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Yep, pretty sure he is male, I made a closer inspection of his antennae and spikes... it sure helps having several in the same instar to compare. I'm not really that worried about breeding them with this few, but if it happened I'd be ecstatic.

I do have another question that I don't think has been covered yet. Precarious, I noticed in your vids that you have a setup for flight time for the girls. How important do you guys think "out time" is? I am considering setting up a corner of my bathroom with a fake tree and maybe some other stuff so the gang can take turns on field trips.

 
Chivalry said:
How important do you guys think "out time" is?
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I doubt many dedicate the time and space to this so it's not necessary. For me, however, it is necessary. When you bring any mantis out of an enclosure they become a different animal entirely. They really seem to come to life; they will fly, look all around the room, and explore. I feel I owe the adults that extra freedom, especially with a large species like Idolo. At the moment I've got some adult Heterochaeta sp. on that tree. There is an adult female Unicorn that lives on the window.

Most people probably don't have the option of doing this. They may have pets or small children, and there is the danger the mantis will wander into the room and get hurt. You've always got to be aware so you don't step on one. Each mantis has a different personality too. Some will stay put while others won't. I almost stepped on one particular Heterochaeta that just wanted to constantly roam. He's now back in the tank while his siblings are content to hang on the tree.

So it's not necessary for their survival, but it sure is rewarding to watch them play and be more of what they would be in the wild. They fully recognize when they have that extra freedom.

 
I've noticed that too, and I've also noticed that live plants seem to matter. I had a bamboo that the L7 adored when she was little enough that it supported her well.

Unfortunately I don't have decent enough light for most house plants. I find it amusing that I browse the garden center looking for 1) low light requirements and 2) good leaf texture/shape for empusid feet to stick to.

 
I'm with Precarious (mostly). I'm positive it isn't NECESSARY - in that they will live, eat, mate and produce fertile ooths regardless. And there IS some risk with letting them FLY, as they are TERRIBLE at landing (on anything other than a tree). They fly fast enough, and have enough mass to make any crash a fatal event. But, it sure is fun to watch!

That said, if someone is having trouble getting their male to mate, pulling them out of their enclosure, taking them to a new room and letting them roam free (that is, pheromone-free), I suspect you'll be rewarded for your efforts. Sooooo not science.

As stated earlier, I LOVE to play with my critters. So, my setups are engineered with this in mind (easy access).

 
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mine works pretty good

it's a digital hydrothermometer

i figure out how accurate it is by putting several different thermometers in one area and if there's little significant discrepancy, they're either all right or all wrong ;)

 
At night, probably nothing. A little cooling is fine (see first page of this thread). If you really need/want to heat, I suggest a ceramic bulb. If not that, try a heat stone or a heating rope (or whatever that thing's called).

 
The easy answer for me was to just keep them in the same environment as the adults. Hot, well ventilated and more than 40% humidity. I did a lot of variations, and didn't see any differences that I could point to definitely. I even setup a grid in my tall tank with about 10 ooths, each about 3" further away from the lights than the other. No appreciable difference noted.

On the other hand, Angelofdeathzz (the "Idolo King") probably has more specific, and consistent advice. So, do what HE did. :)

 
I would agree with Sporeworld on keeping them close to the same as adults would be kept. I like the 80oz deli's for incubating with a screen mesh side added for air flow and cloth lid, not metal screen(so you can feed ff's). Misting heavily once a day or when it dries up again, you don't want it to wet or they will mold up on you.

hot glued mesh with tape to be sure no ff's get out:

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don't be alarmed when they come out reddish brown, the black color takes a few hours to set in.

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just a quick update on mine, I now have a L7 female and a L6 Male (not sure why the male has developed slower, it was my understanding they were usually faster)

and here is a quick macro vid of the L7 female eating a bluebottle

 
Best of luck to ya Brancsikia. I Just had my male molt to adult on the 21st, and got a couple shots of him drying his wings.

Last night I took him out to hang out with me while I played around on the intronet when a male chinese flew into the light he was chilling on. I let a couple males go in the house to help get rid of all the moths I keep letting in at night. Twas funny tho, when the Chinese approached the Idolo(didn't see him half a body length infront of him), the Idolo threw like half a threat pose and I swear the chinese forgot he had wings. He turned and did the "nymph" jump and run thing right off my desk. Anyhow had the camera handy and got a few pics before they got too close to eachother

Anyhow here are some pics, sorry they aren't very pro

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After almost 5 days

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And my female who i am hoping will follow his lead in the next week or so

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Female moulted to Sub last night, she is now L8 while the male is STILL L6

hes been L6 over a month now, well fed, anyone heard of this before?

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