Idolomantis and UV lamps?

[Kruszakus]

Hi guys!

Recently, I purchased a bunch of Idolomantis nymphs. Now, everyone knows just how hard this species is to rear, but one thing really has me flustered.

Some breeders claim that Idolomantis have enormous problems with molting, mostly because of the fact that their carapace does not harden enough after the molt. Some tend to obviate this problem with the use of UV lamps, and supposedly it works. I don't know what to make of it, and I hope you can help me.

Can you guys shed some UV light on this issue?

 

[PhilinYuma]

Hi guys!Recently, I purchased a bunch of Idolomantis nymphs. Now, everyone knows just how hard this species is to rear, but one thing really has me flustered.

Some breeders claim that Idolomantis have enormous problems with molting, mostly because of the fact that their carapace does not harden enough after the molt. Some tend to obviate this problem with the use of UV lamps, and supposedly it works. I don't know what to make of it, and I hope you can help me.

Can you guys shed some UV light on this issue?

Ouch! That's a hard one, and I'm not sure that anyone knows, though there must be a lot of people who know a lot more about it that me. So here's a guess to pass away a few minutes

At and before ecdesis, the protocuticle undergoes a lot of hormonally triggered changes, two of which, by my guess, may be enhanced by the presence of UV light.

The first of these is the tanning and hardening of the exocuticle. Indole quinone may cause this, but some folks (e.g. Chapman, and I'n not going to argue with him) think that it might also be due to melanin formation (indole quinone is a remote precursor of melanin, anyway). The tanning process helps toughen the cuticle after a molt, and the process is medtated, as it is in humans, by U.V. light.

Most people raise Idolomantis sp. under very high humidity. Right after a molt, a number of changes take place in the procuticle. That puffing up of a mantis during a molt, which has been much discussed here, is due to increased fullness in the gut which applies pressure on hemolyph amd in turn expands the procuticle and makes it slough the old skin and stretch and thin the new one. The new skin hardens partly due to drying out, and maybe the heat of the U.V. lamps helps with this process which is impeded by the high humidity.

Well, that's my guess. Can we hear from someone who actually knows?

 

[agent A]

I don't know much about this species, but I don't think the light should be on while the mantis is molting, as if the skin dries during molting, the old skin is stuck and the mantis mismolts. These guys seem to be hard species for anyone to rear.

 

[Christian]

Molting problems have nothing to do with UV light. The only molt that causes poroblems is the last one, and this is due to disturbances, not UV light. As mantids in general molt by night, I can't see where UV light should help here. Of course you can use lamps with a slight UV radiation, maybe it is better for general health, but mine molt well with or without it.