Gonatista grisea

[aNisip]

Hello again,

(you dont have to read the story if you dont want, just skip to bottom I was at a Nature Center today hunting some Gonatista grisea with my father and pointed to the first oak tree I came across and said "here, these oak trees are loved by Gonatistas, perfect bark and cryptic coloration..." and as I looked up the tree a little bit, examining closely, saw a Gonatista ootheca! Granted there were openings in it and therefore am assuming it has already hatched, but took that as a great sign! Now I wanted to find more ooths or nymphs, but didn't have any collecting cups with me bc I was told the park doesn't like ppl taking wildlife...so just kept on and went on the trail along the river scouring every tree and the tree bark up and down for mantids and ooths...here is where it gets good!

I RANDOMLY glance over to a thin tree and see this lichen like protrusion sticking out near the top 15ft away (I have really good vision :detective: ), abt 6' up...but went in for a closer inspection bc it didn't quite look like all the other protusions and more flat, then went in abt a foot away to see its full detail...it was indeed a gonatista grisea nymph! And asked my dad to look on that tree for mantis, he said there was nothing on it..then I happily pointed the mantis out and he was in awe...so I then proceeded to reach for the little bugger, and it shot up the tree even further with lightning speed :taz: ...so my dad reached up to the top and pulled it down like an arch so I could catch it...but then it snapped and he was projected to the grass with great velocity . ...so I immediately began blowing in the grass to get him to move, and grazing my fingers to find him...but eventually before getting ready to move on bc the park was closing in 5 min...I saw him propped up on a leaf looking at me like "what in tarnations are you doing?" :sweatdrop:

So I got him home safely and set him up in this, temps are between 75-85 during day and 70-75 @ night. He is being fed fruit flies (turks) currently and will try baby lateralis soon...

Thanks for looking and any input!

Cheers,

Andrew

..please excuse the bluriness on some of the photos, taken with my Samsung Galaxy S III...enjoy.

 

[hierodula]

lol, in half the pics, i couldnt see the mantis!!

 

[Mime454]

My most wanted species. Really crazy that they're not in culture considering that they're native to the states.

 

[aNisip]

lol, in half the pics, i couldnt see the mantis!!

the mantis IS NOT present in only one...

My most wanted species. Really crazy that they're not in culture considering that they're native to the states.

they are difficult to raise, or so I have been told/researched...I will try my best to find some more and get them going...

 

[brancsikia339]

Omg amazing!!!!

 

[Malakyoma]

Wait its NOT present in only one? I couldnt see it in most of them.

 

[lancaster1313]

Wow! I can't believe that you saw that!!!

I need to get out to that park, but can I borrow those peepers of yours? I am sure that I won't be able to see anything but bark and lichen with mine. nline2long:

 

[CoolMantid]

Congrats on the find! I really wanna shot at these species. AS said before couldnt even find the mantis in some of the pics

 

[aNisip]

Gonatista grisea IS in 4 of the 5 pictures, he/she is NOT in the one where the ooth is glued to the bark(4th pic)The first pic is easy ,second pic still kinda easy, last pic a little difficult, but I can see why the third pic is difficult......my eyes are very good, better than 20/20 :smarty: says my eye doctor... :detective:

I hope I can keep this little bugger alive! fingers crossed :sailor: :clover:

Edit: Thanks Nick! I plan on going hunting again next Sunday, same place, but earlier...Adrienne, you want to come along? (or anybody, if you can make it )

 

[angelofdeathzz]

Nice Find, your eyes must be good to spot that outside and if theres one you may be able to find a mate or two? Happy hunting.

You keep most and release some back in the wild, a win win!

 

[Rick]

A nymph this time of year? They must have more than one generation per year. I kept them for quite awhile back when they were in culture, they are not hard to keep at all. I really want to get my hands on some of them.

 

[aNisip]

My friend just informed me that he too caught some; one adult female and two female nymphs (L3/L4)....like most species we need some males....and Rick I'm assuming one gen made it to adult in late summer and had offspring, these guys are apart of that offspring. ..I'll try to get some more...

 

[Rick]

If you can get a few let me know. I had a lead on some a few months ago but the deal fell through. Been on my list to get back into culture for awhile now.

 

[lancaster1313]

A nymph this time of year? They must have more than one generation per year. I kept them for quite awhile back when they were in culture, they are not hard to keep at all. I really want to get my hands on some of them.

Many people ask the same thing, lol.

It seems to be normal to find young adult mantids and nymphs around this time of year in South Florida. I am not sure how many of them, if any, will make it past some of the short cold spells that will be coming soon.

 

[Rick]

Many people ask the same thing, lol.

It seems to be normal to find young adult mantids and nymphs around this time of year in South Florida. I am not sure how many of them, if any, will make it past some of the short cold spells that will be coming soon.

I would find it interesting if there are multiple generations per year.

 

[Malakyoma]

Probably only possible where its warm enough year round to support them. Like here in Canada ooths hatch in march or so, and adult mantids can be found in august/september. You dont see any in December because not much could really survive out there at that time of year. But in Southern florida, if the ooth ends up being late and hatches in August then there probably isnt much difference to the mantid and it could be laying ooths in november. Still interesting though.

 

[Rick]

Probably only possible where its warm enough year round to support them. Like here in Canada ooths hatch in march or so, and adult mantids can be found in august/september. You dont see any in December because not much could really survive out there at that time of year. But in Southern florida, if the ooth ends up being late and hatches in August then there probably isnt much difference to the mantid and it could be laying ooths in november. Still interesting though.

I'm familiar with the process. I haven't seen anything in the literature or any reliable reports of it is what I was saying.

 

[aNisip]

Theses individuals like Adrienne said, won't be able to survive the short cold periods we get during the winter...like all mantids living in areas where it does get cold rely on ooths for thr upcoming generation in the Spring...I don't think they would be able to survive the few cold nights that get in the low 40's...

 

[Rick]

Theses individuals like Adrienne said, won't be able to survive the short cold periods we get during the winter...like all mantids living in areas where it does get cold rely on ooths for thr upcoming generation in the Spring...I don't think they would be able to survive the few cold nights that get in the low 40's...

Yes, I know how it works haha. Been doing this for awhile. I'm simply saying that if nymphs are frequently found late in the year the species may be multigenerational, even if most or all of that second generation doesn't survive.