Nymph ID question

[nursejohio]

Hello Mantifolk! I'm new to the hobby, and FAR from being able to ID baby mantises yet. I ordered a Hierodula Membranacea about a month ago. They were out of stock, so I was sent a S Virdis instead. It had a bad molt, and I was sent a replacement. The 2nd mantis I received was significantly smaller than the first, and as you can see, the colors and markings are very different. I've asked the breeder what strains each of them are, and was told they were to small for the breeder to ID them. I'm hoping someone here can give me the info I'm looking for. All I really want to know is which species I'm dealing with so I can take the best care of lil Mannie Any ideas? Thanks!!!

 

[TheBeesKnees]

One on the left looks like a creobroter while the one on the right is likely Hierodula or Sphodromantis sp--but is a lot harder to ID without a better photo. Tiny green mantis nymphs encompass quite a wide variety of genera, and can all look very similar with very mild differences @ u@

Someone else here might be able to pinpoint these two better for you, but there's my attempt at an ID for posterity's sake.

Edit: oooh wait, is the photo on the left the s. virdis you had received earlier, while the one on the right is the nymph you're trying to ID? I'm gonna stick with some pretty strong certainty that you have a creo there.

 

[dmina]

I am no pro either... But I do think a couple more photo's would help...

 

[happy1892]

I agree with TheBeesKnees, the first photo (photo on the left) is a Creobroter. I do not know which genus (Hierodula or Sphodromantis) the one on the right is though. Who is the breeder who sent you these mantises?

 

[dmina]

Here is a picture of my creo nymph.. Flower

http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=34114

Does yours look like that?

I also have the other one there also.. African Giant nymph ... I think.. I am kind of new to this too..

 

[TheBeesKnees]

LOL Dmina, I was so confused for a moment. I clicked on your link and was like "that's a Pseudocreo..."

But then I scrolled down and actually found the mantis named Flower. What a collection you have, btw!!

 

[nursejohio]

Thanks for all the replies! I suppose I should have been more detailed in describing which picture was which mantis... The one with the sink in the background was the original one, that was the S. Virdis (?). I can't get any new pictures, it had a bad mismolt just a couple days after I received it The fuzzy picture of the green one is the replacement I got, but it looks remarkably different and I wasn't told if it was the same or a different type. If I were a betting woman, I'd guess it might be an S Virdis, but then idk what the first one was. I'll try to get better pictures of it tonight. The 1st one didn't look like the Creo though, he wasn't spikey like that.

 

[TheBeesKnees]

Oooh what a critical ID error. The mantis on the left is absolutely not an S. verdis. In fact, the ID is so off to left field that it's actually pretty funny Not even close.
The one on the right, the little green dude--he looks much more like a sphodromantis.
There is 500% no way the one on the left is anything close to Sphodromantis.

Creos are not very spikey--I think you were looking at Dmina's pseudocreo--which is a different genus. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you'll see her creo. In the post's description, it says her name is Flower.

Here is what a creo looks like:

And here's what sphodromantis sp. generally look like:

Hope that helps!

 

[nursejohio]

You guys solved my mystery, awesome! Muchas gracias for all of your assistance. Yup, Manny the 1st definitely looked like the Creo pics, and Manny #2 has the brownish markings on the head and elbows. Now to skitter off and google Creo pics!

 

[dmina]

LOL Dmina, I was so confused for a moment. I clicked on your link and was like "that's a Pseudocreo..."

But then I scrolled down and actually found the mantis named Flower. What a collection you have, btw!!

Thank you... I'm working on it..