Orchid Mantis - tapping, mating behavior (video)

[Precarious]

Tappin' dat... back?



Hymenopus coronatus (Malaysian Orchid Mantis) pair doing their mating ritual. The size difference between the sexes requires the female bring her abdomen to the side so the much smaller male can reach her sex organs. To stimulate this response the male taps her back. Although she accommodates his request he still fails to connect.

Soundtrack by Precarious

 

[D_Hemptress]

love you videos. very interesting to watch!

 

[Bug Trader]

Very cool. I need that photo and film capability.....

 

[sally]

Ha! That is exactly what Frankenweenie was doing. Instinct is amazing. This is a great video

 

[Mime454]

Never seen that color tint before on the female.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

What is this... I don't even. I knew the males were smaller in this species but the size difference is ridiculous. I feel bad for the poor boy but I can't help but laugh.

 

[agent A]

nice!! i have 2 sub females, 1 abt to molt, and a sub male who i actually need to speed u to breed them :lol:

how old are both adults? i hear 4 weeks for males and 6 weeks for females are needed for successful breeding

i had a dream last night where my orchid molted to adult and developed idolo colors

 

[OctoberRainne]

This is super cool,I've never seen orchids tap or engage in mating,so pretty sweet to see,he is on the smaller end isn't he,hope he gets connected in the future

 

[lancaster1313]

Never seen that color tint before on the female.

My female has the green wings like that. I was wondering if that was normal.

 

[Paradoxica]

Great video, I love the drumming sounds.

Random question though; we call them Malaysian Orchid mantis, is there some other kind of orchid mantis from somewhere else?

 

[twolfe]

Great video. Very nice quality!

Your male is very determined.

I, too, was wondering about the green on the wings of your female. None of mine ever look like that.

 

[SilentDeviL]

OMG that's so cool ... can't wait till i have a chance to try out this species ...

 

[Precarious]

Very cool. I need that photo and film capability.....

I can direct you to everything you need.

What is this... I don't even. I knew the males were smaller in this species but the size difference is ridiculous. I feel bad for the poor boy but I can't help but laugh.

This is actually a very large male. They're usually only about 2/3 his size.

Never seen that color tint before on the female.

I, too, was wondering about the green on the wings of your female. None of mine ever look like that.

There are 3 shades I've noticed beside the standard white. Here are 3 of the 4 adults I have currently. The 4th is just plain white so I left her out. One has more pink, the one in the middle has a green tint, and one that is a very saturated peach color - sort of pastel orange/yellow with a touch of pink. Doesn't come across very well in the photo.

The peach one is the most unique. I've never seen that color before this girl. She's unique in other ways as well. She's lived longer and maintained her health longer than any other female to date. She's now been adult for 8 months (molted May 29, 2012) and laid 9 ooths! She's beginning to fade now but she's had a very full life. I call her Peaches, of course.

Here's Peaches laying her 9th ooth. She ran out of leaf so doubled up the end.

One more comparison shot of Pinky and Peaches...

 

[aychen222]

Beautiful creatures!

 

[aNisip]

Wow! Awesome footage and pics Henry! (As always! ) That female really opened up for him a couple times.... and what were the sub adult colors of peach, greeny, and pinky? I hope I get two of either peach pinky and/or greeny, I would be almost wasted for them to turn out white (which is still probably beautiful)

Cheers,

Andrew

 

[sally]

I love the peach color. They are so beautiful!

 

[agent A]

wow peaches looks great!!

i love the orange on the leg petals, it reminds me of pollen B)

 

[Precarious]

Wow! Awesome footage and pics Henry! (As always! ) That female really opened up for him a couple times.... and what were the sub adult colors of peach, greeny, and pinky? I hope I get two of either peach pinky and/or greeny, I would be almost wasted for them to turn out white (which is still probably beautiful)

Thanks! I wouldn't count on anything but white with a little pink but you may get lucky. The green tint isn't too uncommon but the peach color is new. Possibly a color morph due to my inbreeding experiment. I hear this species gets weak and dies off without fresh blood so I've bred 4 generations now using the same inbred stock to find if it's true. So far I've found the exact opposite to be true. My stock is becoming bigger and stronger with more vivid colors. You may not find the peach in wild collected stock. Or I may be completely wrong. If you do get odd colors please let us know.

I didn't track specifically how they looked as subs but there were a couple that were very pink so I'm assuming one of them was Pinky.

...

OK, I just read my comments in the thread linked below and the crazy pink sub became my first adult who is the adult with greenish wings. I'd say adult coloration can not be predicted by sub color.

...

Pretty pinky girl...

Sad Update:

Today Peaches is on her way out.

Happy Update:

Pinky is connected with a male!

 

[aychen222]

Sorry to hear that Peaches is on her way out. But if what you are saying about the inbreeding is true, hopefully you get many more orchids like Peaches.