Idolomantis mating success UK!

[ellroy]

I decided to leave the adult Idolomantis pair together permenantly today and after a few hours the male had mounted the female but he was facing the wrong way.

After about 30 mins he was able to turn round and is still connected a couple of hours later.

I have seen definite copulation occuring so am hoping that I now have a fertile female! I will leave them together for possible repeat matings just to be sure.

Alan

 

[13ollox]

Hey thats great news !!! congratulations !!! you must be very proud of yourself ( i would be ) ! you must be the only guy on the forum to do this yet ! hope your lil guy survives so a possible remate can occur ! :wink:

Neil

 

[Ian]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Alan! Nice work man! Lets hope this will be one of the very few cases of captive bred breeding of this species! Oh...and, where did yoy get the nymphs from?!

 

[Rick]

Seems most species of males jump on backwards intitially. I assume it's so the female can't grab them by the head.

 

[ellroy]

He's still on her back this morning although not copulating, and he still has a head! I will be keeping an eye on them for further copulation.

Cheers

Alan

 

[francisco]

Hello ALn,

Great Job, I hope I can follow your steps soon,wish me luck.

thanks

FT

 

[Lukony]

Can you blame him for just sitting around on her back? A free ride and he gets to mate all he wants. Probably figures it is worth the chance of losing his head lol.

 

[Jwonni]

Gratz mate, i bet your excited now its gonna kill ya waiting for ya babies

 

[julian camilo]

thats great news, well done. i have never understood the males being backwards on the females back, ive never had it happen to me and cant see why they do it, even by mistake (it seems much easier to just jump on rather than jump and turn in midair and land the wrong way round, if you get what i mean). i guess what someone said about protecting the head seems reasonable. im curious.

anyway, well done!

 

[jonpat83]

I think it would be better for them risking their head to keep the other end intact, after all they can mate without their head but the other end, well, OUCH!

 

[julian camilo]

actually thats true. thats the only reason i could think of, now that doesnt even seem that reasonable! i continue to wonder... :wink:

 

[Obie]

Wow nice work!!

 

[Rib]

Thats fantastic work! Though it might be an idea to remove the male if not for his sake, for hers. Mantids do alot of strange things when they get "stressed".

 

[ellroy]

Yes, I was just thinking that. He is still on her back over 24 hours later and they are still copulating on and off....I don't want him to shag her to death!

If he doesn't get off soon I'll seperate them so she can have a break....I imagine she is well and truly fertilised now but will give him another shot in a couple of days once shes had a break and a good feed.

Alan

 

[ellroy]

How ironic.......

The female laid her first ooth this morning, very big and healthy looking.

Mid morning.....I heard a thud and looked up to see my male had dropped dead! He seemed healthy and active with no signs of ill health. Tragic but at least he got a chance to pass on his genes!

Hopefully it won't be the last ooth either,

Alan

 

[julian camilo]

congratulations! but also commiserations on the male, but like you said, he's done his job well. good luck!

 

[bruty2fruity]

How ironic.......The female laid her first ooth this morning, very big and healthy looking.

Mid morning.....I heard a thud and looked up to see my male had dropped dead! He seemed healthy and active with no signs of ill health. Tragic but at least he got a chance to pass on his genes!

Hopefully it won't be the last ooth either,

Alan

shagged himself to death, now thats a way to go

 

[ellroy]

Second ootheca laid yesterday

 

[julian camilo]

have you taken any pictures?