Have a few questions about Idolomantis Diabolica

[TanteEdgar]

Hi.

I was just wondering how long it usually takes a subadult Idolo to molt to adult? 1-2 months?

My female Idolo is refusing to eat, it has got some green'ish colour along the edges of the back shield and it's doing absolutely nothing, just hanging there. Been like this for a few days now.

Does this mean that it's going to molt soon?

 

[hibiscusmile]

If she is not eating or drinking then that is sign, it does take them a while to molt, not just the idols. As a few will tell you, when they molt, they empty their selves of the food they have eaten, and if you have a bad molt and have to kill them as in cut them in half to feed to something else, (which of course I know nothing of) you will discover they are hollow inside on both ends. Now, that is said, and I don't really know if it pertains to this or not anymore cause I went on for so long :blink:

 

[TanteEdgar]

Yey. If it molts, I can start feeding it with Dilatata's.... or not...

Let's hope that everything turns out fine then.

 

[hibiscusmile]

hummm what is that? I donno?

 

[TanteEdgar]

Heteropteryx Dilatata

Maybe a bit heavy for a mantis thou...

 

[Rick]

Wings buds very swollen? When you see that you know the molt is soon.

 

[sporeworld]

Yeah - mine did the same. Looong time without eating. I just happened to touch her about 2 hours before she molted (which was a first for me) and I knew right away she was ready - kinda like wet paper. And yeah, the wing case was the giveaway.

Mine also took a long time to eat again - my other species only seemed to need about 48 hours (ish). I was really worried. She's fine now, but crazy picky! Moths and flies only. She even refused a medium sized katydid - driving her neighbors crazy! "Eat the D*mn thing, already!!!"

There's a great thread here (somewhere) on housing for them and molting problems - I highly recomend it.

BTW, are you breeding Dilatata as mantis food...? Interesting cross-hobby, if so.

 

[TanteEdgar]

It happened last night. Too bad it was a mismolt She fell down and got crippled (sort of).

The wings look like something that's left from a popped balloon and one leg is broken. It's not broken off so maybe I can support it with a piece of tape or something.

Sporeworld: I was just kidding about the Dilatata's, I keep them just for fun. I also have a LOT of Eurycantha Calcarata's in there as they seem to multiply somehow.... fast...

I use a 120L aquarium

 

[sporeworld]

I kept a crippled up boy alive for a few weeks hand feeding him. He would only eat honey from a stick only for a while, but I eventually tricked him by smearing honey on a Blue Bottle spike and he sort of accidentally ate it. But it was way more work that I was prepared for, so eventually I just... well, I had him "chill out" in my Frigidaire! If he was a she, I might have did more, but there was no way he was going to "perform his duties". Poor thing.