Number of orchid molts?

[Mantis House]

I recently bought a couple of orchids, and I’m wondering how many molts they have. I have a female that just molted to L6, and a male who molted to L4 earlier this week. I’m just wondering how many molts they have, so I can have an idea of when they’ll be close to adults. 

So so my question is how many molts do the male / female have?

 

[Predatorhousepet]

Females molt 7 times, males molt 6 times. 

https://www.mantidkingdom.com/mantid-care/hymenopus-coronatus/

When you see wing buds appear they only have one or two molts to go before becoming an adult.

 

[Mantis House]

Thank you! 

So then my L6 female only has a couple molts left? That’s pretty exciting 

 

[hcarlton]

I've always been told males only molt 5 times, which is in part why they mature so much more rapidly and end up so much smaller than the females. 

 

[Predatorhousepet]

I've always been told males only molt 5 times, which is in part why they mature so much more rapidly and end up so much smaller than the females. 

I did find several sources that said male orchids molt 5 times but I just raised a male I bought at L4 and he molted twice to become an adult.

 

[hcarlton]

I need my ooths to hatch so I can determine in person then...

 

[Mantis House]

@hcarlton

i know now what you mean. I’m trying to raise mine with the hope of breeding them, and figuring it out for myself. I was just wondering how much older they will need to be

 

[PlayingMantis]

If I remember correctly, females have 2 extra molts than males. In my effort to slow down orchid males, I did notice that occasionally males skipped a molt and reached adulthood 1 molt early. As adults, they were smaller than normal.