Midget Adult Female iris Oratoria-Will she get hurt mating?

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I've only had 1 successful adult female molt so far into a midget at L7. I have 2 female L7's that are not adult (I had a lot more)!. I've had 6 successful adult male molts. Out of the successful male molts 1 was a midget at L7 and 4 were L8 and 1 was L9! The males I have now ( 2 L8's) are bigger than her. She is very fat and calling. She seems very depressed that no one comes. I've never attempted to mate yet, so I have no experience. I am scared to put a large male in with her.

Will he try to hurt her?

If she tries to eat him, and is successful, will she explode (she is fat already)?

She had injured legs before the molt, they are still weak. Is this an aggressive process; can she re-injure her legs?

Why are the males succeeding at molting into adult and not the females?

Will she have a "failure to thrive" if she does not molt?

Thank you!

 

[Ranitomeya]

He shouldn't try to hurt her unless he's starving, and she shouldn't try to continue to eat to the point where she explodes--mantids normally stop eating before that point unless they're being forced to eat more.

You just need to make sure you don't accidentally drop her when she's getting heavy. You may also want to make sure that all the surfaces she has available to climb are non-slick surfaces so she doesn't have any chance of falling.

Molting generally repairs the exoskeleton to the point where it's structurally sound, but you can have her hang upside down during mating so she doesn't have to hold up both their weights on her legs.

The process of mating is not an aggressive process for the female, but males can be a little aggressive when trying to mount--I've seen females get injured when the males grab on too hard with their raptorial legs.

Have you had a lot of mismolts in your females or are you asking why there are more males that have molted into adults than females?

Males usually have fewer instars than females and will molt into adults much faster than the females will. This is thought to prevent inbreeding by reducing the chance of having males and females of the same clutch become sexually mature at the same time.

 

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Thank you!

Actually, I have not had any mismolts to adult female yet.

Yeah, I guess I'm asking why I have more adult males than females. I have female 2 L7's that will hopefully molt into adult, but I have numerous males. ~about an 8:1 ratio of males to females. Is that normal?

 

[Ranitomeya]

You may have just ended up with more male nymphs than female nymphs due to random chance when choosing nymphs to keep. The ootheca that hatched out could also have happened to have more male embryos than female embryos.

I can't say whether or not your ratio is normal, but I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Ntsees]

When you say midget, how many inches do you mean (male vs female)? I don't know about you, but the female Iris oratoria in my experience that have not yet been mated, are fat, and are calling has always been submissive to males even if the male is larger than her. Just make sure the male isn't an old one because older males are potentially more rough.

 

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My midget adult female Iris oratoria is only an L7 so she is fat, fat, fat and 3 inches and she WAS laying an ooth when I came home. She stopped because I accidentally scared her.

Will she be ok stopping in the middle of laying eggs?

I have another female that is L8 an not adult! UGGH! (She would have died if I was not here to make her molt in the right place!) I have to make her feel more safe somehow.

 

[DinehCaveman]

My midget adult female Iris oratoria is only an L7 so she is fat, fat, fat and 3 inches and she WAS laying an ooth when I came home. She stopped because I accidentally scared her.

If she has wings and is laying an ooth she is not L7, she was most likely an instar ahead of the others. If she is laying she is ready to mate, if she hasn't already mated. Introduce a male two to three days after she finishes the first ooth.

The other female is probably L7. There is no L8 stage that would be adulthood. I suggest hot gluing twigs to the lid of a 32oz or larger deli cup for a sturdier foothold so she doesn't fall.

 

[Ranitomeya]

Insects under conditions that they do not consider optimal may sometimes experience supernumerary molts and have supernumerary instars. It's also possible for insects to experience supernumerary molts when their hormones are at the wrong levels prior to molting or if they've been exposed to hormone-like substances like those founds in certain plants that mimic the juvenile hormone. The lab I work at works with Manduca sexta and under conditions of high heat or insufficient food, it's not uncommon to see them go into an extra larval instar instead of pupating. Injuries similarly have effects on development and it's not strange to see injured animals go through an extra molt.

It's just as likely to see organisms undergo fewer instars than normal if they experience the incorrect hormone levels during development.

 

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This was the first batch I raised. I had 26 from a very small egg-sac, and I paid very close attention to each one and each molt. I'm sure that I could have made a mistake, but the adult female that I think is only an L7 was injured and did not molt for over a month. When she finally did molt, to my surprise, she had wings! My large "L8" female is not an adult, and as large as the outdoor adults. Most of my mantids have gone through 7 molts- ( making them L8 right)? just wish their hormones weren't off! I'm trying so hard. . .

Anyway, my little midget is finally laying eggs. I am afraid to mate her because my males are mostly pretty aggressive and much, much, much bigger! For now, I'm just gonna hope that she lays clones. I do need more females.

Can clones reproduce?