I was wondering, raising them to full size from hatchlings is not an easy feat. The green coloration of the P.agrionina was even brighter in real life than the picture (thanks for finding a pic online Fransisco). Every individual hatched from oothecae from the green females still ended up all brown in captivity.
Heirodula actual size.
- Thread starter Orin
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Hi.
The color is environmentally determined. Lower humidity and a general "brownish" appearance of their enclosure causes most Parasphendale to get brown in captivity. When kept in living plants in a greenhouse etc. some of them well become greenish.
Regarding the size, most mantids can indeed get larger in captivity due to a better food supply. I compared many WCs with their self-bred progeny and sometimes noticed that mines were larger. Usually you get a variety of sizes around a statistical mean. Why your T. aridifolia are smaller than the WCs is an interesting point. I saw similar size differences in M. religiosa and they can partially be explained by suboptimal parameters: both species are strictly saisonal due to the winter, and if they hatch too late or grow too slow they can "decide" to skip a molt to become adult in time. Those specimens are smaller than ones with a regular number of molts. They may be also other reasons for the size differences, though.
Regards,
Christian
The color is environmentally determined. Lower humidity and a general "brownish" appearance of their enclosure causes most Parasphendale to get brown in captivity. When kept in living plants in a greenhouse etc. some of them well become greenish.
Regarding the size, most mantids can indeed get larger in captivity due to a better food supply. I compared many WCs with their self-bred progeny and sometimes noticed that mines were larger. Usually you get a variety of sizes around a statistical mean. Why your T. aridifolia are smaller than the WCs is an interesting point. I saw similar size differences in M. religiosa and they can partially be explained by suboptimal parameters: both species are strictly saisonal due to the winter, and if they hatch too late or grow too slow they can "decide" to skip a molt to become adult in time. Those specimens are smaller than ones with a regular number of molts. They may be also other reasons for the size differences, though.
Regards,
Christian
Nobody has reared a green Parasphendale in captivity, it's not that simple.
How many T. aridifolia have you reared and compared to wild caught?
What's your reference for skipped molts? That sounds like a make believe story.
How many T. aridifolia have you reared and compared to wild caught?
What's your reference for skipped molts? That sounds like a make believe story.
