Giant Kenyan Bud-wing Mantis, PARASPHENDALE SP. KENYA

[Darkrai283]

[17.08.14]

Bought two nymphs I sexed as a pair (hopefully I'm right) off Graham today at the Kempton Park Reptile Show.

Female
Untitled by darkrai283, on Flickr
Untitled by darkrai283, on Flickr

Male
Untitled by darkrai283, on Flickr
Untitled by darkrai283, on Flickr

 

[Darkrai283]

[No message]

 

[Darkrai283]

[22.08.14]

I messaged Graham yesterday asking if he could give me any background info on this species as he's the one who collected them. (I think...)
Anyway, he replied today saying that he might have an ID on this species and is just waiting for a UK mantis taxonomist (Martin. S) to confirm. He also sent me a few photos of the adult female and said the notable differences between this species and other two more common ones here in the UK (affinis and agrionina) is that it is much lager, the wings are longer and the underwings are somewhat different.

I have not asked him yet but I believe this is IGM 264 as the female in Graham's photo greatly resembles it... just like brancsikia said in this thread back in February.

The thread

The two photos of IGM 264 taken from the IGM list:
Parasphendale comp 264 vs 261 by darkrai283, on Flickr
Paraspehendale spec2 NEU by darkrai283, on Flickr

 

[Darkrai283]

[26.08.14]

The male moulted today. (Whooop!!!) It's so funny how they stuggle to eat small prey because of their wide-arms... much like the pics I've seen of C. humeralis but obviously not as robust/wide as theirs.

Male moulted to 5th instar
Moulting interval: ??? (first time he moulted since I got him)

...and comparing my pair with photos of P. affinis and P. agrionina online, I believe my pair are at this stadium:
Female: 5th instar (Pre-pre-subadult)
Male: 5th instar (Pre-subadult)

Anyway, new pics:

Female
IMG_9343 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_9335 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_9341 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_9337 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_9373 by darkrai283, on Flickr

Male:
IMG_9424 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_9384 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_9420 by darkrai283, on Flickr

 

[Darkrai283]

[07.09.14]

The female moulted today.

Female moulted to 6th instar
Moulting interval: 16 days

Current stadia of the two nymphs:
Female: 6th instar (Pre-subadult)
Male: 5th instar (Pre-subadult)

Moulting pics:
IMG_9767 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_9778 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_9779 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_9784 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_9788 by darkrai283, on Flickr

 

[Darkrai283]

[07.09.14]

Female

https://flic.kr/p/p8WQSL

IMG_9806 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_9902 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_9886 by darkrai283, on Flickr

Male
IMG_9818 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_9832 by darkrai283, on Flickr

Size comparison
IMG_9802 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_9840 by darkrai283, on Flickr

 

[Darkrai283]

[10.09.14]

The male moulted today.

Male moulted to 6th instar
Moulting interval: 16 days

Current stadium of the two nymphs:
Female: 6th instar (Pre-subadult)
Male: 6th instar (Subadult)

 

[Extrememantid]

Nice!!i would love to have this species soon

 

[Darkrai283]

22.09.14

The female moulted today to subadult.
Totally unexpected... She wasn't even showing signs of moulting so I moved her into a smaller enclosure with inadequate netting so that I could clean her's out. 5 minutes later and she started moulting lol.

Female moulted to 7th instar
Moulting interval: 15 days

Current stadium of the two nymphs:
Female: 7th instar (Subadult)
Male: 6th instar (Subadult)

Moulting pics
IMG_0147 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_0150 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_0151 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_0157 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_0159 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_0165 by darkrai283, on Flickr

 

[Darkrai283]

[02.10.14]

The subadult male flared up properly for the first time at a P. paradoxa. He's due for his final moult soon as well as his wingbuds are plump.

Pics
Untitled by darkrai283, on Flickr

 

[dmina]

Nice pics.. nice little journal... Thanks for sharing...

 

[Darkrai283]

[04.10.14]

The male moulted to adult.

Male moulted to 7th instar
Moulting interval: 24 days

Current stadium of the two nymphs:
Female: 7th instar (Subadult)
Male: 7th instar (Adult)

Moulting pics
IMG_0587 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_0589 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_0595 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_0600 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_0602 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_0607 by darkrai283, on Flickr

 

[Darkrai283]

[09.10.14]

The male's full threat display.

Pics
IMG_0639 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_0641 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_0645 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_0646 by darkrai283, on Flickr

 

[Darkrai283]

Nice!!i would love to have this species soon

Thanks. Hopefully, the bulky female won't mess up her final moult which is due in a few days (she stopped eating about 4 days ago) so that I can breed this species.

Nice pics.. nice little journal... Thanks for sharing...

The elipses makes me feel a bit uneasy. Did I post too many photos?

Thanks.

 

[Extrememantid]

No the more the merrier lol. I hope you can breed as well! Good luck keep us updated on the moults

 

[dmina]

No... I liked seeing the whole progression... Ditto on the updates...

Oh gosh... does anyone even know what ditto means anymore?... is the word obsolete?

 

[Darkrai283]

No... I liked seeing the whole progression... Ditto on the updates...

Oh gosh... does anyone even know what ditto means anymore?... is the word obsolete?

I still frequently use it.

 

[Sticky]

Your male is gorgeous and he knows it!

 

[Darkrai283]

[20.10.14]

The female has been wandering around all day to look for the perfect place to moult... and she finally decided to settle on the smoothest branch in there (I only put that one in to 'prop-up' the others). I can't encourage her to move anymore because she's already pumping her abdomen a lot and stretching her raptorials. :no:

IMG_0948 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_0946 by darkrai283, on Flickr
IMG_0951 by darkrai283, on Flickr