Oxyothespis dumonti- North African Grass Mantis

shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
Mantidforum

Help Support Mantidforum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
All L3 now, and hard to sex! With your lens you could pretty much sex them at L1. My eyes are bad. I ordered a jeweler's loupe finally.

They're pretty easy once they get past the ultra tiny jumpy stage. Gonna take some pics today and see if I can get a closer look.

 
I have an L2 finally. And out of 18 or 19 I only have 5 left. Not sure what happened to them. Didn't witness any cannibalism but I didn't find any bodies when I cleaned the cup, which doesn't mean much considering they are so small. Didn't find the molted skin either so... :mellow:

I'm ordering a better lens so I'll have much clearer pics of them pretty soon.

 
Oh sorry to learn that....They need to have fruitflies all time.I never give them water.Mine are L4 I believe.

 
Oh, I'm sorry to hear that! I had one that I lost like that. I looked and didn't see a body, but I figured I probably just didn't see it since they're so small. Then I had another that was just kind of a runt that didn't seem to be eating and another that got cannibalized. Ended up with 8 of 11.

Clearer pics than what you've got?? Impossible I say..

I've seen mine drink plenty of water, but my apartment is super dry, so I've been misting a bit.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Nikkko said:
Oh sorry to learn that....They need to have fruitflies all time.I never give them water.Mine are L4 I believe.
Click to expand...
Maybe I have them way too humid. I have a very wet substrate because I added springtails. I wonder if that killed them off.

meaganelise9 said:
Clearer pics than what you've got?? Impossible I say..
Click to expand...
Oh, you ain't seen nothin' yet! The lens I ordered today (Canon MP-E 65mm) is the best of the best for macro. Should be crystal clear all the way down to 5x, which is equivalent to my current lens using extension tubes and two add-on magnifying lenses. That's why these look less than pro to me. May have it as soon as tomorrow. Then there are no excuses! :D

I should point out that nearly all the money that comes in from mantis sales goes toward better camera gear so everybody wins!

 
meaganelise9 said:
I don't know. This isn't a thread about Acanthops. ;)

Agreed. They slip and scramble on smooth plastic. They blend in with the excelsior well too.

A couple of mine have molted to L3 now.
Click to expand...
Sorry. When you they were tiny and cant grip well it reminded me of my post. it was about my Acanthops. What I meant was do Oxyothespis dumonti need springtails as a starter food/?

 
Ahh, yes. They definitely need tiny food. I started with springtails, which I found to be kind of a pain just because a) this species likes it a bit dry, so flooding the floor with water and springtails seems like not the best thing to do and b ) they're so small at first instar that I worried about killing one with a drop of water. But they were appropriately sized. I quickly moved on to Turkish Gliders or DMels.

I had one move on to 4th instar today.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I sure hope you continue doing well with these because I'm down to only 2 or 3. I should have been giving them more attention. Too much going on here. :blink:

So long as I get a couple adults I'll be happy. If not we'll have to do a swap. Need photos of adults.

 
meaganelise9 said:
Ahh, yes. They definitely need tiny food. I started with springtails, which I found to be kind of a pain just because a) this species likes it a bit dry, so flooding the floor with water and springtails seems like not the best thing to do and b ) they're so small at first instar that I worried about killing one with a drop of water. But they were appropriately sized. I quickly moved on to Turkish Gliders or DMels.

I had one move on to 4th instar today.
Click to expand...
One of mines too

Getting a little larger now

More defined around the eyes

 
Precarious said:
So long as I get a couple adults I'll be happy. If not we'll have to do a swap. Need photos of adults.
Click to expand...
Indeed. I sent 5 to bobericc before I could successfully sex them (say that 10 times..) and it looks like I kept all dudes, so yeah.. I PM-ed Yen, but his are only at L1 now, so they're about a month younger than mine.

 
Here's my biggest (sub-adult I think).

grass3.jpg


grass2.jpg


grass.jpg


 
wow they grow quick! how many moults?

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yeah, really quick! They hatched on Christmas. That I've seen... I would have said this was 5th instar. I've been counting, but you know how tiny they are as babies.. And those are clearly wing buds. Pretty sure this is a male?

 

Latest posts

Top