Riem's Photo Booth!

[TheBeesKnees]

I brought home a new one the other day...

She's nothing unique as far as species is concerned, but this is only my second mantis, so it's probably better to stick to more common place mantids with a lot of information available online about them...

She's a bashful lady. I found her scurrying on the ground, among grass and dead leaves, during a walk through a rubber plantation. Excuse my dirty fingers in the photos, I had just finished preparing the terrarium for her (lotsa dirt, and some live plants)!

I firmly suspect that she’s a young-ish Tenodera nymph of some sort, but of course, I can't be 100% sure.
I'm excited to see how Riem develops!

 

[MantidBro]

wow nice find! i recently took home 10 Tenodera sinensis oothecae and today found 9 more but left those cause i really dont need more lol. ive never seen a wild mantid before. it must be awesome. im excited to see some when the wild oothecae hatch. they will be small in the beginning of course but all the more fun, to watch them grow.

great shots! shes a nice green one, the ones ive kept either were brown or started out green and turned brown. i think the colors surrounding them determines what color they will be. especially after a molt.

she is definitely a Tenodera, most likely sinensis. either sinensis or angustipennis. but sinensis are more commonly found id say. a way you can tell is the color of the dot on her chest between her arms. is it a bright yellow or a pale yellow?

id say she has one or two molts left til she reaches adulthood. im leaning more towards two according to the look of her wings and her size.

 

[Precarious]

Wow, that's an unusual build. Extra long raptors. Will be interesting to see how it looks as it matures.

 

[gripen]

wow nice find! i recently took home 10 Tenodera sinensis oothecae and today found 9 more but left those cause i really dont need more lol. ive never seen a wild mantid before. it must be awesome. im excited to see some when the wild oothecae hatch. they will be small in the beginning of course but all the more fun, to watch them grow.

great shots! shes a nice green one, the ones ive kept either were brown or started out green and turned brown. i think the colors surrounding them determines what color they will be. especially after a molt.

she is definitely a Tenodera, most likely sinensis. either sinensis or angustipennis. but sinensis are more commonly found id say. a way you can tell is the color of the dot on her chest between her arms. is it a bright yellow or a pale yellow?

id say she has one or two molts left til she reaches adulthood. im leaning more towards two according to the look of her wings and her size.

I do not think you can ID a nymph like this. There are so many medium sized green mantids in this section of the world that getting the genus right is often hard.

 

[MantidBro]

I do not think you can ID a nymph like this. There are so many medium sized green mantids in this section of the world that getting the genus right is often hard.

sorry i disagree i think this nymph is easy to ID and to me it looks exactly like a Tenodera. the shape, the size, the coloring, even the black lines on the raptors, and the bright green line on the edge of the wings, all points to Tenodera. plus its extremely common to find this species in the wild.

 

[MantidBro]

i may be wrong but im pretty positive. either way we will find out soon enough once the wings come in

 

[agent A]

my guess is stagmomantis

 

[gripen]

my guess is stagmomantis

Not in Thailand...

 

[TheBeesKnees]

When IDing wild caught nymphs, there is always a chance of being waaay out in left field (especially if you know as little as I do!). But it's fun to make an educated guess and see if you're right, anyways! :] As for how many molts left, I have no clue. If she only has two left to go, she might be too small to be either of the aforementioned tenodera species! As she sits right now, she's only about an inch long, if that. The other lanky built genus we have around here that she might be (but that I have never seen and so do not know their size nor the appearance of the nymphs) is an Acromantis (gestri) aka: thai boxer mantis. She's absolutely not a hierodula, I can say so with total certainty, and so that knocks out a huge chunk of the "medium-size green mantis" species candidates that can be found in this location

Edit: A quick search tells me the acromantis nymphs look nothing like a tenodera nymph. So there goes that. If she's a subadult though, the size range of an adult A. Gestri looked about right (if pre-sub or younger, then this species is too small). Ah well.

@Precarious: Yeah, I find the extra lanky raptorial's kinda neat, too! Her big, dumb arms coupled with her teeeeny head gives her a really goofy looking silhouette. I love it haha!


@Agent A: I live in thailand, and I am quite certain there are no stegmomantis here :]

 

[PookaDotted]

Wish I knew, She's adorable either way

 

[TheBeesKnees]

Riem molted the other night! At this point, I am certain that she is a subadult. But now I'm not certain that she is a Tenodera!! Check out her stunning iridescent blue raptorial markings!!

she posed to to give me a maaarvelous shot of the markings she has. Have a look that that! It’s so spectacular!!
Her length spans three of my fingers, but she’s so thinly shaped that she still appears quite small.

She looks majestic, happy and healthy. I’ve just dumped a wealth of tiny grasshoppers into her terrarium, and she’s picking them off one by one, like the true glutton she is.

At any rate, I don't know *any* Tenodera species with this kind of set of metallic blue markings... Does anyone have any idea what she might be?? Is there still a chance that she's a Tenodera of some sort? She's a beauty, either way!

 

[MantidBro]

definitely a beauty! might be a mantis religiosa! http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Mantis_religiosa_Fore_Coxa_Marking.JPG

those are definitely unique colors on those markings though, im going by the placing more than anything, also this species has those white dots on the forearms like yours.

heres a mantis religiosa with a different colored marking than usual, like yours.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3801/12746752173_28d21c2968_n.jpg more blue than black

and another one which has orange

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&biw=1280&bih=380&site=imghp&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=B-ddU_6bPMST8AGzsIDYBA&q=mantis+religiosa+markings&oq=mantis+religiosa+markings&gs_l=tablet-gws.3...34195.39370.0.39864.32.11.0.1.1.0.185.1209.5j6.11.0....0...1c.1.42.tablet-gws..28.4.417.usq2P0gKKNE#facrc=_&imgrc=tA_KJhBHGGB3DM%253A%3BvRyGae3n2sINUM%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fmacrocritters.files.wordpress.com%252F2012%252F10%252Ffeeding-mantid-copyright-ernie-cooper-2012_filtered.jpg%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fmacrocritters.wordpress.com%252Fcategory%252Finsect-photography%252Fpage%252F4%252F%3B4032%3B3024

(gripen you can throw out some, i told you so's to me now)

 

[MantidBro]

totally stunned by that metallic blue, awesome

 

[TheBeesKnees]

I'm not sure that the european mantis exists in thailand... They have the dark markings in the right spot, but the iridescence on Riem's markings reflects light with the same luster as blue sequins! It's not just a little bit glossy, it's a full on mirror! This seems a little too specialized to just be an unusual color morph. On top of that, Riem has a second set of yellow and black markings on the fore-femur, which I have not seen on any M. religiosa yet:

I'm not going to full out dismiss that it might be an M. religiosa because I very literally don't know. I'm not sure if any of the above information affects the chances of her being an M. religiosa--especially the location... hmm!

Edit: She MIGHT be a Statilia of some sort!! Look at these guys: 1 2 3 The common name is "Asian Jumping Mantis" apparently--which certainly suits her. As previously mentioned, jumping is mostly all she does when she wants to get around. I always just assumed that's what tenoderas did. Unbelievable.

 

[MantidBro]

I'm not sure that the european mantis exists in thailand... They have the dark markings in the right spot, but the iridescence on Riem's markings reflects light with the same luster as blue sequins! It's not just a little bit glossy, it's a full on mirror! This seems a little too specialized to just be an unusual color morph. On top of that, Riem has a second set of yellow and black markings on the fore-femur, which I have not seen on any M. religiosa yet:

I'm not going to full out dismiss that it might be an M. religiosa because I very literally don't know. I'm not sure if any of the above information affects the chances of her being an M. religiosa--especially the location... hmm!

Edit: She MIGHT be a Statilia of some sort!! Look at these guys: 1 2 3 The common name is "Asian Jumping Mantis" apparently--which certainly suits her. As previously mentioned, jumping is mostly all she does when she wants to get around. I always just assumed that's what tenoderas did. Unbelievable.

id say you hit it right on the mark, Statilia! its the only mantid ive ever seen with markings like yours. they even have the same face.

 

[TheBeesKnees]

Miss Riem Sausagewings.

These photos were taken this morning. It’s after dark here now, in Thailand—and Riem is hanging from the top of her terrarium doing some serious kegels. I should definitely have an adult Statilia by morning!

 

[MantidBro]

Miss Riem Sausagewings.

These photos were taken this morning. It’s after dark here now, in Thailand—and Riem is hanging from the top of her terrarium doing some serious kegels. I should definitely have an adult Statilia by morning!

Awesome! Looking forward to seeing the adult form! Good luck!!

 

[TheBeesKnees]

Well, I got my adult--but I'm rather bummed out as she appears to have lost the foot of her left, back most leg... She can still walk on it no problem, but the "toes" which are used for gripping are no longer present, and so she can not use that one leg for hanging onto surfaces. I'm really upset about it :< this is my first time dealing with an injury on one of my girls... I took the care to apply honey to the injury, just to ensure no bacteria or anything sets shop in the tip of her leg. She holds it up when she's not walking on it, and was grooming it quite frequently before I applied the honey. Ugh, I wished I could have saved her foot some how :C She'll never grow it back, now.
Ah well. I guess as far as injuries go, this one is probably among the least severe. It just sucks when you fail to ensure the health of your six legged friend 100%. It gives me a very heavy heart...

Anyways, photos:

(you can see her injured leg very well here)

She’s still a beautiful adult! And even with her injury, she’s so well behaved. I’m sorry about your foot, baby girl :<

 

[MantidBro]

Well, I got my adult--but I'm rather bummed out as she appears to have lost the foot of her left, back most leg... She can still walk on it no problem, but the "toes" which are used for gripping are no longer present, and so she can not use that one leg for hanging onto surfaces. I'm really upset about it :< this is my first time dealing with an injury on one of my girls... I took the care to apply honey to the injury, just to ensure no bacteria or anything sets shop in the tip of her leg. She holds it up when she's not walking on it, and was grooming it quite frequently before I applied the honey. Ugh, I wished I could have saved her foot some how :C She'll never grow it back, now.

Ah well. I guess as far as injuries go, this one is probably among the least severe. It just sucks when you fail to ensure the health of your six legged friend 100%. It gives me a very heavy heart...

Anyways, photos:

(you can see her injured leg very well here)

She’s still a beautiful adult! And even with her injury, she’s so well behaved. I’m sorry about your foot, baby girl :<

Congrats on her adulthood! Sorry about her foot though. That has happened to me before. It always bums me out too. But I think, well at least he/she hasn't died! That helps me feel better about it and makes me realize the injury is quite slight.