Idolomantis/Metallyticus/Eremiaphila/etc.

Velve · Jun 26, 2021

The new tank for the M. violaceus is now finished and they moved in, pretty happy with how it turned out. I'll have to tweak the M. splendidus tank soon and add some more bark around the middle area there as well.

I would have liked to get a closeup shot with an adult pair and subadult in one pic, but they are just too restless during handling.

They got right down to exploring and claiming bark hides.

A bloated ooth left in the old tank, the hole must've been a bit too small to fit everything.

Mantis Lady · Jun 28, 2021

Is it a fertile ooth?

Velve · Jun 28, 2021

Little Mantis said:
Is it a fertile ooth?

I think it has a good chance, the eggs are all properly coated in the protective foam, and I believe the ooth has been laid by a young female. The old M. violaceus girl laid all her ooths flat between two cork sheets, though I still haven't gotten any additional nymphs from hers. Maybe the previous male wasn't very fertile, or maybe eggs are a lot more susceptible to dry out or get damaged when they are laid in this manner, I'm not sure. But now that they are in the new tank, future ooths are hopefully laid inside the stems I prepared.

A bunch of my M. splendidus nymphs have reached L4, so I prepared an intermediate setup where they can grow a bit more until they're ready for the main tank.

Velve · Jul 15, 2021

I managed to film the mating initiation of a M. splendidus pair today! Even at their age, the males still went crazy as soon as they sensed a female emitting pheromones. I just wish I had noticed it a little sooner so I could have set up some lighting for better quality, but they are so quick.

The last of my M. violaceus has entered adulthood. This one decided to molt on the ceiling in the usual mantis style for some reason, I've only seen young nymphs do it like that before.

And two ooths have been deposited in a log so far.

craigbaker · Sep 10, 2021

Beautiful work. Congratulations

Velve · Mar 17, 2023

The next M. splendidus generation is starting to grow into adulthood. A few males already molted, the first female shouldn't be far off. Since I let all the ooths hatch in the tank there's also still some earlier instars growing up in there, but they're living well together with their bigger siblings.

Caught a rare hanging molt from the ceiling

And a regular molt on the wall

I always love the purple shine that older nymphs have a few hours after molting.

The M. violaceus this generation didn't yield me much offspring, and I had quite a lot of early die-offs. There are still three females and one male alive that are really old at this point. They don't move around much anymore, but they must still lay ooths as I spot new nymphs sometimes that I move out of the tank to more carefully raise them in smaller containers. I think there should be enough to successfully keep them going into the next generation.