NEW SPECIES! Sphodropoda quinquedens

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OOOOH! Call it the Cinderella mantis. Make it pink...Make it green... :lol: I love anything pink, especially pink poodles. lol. How big do they get?

 
Henry: Outrageous pics again. This is really a great new arrival. The upper raptoral stripes remind me of the old "jailbird" attire from the Laurel and hardy films.

 
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I of course will be trying to breed these and spread them around. Hopefully we get a culture going and everyone gets a chance to experience them. They are an odd species. Somewhere between a ground mantis and a bark mantis in behavior. They have short legs so they walk funny. The short legs also make it easy for them to molt from a vertical surface.

One of the oddest things is they often try to walk under an obstacle rather than over it like other mantids. And I have heard they sometimes lay ooths on the ground! Now that is odd. I know some of the sand-dwelling species like Eremiaphila do this. Should be interesting to witness.

sinensispsyched said:
Out of curiosity, was it a big deal when they first discovered "commonly captive" sphodro sp. like "Blue Flash" or the linoleas?
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I wasn't in the hobby then so I don't know. I think Blue Flash were just becoming established when I showed up and they were very popular. Personally, I love S.viridis best.

It's always interesting for me to be able to get hands on a new species, most especially one as photogenic as this one. There are virtually no photos of this species online and zero videos so for me it's like hitting the lottery.

fleurdejoo said:
Yes how big do they get?
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Can't say from personal experience because I have no adults yet. I suspect around 3" or so.

AndrewNisip said:
How many do you have and how many different color morphs have you experienced?
Awesome job! :D ^ ^
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Thanks! I have 3 pairs and one male that mismolted in the mail. I seriously doubt I can rehabilitate him but he's a little fighter.

I've had the nymphs for a month and only through only a single molt but the colors have changed on each multiple times. When they first arrived only 2 of the males were the same color. The rest were each different. I've noticed the females especially, with their light yellows and greens, will shift between molts. The green female got a deeper green as she approached molt. I get the impression the colors will balance out at maturity but I may be wrong.

 
Tammy Wolfe said:
Very cool species. I just love those stripes. And your mantis portraits are so amazing. It looks like you have cooperative subjects. Perhaps they want you to make them famous. You should have submitted one of these photos for the calendar... Good luck with them.
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I wanted to introduce them with all the photos at once but I considered using one for the calendar. Maybe still will. Haven't officially submitted yet. I'll look these over again and see if any would work. Most are portrait format.

Rich S said:
Henry: Outrageous pics again. This is really a great new arrival. The upper raptoral stripes remind me of the old "jailbird" attire from the Laurel and hardy films.
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The stripes really do it for me. So bold! Once I saw them I had to have them. Couldn't wait to take photos.

 
Precarious, I'm sure you've discussed it elsewhere, but what camera do you use? And do you have any tricks to offer for getting shots like these?

 
Mr. Hyde said:
Precarious, I'm sure you've discussed it elsewhere, but what camera do you use? And do you have any tricks to offer for getting shots like these?
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Canon T2i

EF 100mm 1:2.8 USM

MP-E 65mm

Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX

The only real trick to getting shots like this is to put the money up and get real equipment, then shoot every day until you get it right. The flash is vitally important to macro so invest in one made specifically for the job. That will allow you to shoot free hand at ISO 100, 1/200. You want to keep as many points of interest within the narrow focal plane as possible. The best way to do that is to have the freedom to constantly change angle of approach as the subject moves. Getting the right flash makes that possible. If you are tied to a tripod you really limit the possibilities.

Also REALLY helps to have good proficiency at working in RAW mode and Photoshop.

I should also point out that because macro requires manual focus you have to have good eyesight. There is no fixing bad focus and auto focus is not an option.

I use my camera every day. No joke. Taking photos is the fun part. The work comes in when preparing the final images. I spend no less than 20 minutes on each image and many times twice as long. That I do just because it's necessary. You will never get images that look like this directly off any camera, but the closer you come, by having proper lighting and framing, the easier it becomes to get the results you want.

The algorithms in the camera just guess at the best settings and they don't do well with macro because most use cameras for normal photos.

Here's an example of before and after processing...

beforeafter_6898-sm.jpg


 
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Precarious said:
And I have heard they sometimes lay ooths on the ground! Now that is odd. I know some of the sand-dwelling species like Eremiaphila do this. Should be interesting to witness.
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They are amazing and interesting because of how they lay ooths in the ground. That's how they earned the name "burrying mantis"!! I wonder how they hatch???

I found a site that shows a female laying a blue ooth!!! http://fanatic-mantis.xooit.fr/t2799-Sphodropoda-quinquedens.htm

 
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