# of molts for S. limbata

[DinehCaveman]

I have a pair of S. limbata both are L5, the male's wing buds are swelling and the females are not. I've only had WC adult females and was wondering if the males and females molt to adult at different instars. I am feeding the male once a week in an attempt to slow it down, and keeping the female plump. Thanks for any input.

 

[dmina]

I am new to this hobby.. I do not know the answers, but there are a lot of people who can help you out...

 

[DinehCaveman]

UPDATE....Both mantids molted to adult last night. This was my first time raising S. limbata from ooths. This was the 6th molt for both the male and female, so I have no reference to go by. Is this normal for this species or did they skip molts and matured early? The male is green with some brown markings and is 2.5 inches long. The female is yellow\pink\tan and is 2.5 inches long and much bulkier than the male.

 

[Crazy4mantis]

Beautiful adults, good job with them.

the female should have 1 or 2 more molts than the male. Perhaps she molted and you didn't notice?

 

[DinehCaveman]

Today the male S. limbata passed one month to the day he matured. I was able to mate them twice, just waiting for the female to lay ooths.

 

[dmina]

Fingers crossed... hoping them fertile.

 

[MantidLord]

There's actually a paper by Maxwell recently published that states that the instars are not fixed.