H. Coronatus - The gender bender

[Kruszakus]

I've been trying to find it, but to no avail - does anyone have the link to a site with male/female H. Coronatus abdomens close ups? I would appreciate your help.

 

[acerbity]

I've been trying to find it, but to no avail - does anyone have the link to a site with male/female H. Coronatus abdomens close ups? I would appreciate your help.

These are the 2 I saved for nymph sexing if thats what you were looking for?

http://www.mantisphotos.com/sexinghymenopus.htm

http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/orchid-mantis/a...p;l=f&fid=6

 

[Morpheus uk]

Or 7- for a boy, 5-6 for a girl abdominal segments

 

[Rick]

Same as most others. Go to the below link. It applies to them as well.

http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=7110

 

[Kruszakus]

Thank guys - I'll try to see which one is a male and which one is a female - stopping males should be easy, but it's a tricky thing to use a magnifying glass with those babies running around all the time

 

[Rick]

Thank guys - I'll try to see which one is a male and which one is a female - stopping males should be easy, but it's a tricky thing to use a magnifying glass with those babies running around all the time

Don't waste your time trying to determine on little nymphs. Let them grow a little first.

 

[Kruszakus]

Nah - they are after their first moult, and soon they will molt again - then I'll make sure which is which - right now I'm sure that I have three females, but other than that - I only have an eyesore from ogling their bums.

 

[yen_saw]

If you see any sign of a "notch" on the abdomen segment near the end, it is a female. Anyway, the best way for me in matching up adult pair - works better than cooling down the male - is to keep male growing the same rate with female from the previous ooth. Or order any male that is two to three molts younger than the female if you don't have more oothecae layed on separate time.

 

[Mantida]

If you see any sign of a "notch" on the abdomen segment near the end, it is a female. Anyway, the best way for me in matching up adult pair - works better than cooling down the male - is to keep male growing the same rate with female from the previous ooth. Or order any male that is two to three molts younger than the female if you don't have more oothecae layed on separate time.

So it's true that the male, if slowed down, will become smaller and maybe even infertile?

 

[Kruszakus]

Yeah - I had the same idea Yen - I said to Joanna, that we could let them grow at their natural rate - and then get rid of males - someone would certainly want them. Then we would just wait 6-8 weeks for a new batch, and also let them grow normally - and then pair up adult females, with the males from another ooth.

Slowing down a mantis can result in many problems - sometimes males, which were slowed down, could not mate with the female, but some of them of course could - but then again, this is tricky - so it is a good idea to buy 15-20 mantids just to err on the safe side.

But deceasing temperature by 5-6C and feeding the males once every third day with two/three fruit flies - while the female is kept at a higher temperature and fed a lot and every day will do the trick - extending the period between moults by 5-7 days should be enough.

 

[Rick]

So it's true that the male, if slowed down, will become smaller and maybe even infertile?

No. For these I use the same male from the same ooth and raise them the same. He lives long enough to mate with the females.

 

[Mantida]

I read this from DeShawn's mantiskingdom.com:

The biggest problem with orchids comes when trying to raise a pair of nymphs that are close to the same age. Male orchid mantids mature much faster than females. I used to think that you would just have to slow the male down while trying to speed the female up. This was done by keeping the male at cooler temps while feeding him less, and vice-versa for the female. This however turned out to be a very bad idea.A male orchid mantis that has been slowed down will end up smaller than a normal male. But, that isn't the worst part. Not only will he be smaller, he will most likely be infertile, hence rendering him useless for breeding. I had to learn this the hard way, over and over.

 

[macro junkie]

I read this from DeShawn's mantiskingdom.com:

thats very helpfull info!

 

[Rick]

I read this from DeShawn's mantiskingdom.com:

That's fine advice but you don't HAVE to do it. They males do mature much faster but he lives a long time too. Do it how you want but every time I keep these I raise them together and the sibling male does fine. He will not die before she matures.

 

[yen_saw]

So it's true that the male, if slowed down, will become smaller and maybe even infertile?

No that's not true. Cooling down the male may cause casualty due to mismolt from lack of food couple with cooler temp.