Orchid wings unfolding pics (beware bandwidth)

[Johnald Chaffinch]

a female Hymenopus coronatus that Rob byatt gave me transforming into an adult:

also, my adult male Gongylus gongylodes was seriously on his last legs so i decided to serve him up to the Orchid:

 

[AFK]

AMAZING!!!!! :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

also, i can't believe you fed an equally amazing gongylus to your orchid lol. wouldn't it be dangerous though? i mean, if the orchid grab the gongy by the abdomen, the gongy's entire thorax is still free to move (like it appears in your photo) and could still use it's claws to rip the orchid's abdomen. :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :|

 

[Johnald Chaffinch]

yeah, it was a calculated thing. the gong had absolutely no strength left, couldnt hold it's body up anymore.

i guess the biggest risk was if there was something wrong with it that would be passed on to the orchid.

you can see in the pic that the gongs got it's front leg over the orchids wing, looks like it's gripping it but it wasnt actually able to move it's limbs much at all. couldnt do any damage, i think with it's last breathe it was trying to climb away

 

[Rick]

Cool pics.

 

[Ian]

Nice photos Jonald! Great use of the gongy as well

 

[Candy]

Great pics! Thanks for sharing

 

[AFK]

think about it. that last pic is quite amazing. it's like godzilla vs. mothra. 2 of the coolest LOOKING monsters fighting. and orchids and gongys are up there among the coolest looking mantids. A+

 

[Johnald Chaffinch]

thanks! i could have set it up better for pics and videos but i'd just decided spare of the moment to chuck it in...