R Stalii L9

[HungryGhost]

Stella, my female r stalii molted yesterday. I was expecting her to molt to adult but instead it's L9. She is huge, 2.5" long from head to ovipositor. Fantastic mantid, very calm and enjoys being held. Can anyone tell me if males and females have the same number of molts?

 

[Paradoxica]

Last year I had a single sub adult male R. Stalii so I made a deal to get 2 sub adult females from a VERY experienced member (whom I have 100% faith in their mantis knowledge). I got 2 subs that were identical in size, except one of them molted an extra time (to some kind of super sub adult?), unfortunately she mismolted on her next molt so I'd couldn't compare her with her regular adult sister. It seems rare but I've heard other mention a random extra molt occurring in other species over on UKMF too.

 

[SilentDeviL]

Cool i have 3 female look like that too .. I think next molt will be adults.

 

[Extrememantid]

I told you it wasn't sub yet haha . Nice

 

[I_love_mantids]

congratulations!

 

[HungryGhost]

I told you it wasn't sub yet haha . Nice

You were right!

 

[Extrememantid]

You were right!

Lol.. . Good luck with her

 

[PlayingMantis]

Looking good! Yep, L8 is pre-sub...well, at least for females. I am not 100% about males though.