Lord Ess and Emerald have mated for 4-6 hours! I've never successfully bred this species until now. You'd be surprised how much it depends on the individuals.
Lord Ess is a male I had caught 2 molts before adulthood. He was bright green then. He was large and I had assumed he was female because of this - I hadn't even checked his segments because I was so sure. But then one day I actually looked, and he turned out to be male! A male that's as big as my captive-hatched and raised adult female (Cheech), which is 3".
Emerald is a female that I caught just last week. An adult when I found her. She was hanging out just in front of me, when I was out looking for Ambush bugs. I suddenly spotted her, with her arms sticking out, trying to look like a stick. She was so beautiful, I took her home and released Tenosa instead.
Well a couple nights ago, I introduced them to each other. And the outcome was great! Lord Ess is just as crazy-wild as she is. I think they were quite compatible. Lol. He was completely drawn to her, it took only about a half hour for him to latch on. And an hour later, he penetrated her. I ended up falling asleep an hour later. I woke up a couple times during the night and they were still connected. I'd say it lasted 4-6 hours. I woke up later on and he was safe - he had jumped off and was hiding behind a thing.
So she's definitely fertile and will be laying a bunch of oothecae for the remainder of her life. I owe one member on here 2 oothecae, because I'd accidentally sent them bad ones. I wasn't aware that if the eggs already started incubating, you can't go from doing that to putting them in the freezer, it can only be done BEFORE the incubation, or else you'll just kill them. So unfortunately hers never hatched, so I'm gonna send her a couple free ones. Then I'm planning on sending 1-2 to LAME, if he decides he wants them. And another friend wants a nymph. Then I'll keep some oothecae for myself, keep some nymphs, release some, you know, the whole deal.
Here's a photo of them mating:
Very interesting to watch, I was able to see it all from a good angle.
I took a video too:
I was surprised by how calm she acted towards the whole thing. I think she was completely ready for it. She'd probably been waiting out in the wild for a male to come along. And now that one finally did, she knew she had to let it happen! And he was very drawn to her, because she's an active mantid, what with having been wild up until last week. I think the more the female moves, the more the male reacts to it, sexually. A still female doesn't seem to really excite them. I think it has to do with their eyesight. It's easier to see something that's moving than something that's stiff.
Here's a photo of Emerald flaring her wings:
She's more defensive towards me than she was towards the male!
I'll let him rest for a bit then I'm going to try breeding him with Goliath, the biggest mantid I've ever owned. I'd like to pass on those genes! Have a bunch of huge ones.
Lord Ess is a male I had caught 2 molts before adulthood. He was bright green then. He was large and I had assumed he was female because of this - I hadn't even checked his segments because I was so sure. But then one day I actually looked, and he turned out to be male! A male that's as big as my captive-hatched and raised adult female (Cheech), which is 3".
Emerald is a female that I caught just last week. An adult when I found her. She was hanging out just in front of me, when I was out looking for Ambush bugs. I suddenly spotted her, with her arms sticking out, trying to look like a stick. She was so beautiful, I took her home and released Tenosa instead.
Well a couple nights ago, I introduced them to each other. And the outcome was great! Lord Ess is just as crazy-wild as she is. I think they were quite compatible. Lol. He was completely drawn to her, it took only about a half hour for him to latch on. And an hour later, he penetrated her. I ended up falling asleep an hour later. I woke up a couple times during the night and they were still connected. I'd say it lasted 4-6 hours. I woke up later on and he was safe - he had jumped off and was hiding behind a thing.
So she's definitely fertile and will be laying a bunch of oothecae for the remainder of her life. I owe one member on here 2 oothecae, because I'd accidentally sent them bad ones. I wasn't aware that if the eggs already started incubating, you can't go from doing that to putting them in the freezer, it can only be done BEFORE the incubation, or else you'll just kill them. So unfortunately hers never hatched, so I'm gonna send her a couple free ones. Then I'm planning on sending 1-2 to LAME, if he decides he wants them. And another friend wants a nymph. Then I'll keep some oothecae for myself, keep some nymphs, release some, you know, the whole deal.
Here's a photo of them mating:
Very interesting to watch, I was able to see it all from a good angle.
I took a video too:
I was surprised by how calm she acted towards the whole thing. I think she was completely ready for it. She'd probably been waiting out in the wild for a male to come along. And now that one finally did, she knew she had to let it happen! And he was very drawn to her, because she's an active mantid, what with having been wild up until last week. I think the more the female moves, the more the male reacts to it, sexually. A still female doesn't seem to really excite them. I think it has to do with their eyesight. It's easier to see something that's moving than something that's stiff.
Here's a photo of Emerald flaring her wings:
She's more defensive towards me than she was towards the male!
I'll let him rest for a bit then I'm going to try breeding him with Goliath, the biggest mantid I've ever owned. I'd like to pass on those genes! Have a bunch of huge ones.
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