P. pinnapavonis issues

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jplelito

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Hello everyone,

I'm just looking for anyone else's experience with rearing Pseudempusa pinnapavonis (or Peacock mantid as some call it). I've had a heck of a time rearing them successfully to adulthood, and I don't know if my conditions are just not optimal for them at all, or if they specifically need some kind of unique food source or something... anything?

Basically I am hoping I'm just a moron but on my second try now, I've come down to one female yet again.

Anyone ever had any luck rearing these guys consistently? Willing to share your secret(s)? :)

Thanks very much!

~Jon

 
i got male and female at L4..there now subadult..there veryu hard to shoot with camara cause they dont sit still..they play dead alot when u touch them..i have no probelm feeding them on small crikcts and flys..the test will when there adult and i try to breed them..tbh i dont really like them..im going to breed them so mantida can grab 1 or 2 ooths from me..i dont enjoy the species.

 
Hi

I keep them at 23 to 27 °C during daytime and 18 to 22 °C during nighttime. (no problem with temperatures more than 30 °C during summer on hot days)

I spray every day in the evening and have some substrate for keeping some moisture during daytime.

Feeding only with fruit flys and later on big flys (I don´t know what they´re called in english).

At being subadult they become agressiv - so seperate them. I have lost two adult females after their last moult being eaten by two other females :angry:

Maybe you can state your conditions.

I like them very much having one of the most spectacular threat displays.

Best wishes from Germany

Whyatt

 
Hi

I just bred them once. I kept them like Whyatt.

My female was never aggressive to the male even he's much smaller. The raptorial forelegs of the adult females are overwhelming huge.

My female started to eat a little more with an age of 2,5 month, than suddenly she started to eat adult Schistocerca gregaria and adult Blaptica dubia.

The pair I kept mated first with an age of 2 month (male) and 3 month (female). I tried to mate them earlier, but there was no chance. But I've heard that other breeders mated them with ages of about 3 weeks.

regards,

tier

 
Thanks for your responses so far!

I keep them at 78-80 F, 70-80% humidity in a controlled rearing room environment with a light cycle on timers.

Each one was kept in a setup of two standard insect cups stacked end on end and lined with window screen, so the whole setup is about 45 cm tall.

I fed them on bottle flies and moths. They are very impressive indeed, they just seem to mismolt a lot despite the humidity and the tall cages. I keep other species in the same environment but don't have nearly as many problems with any of them, even other picky mantids like Tenodera.

 
Maybe they need cooler Temperatures at night. Do you have the same temperature day and night?

best regards

whyatt

 
Hi.

Two factors are important in this species: low night temperatures and huge cages. The temps by night should not exceed 22° C, better are 20°. Secondly, they need a lot of space to feel comfortable. Ii's better to keep them communally in enclusures >80 cm than individually in plastic cups. This species does not support plastic cups very well. Of course you should keep males and females separately and reduce the number of adult females. You may keep the adults in cups again, but you should transfer them in the larger cage for mating. Females need a long time to become receptive.

Regards,

Christian

 
Christian - Thank you. Low night temperatures are most likely the problem then, as our lab's rearing room is designed for mass-rearing of moths, which basically involves the most rapid accumulation of degree-days possible. The night temperatures may drop a bit thanks to all the lights being off but not much and certainly not down to 20 C.

I will just have to wait and hope someone else has had more luck than me! :)

 
mine feed and shed well..iv had them from L4 and there adult now..the light has been on 24/7 and heated to 75f..every thing is going good.so far.all my mantids are healthy and growing and breeding well and i never had dark cycle..i know u suppose to but its going good so i cant see why i should change?

 
70-80% humidity? i keep mine at like 40-50 and they love it dry, never had an issue with night time temps, and never have thought of it and ive always had a constant temp of 25 in my house...

i just keep mine with plenty of space spray them once a week (if there lucky) and feed them anything that moves...ive found them pretty bombproof tbh

 
70-80% humidity? i keep mine at like 40-50 and they love it dry, never had an issue with night time temps, and never have thought of it and ive always had a constant temp of 25 in my house...

i just keep mine with plenty of space spray them once a week (if there lucky) and feed them anything that moves...ive found them pretty bombproof tbh

 

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