Hatching during shipment...grrrr

[yen_saw]

One of the adult female appear releasing pheromone(sp?) and as i appraoch the cage i saw a male moving close to that particular female and did a strange thing, he started to flip his wings next to the female, and while doing that another male sneak in and climb up to the female. I was trying to take a pic from out side the net and it looks bad, can anyone see?

So i decided to get into the cage for better shot. The pair is way inside the cage and the male is just next to the pair.

Zoom in on the pair

and i think my appearance must have disturbed them, they separate soon after i took the pic...damn, and i have dozens of flies in the room, again I better leave them alone next time when this happen <_<

 

[acerbity]

That last one was quite a unique pic, worth the flies IMO

 

[Mantida]

The classic Idolomantis look in your photo kind of excites me.

Congratulations Yen, another rearing success. Only challenge left is the mating and ootheca fertility, you are the KING of the mantids!

 

[yen_saw]

Thanks for the kind word, it is still long way from successful breeding but finger crossed..... if anything can go wrong this is the one species!!

 

[macro junkie]

do they get there coulour when they turn adult?

 

[ABbuggin]

When they first molt into adults, they are tan. But after a while (not sure how long) they get their gorgeous color :wub:

 

[tier]

another rearing success.

unfortuanetly not yet. My males climbed each female 10-20 times, sometimes up to some hours. But no mating

:-(

Are them mating on the pic, or is the male just sitting on the females' back?

Yes, they become green-white 5-15 days after the last molt. First they have dirty-white wings, but than the green appears.

Best whishes and best luck Yen, you are doing great with them!!!

 

[yen_saw]

do they get there coulour when they turn adult?

It took about 2-7 days to have a fully developed wing color for my idolo colony. I see brown and green so far, male being slightly darker in color.

unfortuanetly not yet. My males climbed each female 10-20 times, sometimes up to some hours. But no mating :-(

Are them mating on the pic, or is the male just sitting on the females' back?

Yes, they become green-white 5-15 days after the last molt. First they have dirty-white wings, but than the green appears.

Best whishes and best luck Yen, you are doing great with them!!!

Thanks tier, i need plenty of luck from now on. I guess raising hatchling into adult is considered a successful rearing. But breeding is another story, even when a female is mated but fail to produce viable ootheca i would still rate it as unsuccessful breeding.

That male step away from the female moment after i took the pic so he was just doing a "test-drive" :lol:

 

[tier]

I guess raising hatchling into adult is considered a successful rearing.

Oh yes, this is right. I missunderstood the word, sorry

:lol: regards

 

[Juergen]

My Idolos start mating, but something is strange this time... :blink:

Best regards,

Juergen

 

[tier]

Hi Jürgen.

Nice little picture. Seems like you are bringing east Africa and east Asia together

But Jürgen, big mistake: It's two females!!! But of course you know it ;-)

Grüsse,

Stefan

 

[Mantida]

My Idolos start mating, but something is strange this time... :blink: Best regards,

Juergen

:lol: ! That picture made me laugh!

You currently have metallyticus sp? Wow, never ever seen one in captivity before.

 

[Borya]

Yen, can you take a photo of Idolomantis sitting near the ruler?

 

[yen_saw]

My Idolos start mating, but something is strange this time... :blink: Best regards,

Juergen

Interesting pic Juergen one can only dream of the offspring from this crossbreed

Yen, can you take a photo of Idolomantis sitting near the ruler?

This is probably the last time i am going to handle my adult idolomantis as i would rather leaving them in the cage alone, but here you go Borya (both adult female)

The female is about 11-13 cm, male is slightly shorter and less bulky. One day i will need you to help me catching all the loose flies

In just a month (or even less) after turning adult, one of the female deposited an ooth on the stick, as i have been away i have no idea if they are fertile or not.

zooming in

Looks like a normal size/shape

 

[joossa]

Wow! Both the female and the ooth are monsters!

 

[Kruszakus]

Oh my god! This mantis is huge! Tell me - how many house flies does it take to feed all of them?

 

[yen_saw]

Wow! Both the female and the ooth are monsters!

Yes they are a good size, so the 32 oz insect container is not going to work for this species.

Oh my god! This mantis is huge! Tell me - how many house flies does it take to feed all of them?

I lost count :angry: i have to order 10k pupa every two month, most of them went to the idolomantis cage. :blink:

 

[Kruszakus]

Wow! You better pray that this species pays off, hehehe

 

[Mantida]

That is one huge ooth. :blink:

 

[Christian]

That's a good size standard. But don't get fooled, there is a lot of foamy mass around the egg case. The first ooths of this species contain up to 70 eggs, with a hatch rate in captivity of about 60-80%. In later ooths, hatch rates are about 20-35 L1.

However, the hatchlings are rather large (I have witnessed some which handled blue bottle flies!) and losses are rare, given the right conditions.