

 

[Seattle79]

Beautiful!

 

[LauraMG]

Over half the size of the mantis I'm assuming? They look proportionally way bigger than other species, except maybe Idolomantis.

Oh yeah, she's maybe an inch and a half long! It's hard to measure her across too because she won't put her butt down! :lol: They just seem to conquer the rest of her body! And they're a pretty easy species despite all the hype. Slightly picky about eating when they're young, wanting things that fly over things that crawl, but other than that just like any other mantid. Hopefully I'll have some babies for you before too long!