Idolomantis diabolica

[sporeworld]

I'm mulling around the idea of skipping the twigs entirely and making a tree-shaped peice of "art" in the middle entirely out of mess. Kinda like a nylong chicken wire tree. I KNOW they can grip it, it won't rot, and I might even be able to make it look decent. I'm always a little put off by giving them their "natural" habitat, and then not being able to see them! Like hiding a new car in the garage. Have to give it some thought...

 

[lion]

Sorry for the late post.

Look at this cool chart. It shows that rainfall is highest in the first and last molts. This is when people have problems with their sheds.

 

[sporeworld]

This is old, but reviewing our posts (and especially Lion's weather chart), it seems like going with Mother Nature's example, we should be:

TEMP: 75-90f

HUMIIDITY: 50-60%

DAYLIGHT: 10 hours

Anyone want to challenge those stats...?

 

[PhilinYuma]

Yeah, I guess so, though I should make it quite clear that I have never raised this mantis myself. Are you planning on getting some, Sporeworld?

Orin's Invertebrates Magazine, Vol 8:2-3 contain the two part article on this species by Christian Schwarz and friends, and you might consider getting these two back copies by contacting Orin and, of course, becoming a subscriber. It gives T and RH parameters which cover your daytime figures but also mentions the importance of allowing the temp to drop to about 80Fand the RH to rise to 80-90% at night to facilitate molting. They suggest that this can be achieved by spraying, but an easier answer would be to use an ultrasonic humidifier and turn it up during the evening and down during the day, though the rise in diurnal temp will lower the RH to an extent.

Lion's graph is great, but hard to apply to the I. diabolica life cycle since this species in the wild is probably bivoltine, at least in part of its range. Also, to quote the article, "even slight latitudinal changes are linked to shifts in the rain[sic] and dry seasons resulting from the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Thus specimens from different geographic regions may show divergent phenologies [how the seasons affect animal life cycles], which was indeed confirmed by our data."

Thus if the enclosure is too warm and dry, above 94F and low humidity, a subadult nymph wil not molt while awaiting the "rainy season" and may live for up to 14 weeks in the subadult instar, though lowering the temp to about 85F and raising the humidity to about 90% can stimulate ecdysis.

Since there have been marked differences in the response of different cultures of this species to captive care -- some never produced viable offspring -- I would suggest that anyonwe who purchases these expensive beasts with the purpose of raising them would do well to get detailed rearing instructions from the breeder if they are captive raised. Also, anything that Yen says is directly endorsed by the Great Mantis Goddess (BbHN).

I hope that this helps.

 

[sporeworld]

Sent in my request to become a subscriber.

In the meantime, the important plot points in your seem to be:

(1) "Temps drop to about 80Fand the RH to rise to 80-90% at night to facilitate molting".

Yeah - I have several humidifiers, and light on day/night timers. Curently set to 10 hour daylight cycles, but my bizzare work hours kind of mess with that.

(2) "I. diabolica is probably bivoltine"

Fascinating! Luna and Polyphemus moths are the same. 18 hours of sunlight in the 5th(?) instar will cause the change and they won't need to diapause. Zero change if you try that in any other instar, or more or less daylight. And try as I might, I couldn't get my other silkmoth species to do the same. Wonder where the trigger is for Idolos? And do the OOTHS need to diapause as well..?

(3) "If the enclosure is too warm and dry, above 94F and low humidity, a subadult nymph wil not molt while awaiting the "rainy season" and may live for up to 14 weeks in the subadult instar, though lowering the temp to about 85F and raising the humidity to about 90% can stimulate ecdysis."

Ha! That explpains SO much! My adult female spent 2 weeks without eatting, just hanging motionless. Then molted into a beautiful adult! I'll bet that was when my first humdifier was broke, and spraying the mesh cages just wasn't enough.

(4) "...anything that Yen says is directly endorsed by the Great Mantis Goddess (BbHN)."

For sure! I have a rudimentary Care Sheet mocked up, and nearly every statistic is noted with "Yen Sez" - which contradicts or challenges what everyone else said. And he's probably right!

 

[PhilinYuma]

I haven't been in idolomants country, so far as I know, but I was in Kenya. The masai mara has two rainy seasons, one about now and one in November. I imagine that it is two rainy seasons and how far they apart that determines whether they breed once or twice a year. I sent heart broken Sparkle off to the mara at the begiining of the month, hoping that accommodation would be less costly than at the height of the -dry -- season.

No tropical mantids need diapause, though some orthopteran nymphs may diapause in the middle of the dry season when the grass is sere. They do that here in the Sonoran, by the way, which is good for the mantids, because it delays the time when the crix/grasshoppers will grow too big for the mantids to catch. Boy, it's an interesting world, isn't it?

 

[Precarious]

I'm not knocking strict control of environment, but I played by pretty loose rules and had perfect results. Just kept humidity up and moderate temp (no higher than about 88) and I didn't even add heat regularly. Most days were only around 80 and as low as 68 at night. Maybe I got lucky, or maybe it's not the rocket science some think it is.

But here are a few things that cannot be overlooked.

When they molt they must have branches to grip or they will damage their feet. I've heard so many horror stories of Idolos that can't grip and everyone seems to think they just can't deal with mesh or screens beyond a certain stage of development. I don't think that's it at all. I now have 3 adults that can grip anything without problem. But if, directly after molt, they had tried to grip screen they would have damaged their grasping hooks. I saw it happen to a Heterochaeta. I believe the tiny hooks are still too soft so they tear off and the mantis falls. After they are dried out they can grip those same surfaces without issue. They also seem to do OK with loose mesh right after molt because they can wrap their feet around the fibers. Tightly knit mess, like that used for net cages, forces them to use the hooks.

The only other issue is you really need to pay attention and prepare a good space when they are ready to molt. They do not choose wisely and they need something directly in front to hang onto in addition to the old skin. I'd say that is the second reason so many report falls during molt. I either keep a separate enclosure just for molts or remove all but one or two to prevent accidental bumping. Using that mesh curtain has been a big help too but you have to be there when it happens for it to make a difference.

In my opinion if you address those two very important issues they are no more difficult than any other species. I can't comment on the complexities of breeding because I only have females, but I started with six L1 nymphs and now have 3 adults and one sub. One died early on during L2 molt which is pretty normal. The other made it all the way to sub and probably died due to the fall she had the previous molt. Thankfully, that was the only fall I experienced, and I used the lesson to prevent any more from falling.

Anyway, them's my two cents. :whistling:

 

[sporeworld]

Yeah. More and more the contradictory reports just seem to suggest that they are heat and humditiy tollerant. But the thin branches and non-metal mesh cages seem to be the biggest factors.

we'll have to compare notes on just what a sub-to-adult molting chamber should look like...

 

[sporeworld]

I started a new thread to try and wrangle all this info into something like a CareSheet. Love to get your collective help on it.

http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=21061&pid=157201&st=0entry157201

Thanks.

 

[animalexplorer]

I'm with precarious on the temps 80-85°F. Humidity 60-70% daytime worked out fine for me. The humidity was a little hard to maintain in the daytime as the heat from the bulbs were constantly bringing it down. I was misting 2 times a day one around 12 afternoon and one in the evening about an hour before turning the lights out. Humidity levels varied between 70-80 at night, it wasn't exact but pretty close. I use a enclosed glass terrarium to help stablize the variables. The top has a screen mesh but that was covered with a piece of cardboard with a small hole, to fit a hockey puck halogen light. The light hood houses a repti glo 5.0 UVB bulb which covers the other half but allows air circulation. It worked but I was not always there to mist at the exact time so I'm investing in a ultrasonic humidifier which will be activated by a timer switch.