hcarlton's Mantid Photos

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Wow, the last orchid picture makes it look like you color coordinated her green collar and white body with the green and white enclosure haha.  She looks like a model out of a magazine!

Also your Rhomboderas look great.  I have three as well now and they're a bit behind yours in growth but getting up there.  You mentioned that the males seem bigger - could it be because the females still have their extra molt so in the end they will still be bigger?  I'm new to the species and in fact it's the first species I've raised where the males and females molt a different number of times.

 
I don't think they have a different molt count; both the males and females are at L8, both have very large and already highly developed wingbuds that I would not say could be at any stage other than subadult; the females' wingbuds are shorter, as expected since they will have shorter wings, but otherwise at the same stage as I've seen in other mantids right before the adult molt. Veins are visible and everything even. If I am wrong I would be shocked, because then the females' wings would be huge after another wingbud size increase before molting out to full wings.

 
Im fairly sure your females are at presub while males are at sub. That would explain the size difference. I have shields too and although the wingbuds seem fairly developed, they trick you and get even larger.

 
I don't have personal experience with it but I was going off this reply to my question about it:



Let us know what happens, and if the females do indeed have the extra molt, you should post pictures of the wing buds before and after for comparison. :)

 
If that's so, then I probably need to cut back a touch on the feeding of the males, since I don't want to lose them before the females mature. The females are both molting before the males do, but that won't matter if they go through another instar (10 instars? Really?) and females tend to mature later than males in most species it seems after the final molt....

And speaking of males and females maturing, still don't have a clue what else to try to get the spinys mating..., tried moving the male out of the room to avoid pheremones, letting him sit near the females as they eat and hunt, coaxing him right onto their backs...I only have the one mature male now and two mature females, but the male either ignores them or jumps off after a couple minutes if I can manage to coax him onto their backs...and I don't want to leave him in the cage to get eaten like the last one...

 
Lots of variation among the Giant Asians

H. membranacea by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

H. membranacea by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

H. membranacea by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

And you guys were right: both female Shields now at L9 and subadult. I've managed to slow the males down enough though that they shouldn't be maturing too far off from each other (especially if I continue stuffing the females)

R. basalis L9 female by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

R. basalis L9 female by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

And all 3 biggest sticks are now subadult too. And huge! Branches is still the biggest:

H. orientalis by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

Hand for scale

H. orientalis by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

2nd generation of adult bark mantids

Elmantis sp. female by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

Elmantis sp. male by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

And Petalbutt 1 ignoring my personal bubble...

Petalbutt 1 by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

 
Nice color variations.  My R. basalis male just molted to adult this week (I'm not trying to slow him down at all).  To be honest I'm not sure if the females are L8 or L9.  They probably won't molt for a couple more weeks so I'll be keeping an eye on the wing buds as that time approaches...

Cute mantises though, and giant H. orientalis!

 
I've got some new Elmantis nymphs that I'm trying to get to L2, and several males and females that have reached adulthood (and I don't intend to breed and then keep them all) so I might have options if you still want bark mantid nymphs.

The first of the Shields has matured! Now I just need the females to get a move on, as the other male is about to molt as well...

R. basalis by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

R. basalis by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

He had a real thing for my camera

R. basalis by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

R. basalis by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

And no regard whatsoever for personal space...

R. basalis by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

R. basalis by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

 
My male R. basalis just molted to adult too!  I love their wings.  Great pictures by the way.

 
hcarlton said:
I've got some new Elmantis nymphs that I'm trying to get to L2, and several males and females that have reached adulthood (and I don't intend to breed and then keep them all) so I might have options if you still want bark mantid nymphs.

The first of the Shields has matured! Now I just need the females to get a move on, as the other male is about to molt as well...

R. basalis by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

R. basalis by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

He had a real thing for my camera

R. basalis by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

R. basalis by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

And no regard whatsoever for personal space...

R. basalis by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

R. basalis by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr
Click to expand...
i'd buy a pair or mated female if you had extras

 
Once I get the adults breeding and an ooth or two for the next generation, I'll definitely be making them available.

 
R. basalis "Blue" by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

R. basalis "Blue" by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

R. basalis "Blue" by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

Discovered today that the Shield males also have no problem at all tackling a full-grown dubia roach; I can only imagine what that means for the appetite of the females when they mature...

Still have a couple grass mantids going; lots and lots of ooths from them, even a few nymphs (parthenogenetic reproduction, but unfortunately none have yet even made it to a first molt; wish I had a male...)

Thesprotia graminis by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

First H. memb to mature, won't sit still...once I get some photos of him and the rest of the soon-to-be adult quintet of variously colored males, they'll all be put up for either sale or trade

H. membranacea by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

H. membranacea by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

Also, got this spiny female back from an attempt at getting her bred with someone else's male; she's laid 3 ooths now.

P. wahlbergii female by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

And I was sent the male since the other person won't have time to care for them shortly. I've since managed to get him to stay on top of the other, unmated female for nearly 3 hours, but no official signs of mating yet...

P. wahlbergii male by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

Success! Getting other members of the family to hold the bugs :p

Mom and Teal by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

And I've got a quintet of L2 Elmantis nymphs that I need to sell...

Elmantis sp. by Hawken Carlton, on Flickr

 
How much are the Elmantis nymphs? I want one. They are so cute!

- MantisGirl13

 

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