Rhombodera sp. (Malaysian Giant Shield Mantid) mating sequence

[mr nick]

Hi all

These pics were taken approximately 4 months ago when I matured a pair of said species, with a Nikon D40 SLR with standard 18-55 mm lens (I now own a D80) and a lot of patience. Sadly I fell asleep and the female ate the male, and so far has produced 6 fertile ootheca resulting in many young.

This is one of the most interesting and impressive of the larger Mantid species that I have kept, and would urge anybody to track some down and give them a go.

Hope you enjoy the pics!

Sub-adult male nymph

Male on approach to female

Rear view of copulation

During copulation, female had eaten full grown locust and was still hungry!

Close-up of sexual parts

Close-up head detail showing size of shields. Male left, female right

As stated previously, the female during copulation ate a huge fully grown adult locust and still managed to polish off the male and leave just a small part of the two front legs left!

 

[Morpheus uk]

Your pics arent working for me

 

[Giosan]

I think you forgot to add them.

 

[sidewinder]

I think you forgot to add them.

The pics have worked fine for me since the day they were posted.

S-

 

[mr nick]

Must be the site i loaded them to,its my friends' photo site...will rectify asap!

 

[Rick]

Red x's.

 

[Morpheus uk]

Upload them to either flickr or photobucket

 

[collinchang635]

Can't wait to see them. Quickly upload the pics.

 

[sidewinder]

Now they are gone.....

S-

 

[collinchang635]

Now I see red x's too...

 

[idolomantis]

yesterday i just saw them and now i see red x's...######

 

[collinchang635]

I can see them now. They look great! :lol:

 

[mr nick]

I can see them now. They look great! :lol:

Thanks! At last they are up! Technical hitches aside...and i must apologise for my mis-spelling of Rhombodera too...i was rushing,ha,ha..

 

[etb99]

And we have an image! Very nice pics. Stunning species as well. At least you got some good ooths, and the male didn't give his life for nothing :lol:

 

[Morpheus uk]

HAHA PICS AT LAST!

Good ones to

 

[mr nick]

HAHA PICS AT LAST!Good ones to

Tell me about it! Cheers anyway,ive got loads of pics of them,i just picked a few out of the batch and now i have my new Nikon 60mm macro lens i should produce more!!

 

[Rob Byatt]

Good to see others breeding this species !!! :lol:

Are these the ones you got from me ages ago ?

A question for you, how long had the female been mature when you paired them up ?

 

[idolomantis]

######... now i see them...

 

[mr nick]

Good to see others breeding this species !!! :lol: Are these the ones you got from me ages ago ?

A question for you, how long had the female been mature when you paired them up ?

hi rob,sadly no,i picked these up from someone on ebay of all places,only managed to get two so i dropped lucky to get both sexes really...i matured the female for 6wks before mating and fed her predominantly on pollen feeding insects and adult locusts fed on vegetable matter. She is approximately 100mm long and aggressive!