Purple Spiny flower mantises

[happy1892]

The Spiny flower mantises seems to change color to match its surrounding color. I think they do it over a few days just after molting because I had one nymph I placed into a container with a dark ootheca soon after molting, and it turned an unusually dark color close to the color of the dark ootheca it was sitting on.

Here are pictures of purple and pink P. wahlbergii:

Common Spiny Flower Mantis (Pseudocreobotra wahlbergi)

Common Spiny Flower Mantis from Magugu, Tanzania on July 21, 2021 at 05:35 PM by Stef Strebel

www.inaturalist.org

Common Spiny Flower Mantis (Pseudocreobotra wahlbergi)

Common Spiny Flower Mantis from Forest Hill, Kloof, 3610, South Africa on May 09, 2021 at 09:57 AM by Gunther

www.inaturalist.org

Common Spiny Flower Mantis (Pseudocreobotra wahlbergi)

Common Spiny Flower Mantis in July 2017 by suncana

www.inaturalist.org

Common Spiny Flower Mantis (Pseudocreobotra wahlbergi)

Common Spiny Flower Mantis from Bayhead, Durban, South Africa on March 07, 2020 at 06:33 PM by Garth Aiston. Wingless nymph

www.inaturalist.org

Common Spiny Flower Mantis (Pseudocreobotra wahlbergi)

Common Spiny Flower Mantis from Domaine de Chasse de Mboko, Cuvette-Ouest, CG on November 16, 2019 at 08:05 AM by Jacques

www.inaturalist.org

Common Spiny Flower Mantis (Pseudocreobotra wahlbergi)

Common Spiny Flower Mantis from Northdene, Queensburgh, 4093, South Africa on July 10, 2018 at 03:13 PM by berthapi2

www.inaturalist.org

Common Spiny Flower Mantis (Pseudocreobotra wahlbergi)

Common Spiny Flower Mantis from Harare, zimbabwe on June 17, 2018 at 03:26 PM by James Ball. Peculiar small creature found on a pink rose petal in the garden. Pic is on my finger.

www.inaturalist.org

Common Spiny Flower Mantis (Pseudocreobotra wahlbergi)

Common Spiny Flower Mantis from 16 Tyburn Way, Westville, KZN, ZA on September 20, 2018 at 08:13 PM by suncana

www.inaturalist.org

Common Spiny Flower Mantis (Pseudocreobotra wahlbergi)

Common Spiny Flower Mantis from 6 Barn Place, Westville, KZN, ZA on July 17, 2017 at 01:38 PM by dylanjmuller

www.inaturalist.org

These string of photos of different P. wahlbergii show how they match the colors of the different plants and flowers they are on:

Common Spiny Flower Mantis (Pseudocreobotra wahlbergi)

Common Spiny Flower Mantis from Southport, Port Shepstone, 4230, South Africa on January 02, 2019 at 12:13 PM by Geoff Nichols

www.inaturalist.org

Common Spiny Flower Mantis (Pseudocreobotra wahlbergi)

Common Spiny Flower Mantis from Southport, Port Shepstone, 4230, South Africa on March 31, 2020 at 02:56 PM by Geoff Nichols

www.inaturalist.org

https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/116045627/large.jpeg?fbclid=IwAR0Ua6hgX07b-HOelWw7lOXXEnPfdQklbwVfulwvSGT9ioCpZH0pcYnv94E

Common Spiny Flower Mantis (Pseudocreobotra wahlbergi)

Common Spiny Flower Mantis from Mountain Ridge, New Germany, 3610, South Africa on May 02, 2021 at 10:41 AM by Mahomed Desai

www.inaturalist.org

Here is a green one:

Common Spiny Flower Mantis (Pseudocreobotra wahlbergi)

Common Spiny Flower Mantis from Man, Dix-Huit montagnes, CI on December 05, 2019 at 10:36 AM by wasco819

www.inaturalist.org

 

[agent A]

I'd love to see what the UV light emitted from these looks like, especially given how they attack flower-visiting insects

 

[happy1892]

I'd love to see what the UV light emitted from these looks like, especially given how they attack flower-visiting insects

Would the UV light attract insects they eat? I read about the Orchid mantis actually attracting insects better than the flowers.

 

[River Dane]

I had a pretty vibrantly colored female a few months back, though still not comparable to some of those photos from iNaturalist! She eventually faded back to a more typical white color as she got older, peaking in color I believe around L5-ish.

She passed just before her final molt

 

[happy1892]

I had a pretty vibrantly colored female a few months back, though still not comparable to some of those photos from iNaturalist! She eventually faded back to a more typical white color as she got older, peaking in color I believe around L5-ish.

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She passed just before her final molt

I haven't had a P. wahlbergii nymph that pink yet. I have seen a few that were slightly pink at L5, but then they would loose the pinkness as they got older, just like what you said happened with yours.

 

[River Dane]

Late reply, lol, but it may have either been light exposure or heat. I kept her outside in the shade over summer, and ofc in SoCal, it was pretty dang warm. So I'm not sure if it has to do with sun exposure, heat, or both, but something I may experiment with further. The ones I got from you have been kept indoors, by a window, but still far out of the sun and much cooler and darker than outdoor shade, and only one female got moderately colored.

 

[happy1892]

That is very interesting about the natural light possibly helping to turn them pink or purple. Yes, I think temperature may have something to do with the purple/pink coloring because I was keeping many Spiny flower mantis nymphs cool, down in the 70s F. But then when I warmed the Spiny flower mantis nymphs up in the 80s F some colored up to a fair amount of pink.

I may try keeping some Spiny flower nymphs outdoors someday to see if the natural light helps them color up. Of course I won't leave them in the sun unless the container is a well ventilated net cage. The sun would roast them!

 

[happy1892]

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[River Dane]

That is very interesting about the natural light possibly helping to turn them pink or purple. Yes, I think temperature may have something to do with the purple/pink coloring because I was keeping many Spiny flower mantis nymphs cool, down in the 70s F. But then when I warmed the Spiny flower mantis nymphs up in the 80s F some colored up to a fair amount of pink.

I may try keeping some Spiny flower nymphs outdoors someday to see if the natural light helps them color up. Of course I won't leave them in the sun unless the container is a well ventilated net cage. The sun would roast them!

Interesting! Yeah, I'm really looking forward to raising a new generation, it'll be interesting to divide up the siblings with different conditions and see. It also makes me wonder if orchid mantises are affected by the same factors.

Another interesting thing is that it's been particularly dry in my home recently, and I haven't been misting as much as I should have to compensate, and two gained brown/tan edgings in their coloration.