Idolo update

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Thanks for the kind words guys. The biggest thing that bothered me is that I could have prevented it. If she had mismolted like every other Idolo, I would have been half-expecting it.

The remaining female better molt into a monster, she owes it to me! She's nearly 8 cm now so hopefully...

 
Yeah, you might need to look seriously at keeping them apart as adults, just in case. A shame, considering how nice the setup looks, but maybe prudent...

 
Lol I've only got one left so that won't be a problem. And I also put the adult violins in something else just in case she got greedy again.

 
Last Friday my Violin molted to adult and it was the most nervewracking experience I ever had. At one point, she was only held on the stick by one foot and a piece of tape. She had slipped earlier with only two feet clinging onto the stick and I was ready with tape. I had a gut feeling she would fall. The entire molt was me holding her on the stick by her rear two feet.

Eventually, she was out of her skin. I was able to let her hang and give my hands a break. I was sitting there for an hour! Her wings didn't expand fully and they look a bit funky. However, she is otherwise quite fine and is actually following the text on this screen as I type. It is really funny to watch.

Violins are closely related to Idolomantis, both being Empusidae, but are Violins about the same difficulty or easier than Idolomantis in terms of raising them?

 
Idolos are WAY harder (IMO). I had the same nerve-wracking experience with an Idolo - they're all fragile legs and bulky frame. But a few of the guys here really seems to have the molting enclosure thing down, so take heart!

 
@ Animal Explorer: I don't know how I missed your post! She is doing well, gobbling up pollen-coated bb's and lobster roaches like its her job. I can't imagine how much food she'll eat as a gravid adult!

@Joe: I've never had any mismolt problems with violins, not to say they don't happen...I just haven't experienced any problems.

As for the Idolos, I learned from my mistake at L5 and the two remaining females continued to molt perfectly in my setup. They are very clumsy, kinda the opposite of a ghost. I feel Idolos are weak mantids for their size, where ghosts have great grip and are strong+compact.

Idolos are even clumsier than violins, which takes away from their appeal. Just give them space and good grip and they aren't any worse than Gongylus.

 
My female has some super swollen wing buds. Humidity is way up and I'm anxiously awaiting her molt. Its been about a week of swollen-ness, hopefully she'll start soon!

 
C'MON LADY YOUR WINGBUDS HAVE BEEN SWOLLEN FOR A REALLY REALLY LONG TIME AND YOUR REPRODUCTIVE ORGAN LOOKS WEIRD AND SPLIT AND YOU'RE GETTING SKINNY AND I JUST WANT A BIG BEAUTIFUL ELEGANT IDOLO FEMALE

 
Ask and you shall receive:

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In her cool custom stick cage:

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Wow. Yeah, she looks ready to pop!

I noticed mine felt a little spongy the day she molted, and pretty much ignored me toughing her. I thought that meant she was sick for sure, but nope! She was good to go!

Do you know when she stopped eatting...?

Is that your private molting chamber...? If so, why such a tall enclosure...?

Anyhoo, Keep us all posted... I'm giddy with anticipation... still... ;-)

 
I built it specifically for Idolo molting. I like the height for aesthetic purposes, plus it allows a little more breathing room if I have more than one in there. It may be a little deceiving though as its only 18" high.

She seems super clumsy tonight so I'm hoping its time. Did you happen to notice the tip of the abdomen like that? I never have in other species but I really think its a sign (GASP!)

She stopped eating about a week and a half ago, maybe 2 weeks. I have an 8 am class but I can't get to bed with such important things happening!!

 
Ha, ha! Yeah, I think it was about 2 weeks with her, so you're about right. Sorry, didn't notice the abdomen - plenty of things to note for next round.

I have a lot of techie people in my circle of friends, and I'm considering a motion-detector for my next setup (presuming I do a molting chamber like you have). Mine are almost always with me, but not always in my line of sight. A little motion detector that I could ignore when necessary might be comforting - like new mommies and thier nursery room setups. Maybe... I DO tend to over-think these things. :)

 
Welp no molt last night, hopefully tonight.

I'm pretty sure you'll be the first person to have a motion sensor in your terrarium lol

 
Ours must be from the same batch, as mine are synched up to your diabolica molting schedual. They tend to get a bit clumsy and they stop eating for a longer period of time than the previous molts. I had to laugh when I saw your recent photo, it looks like a 3 alarm fire in there with all that mist looking like smoke. I'm thinking "Backdraft" with Kurt Russel. "You molt, we molt!" That's funny you mentioned motion detector, I was thinking infrared beam sensors so when the mantid hung past a certain point it would break the beams and trigger the alarm.

 
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Lol if I had a way to take a video I could make the adult come out of the 'smoke' and make it all dramatic!

She shed last night is about 11 cm now, terrifying! I am so happy, she made it through the entire thing (molt, flip, and all) without my help and is in perfect condition. The old skin is still clinging there, so obviously she had a good grip.

One observation I thought was neat was the extension of her sexual organs the day before the molt. Her wingbuds had been swollen for over a week also.

I don't have a national geographic-quality camera like Precarious, but I'll take a few snapshots today and when she colors up.

 

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