Idolomantis/Metallyticus/Eremiaphila/etc.

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I'm sorry to hear about your mishap with the Idolos, that really sucks to have that happen.

It's awesome to see somebody with Metallyticus splendidus!  I am actually planning on getting a pair of them with a vivarium setup.  Please keep updates on them!

 
My idolos took quite a turn for the worse. One of my females didn’t molt for over 2 months then suddenly dropped dead. Then while I was visiting Family the heat lamp went out and my last female and one of my males died. Decided to drop the species for now. I will be trying them later though.

hopefully your final Male will be able to fertilize your females and you can get some babies
Sorry to hear about that, sounds like a chain of bad events.

The male's wingbuds are swollen now and it stopped eating two days ago. The molt should hopefully happen very soon. Meanwhile each female laid another ooth, stings a bit to see such large ones go to waste. :p

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It's awesome to see somebody with Metallyticus splendidus!  I am actually planning on getting a pair of them with a vivarium setup.  Please keep updates on them!
Will do!

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A late and final update regarding the Idolos. Prior to the molt, the male already started getting motoric issues with his raptorial legs, such as odd spasming and loss of control. It was not able to align them at all during the molt, leading to them just hanging downwards and causing a failure. I'll let the females live out the rest of their days and consider all the things I can improve on. Maybe I'll try again with another batch of nymphs in summer.

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@Velve I’m sorry things didn’t work out with your males.  :(

But maybe in Summer, you’ll have a better chance. 

Beautiful females, though, lovely colors.

 
Ah damnit... that’s too bad. You gave it a good try though and even got some beautiful females to adult!

Im going to be giving this species another try... this time with some more experience and preparation. I’m gonna hopefully hatch a few ooths so I should HOPEFULLY get a good chance with this species. I wish you the best this time around.

 
@River Dane No worries! Raising them was still a lot of fun and gave me some good experience.

@Connor Best of luck! A few hundred nymphs sure would be a great way to start the next attempt. :lol:

Meanwhile, the Metallyticus have been doing well. They aren't very fast growers though, so they are currently at L4/L5. At L6 they should finally get their characteristic metallic shine.

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Also got a group of Eremiaphila sp. a while ago. I've been wanting to try these out for ages and finally saw an offer I could take. Such adorable oddballs.

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One Idolo left. She's starting to show signs of old age like dark spots on her shield and missing tarsi, but she's still going strong.

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One of my R. megaera females is a dwarf. The size difference between her and other females is quite noticeable, and even a male is bigger. Pretty interesting, they are all from the same ooth too.

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H. coronatus that I'll hopefully find a male for soon.

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The Eremiaphila have been growing amazingly quick. 4 adults, 4 subadults currently.

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The M. splendidus are getting shinier with each molt. Still gonna take a while until they are adult though.

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Sorry to hear that your Idolo is getting up there in age, but she does still look amazing! Your R. megaeras are very pretty too, and it's kinda cool that you got a dwarf.

The Eremiaphila have the cutest faces, although I know the fake "pupils" may have a hand in that in the pictures.

Thanks for sharing!

 
Got some matings done recently. My H. coronatus male struggled a lot with positioning and connecting, but after one week of attempts he succeeded at last. Hopefully I can expect fertilized ooths soon.

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Several Eremiaphila females have been mated as well. Really interesting to watch, when the male approaches from the front and feels threatened, he starts to dance while moving towards the rear.  If he's placed behind the female he simply waits until she starts moving, then stalks her until he is able to make a leap. I managed to capture the dancing on video:





This male somehow has a lot of trouble connecting. The other male does it in a few seconds after hopping on, and the copulation is finished after around 5 minutes. Two females laid ooths so far.

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The biggest one of my M. splendidus should be presub now, I think. If that's correct, then I can expect the first adult in about 2 months.

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The old Idolo lady has gotten really threat-happy. Previously it was impossible to intentionally trigger her display and I had to get lucky by accidentally startling her, but now tapping on the flyscreen above is enough to make her show it.

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Wow, nice work with the pics and especially the video.  Can't get over that guy's little dance.  Really a treat to see, thanks =)

 
This week the first Eremiaphila ooth has started to hatch. Not sure yet whether the hatching process is normal for the species or if it's just that ooth, but there are just one or two little nymphs popping out each day instead of all at once, might be because they always come out of the little tip. A few minutes after being born they are already able to sprint at full speed.

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I've also learned that Eremiaphila males can be really damn aggressive. After jumping on, one male deciced that it would rather try to eat the female instead of copulating, which led to both of them biting each other. They were so intertwined that I could not separate them by hand. After exchanging some bites they did let loose, but the male was incapacitated and had to be put down. Thr female seemed alright at first, but died several days later as well.

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During another mating, my second male randomly bit the eye of the female, though she didn't even fight back and he thankfully let it go after one bite. She's still doing well and laying ooths.

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The M. splendidus have a decent size by now, I think next week I can expect the first subadult. After molting the older nymphs gain a nice purple sheen for a day, then it goes back to full green.

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A threat dance GIF:



I've also got some tiny Tarachodula pantherina nymphs this week. I'm so excited to raise this species!

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Those are some amazing species! That’s odd that the males of Eramiaphila attack the females, though. But congratulations on the ooths and nymphs!

Also, good luck with your new panthers!

 
Beautiful, different species. Gutting that that male did that though, at least you've already got some nymphs hatched out. Can't wait to see some pictures of the splendidus as adults.

 
WIll you be selling your Eremiaphila Sp. nymphs? I WANT! So adorable! Where did you get your Metallycus splendidus? They have such neat colors! You have a great collection!

- MantisGirl13

 
WIll you be selling your Eremiaphila Sp. nymphs? I WANT! So adorable! Where did you get your Metallycus splendidus? They have such neat colors! You have a great collection!

- MantisGirl13
Thanks! I'm located in Europe, so I don't think shipping overseas would work well. I'm pretty sure I've seen US breeders sell Eremiaphila in the classifieds at some point, though.

I got the M. splendidus from a German breeder back in November. Their growth is really slow, but they've come a long way from the tiny brown specks they were when I got them.

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