I have a mantis problem that I'm hoping someone may be able to help with. Everybody in my lab at the University of Maryland studies aspects of praying mantis hearing. It's a weird auditory system: there is just one ear located in the middle of the body between the third pair of legs. Mantises hear sounds way above the range of human hearing, and use that skill to help them avoid getting eaten by bats.
We are doing a crucial experiment in my lab that has ground to a halt because we ran out of the necessary species of mantis, Pseudocreobotra ocellata. The hearing of these animals is even more unusual than in 'normal' mantises: they have both the normal ear that hears ultrasound and also a second ear between the middle pair of legs that hears the lower frequencies that birds and many insects use. We are trying to find out if the two ear systems work together in any way. The answer seems to be Yes, but we can't be sure until we finish the experiment.
The bottom line is that I need to find 5-6 adult Pseudocreobotra in the next week. Sex doesn't matter, and we could use either wahlbergi or ocellata. I've already contacted Yen and Rebecca (at the Mantis Place), but they don't have any right now. Do any of you have a few adult Pseudos that you could spare? Even 2-3 would be a big help.
Many thanks!
David Yager
(Of course, I'd cover shipping costs and we could do either trade or $$ for the mantises themselves.)
We are doing a crucial experiment in my lab that has ground to a halt because we ran out of the necessary species of mantis, Pseudocreobotra ocellata. The hearing of these animals is even more unusual than in 'normal' mantises: they have both the normal ear that hears ultrasound and also a second ear between the middle pair of legs that hears the lower frequencies that birds and many insects use. We are trying to find out if the two ear systems work together in any way. The answer seems to be Yes, but we can't be sure until we finish the experiment.
The bottom line is that I need to find 5-6 adult Pseudocreobotra in the next week. Sex doesn't matter, and we could use either wahlbergi or ocellata. I've already contacted Yen and Rebecca (at the Mantis Place), but they don't have any right now. Do any of you have a few adult Pseudos that you could spare? Even 2-3 would be a big help.
Many thanks!
David Yager
(Of course, I'd cover shipping costs and we could do either trade or $$ for the mantises themselves.)
