S. limbata breeding 2009

[kamakiri]

Finally have my 3rd of 3 female adults mated.

Cherisse, a small bright green female and Mr. Spam, a normal male were coupled from about 9pm last night to about 2 pm today. After de-coupling, he immediately jumped off when I removed the lid. So at least I didn't lose another.

Cherisse previously ate Fred, who probably didn't couple as he was a little agitated prior to mounting. I believe that was my fault for nudging him onto her lid. Since then I've just brought the males to the females on their lid and just set it down behind the female making sure he has spotted her and holds still.

Previous matings were between Marge, my only pinkish adult female and Gus another 'normal' green male. Gus was eaten after copulation. The other mating was with Vanessa who is green with red-puple legs and Mr. Chicken, a crinkle winged male.

I was going to re-mate Vanessa with a normal male after some of Arkanis' males, which are siblings, molted to adult with crinkle wings...but decided to wait until I have one or two ooths first. I may re-mate Vanessa with another crinkle winged male first.

Originally, I was hoping to do more of an experiment around the colors and patterns, but since I only ended up with green or greenish males and only one pink female, I thought that would be moot.

 

[yeatzee]

Dang your way ahead of me! I've been super busy lately so my Limbatas have been fed sparingly so I only have L5-6 mainly! Ha I actually have a couple L1's and a few L4's too!

 

[kamakiri]

Dang your way ahead of me! I've been super busy lately so my Limbatas have been fed sparingly so I only have L5-6 mainly! Ha I actually have a couple L1's and a few L4's too!

Haha...hurry up!

Re-mated Vanessa and Mr. Chicken Sunday night. Came home Monday evening to Chicken dismounted hanging under the twig in the cage. Vanessa was just reaching out toward him from the lid. He was fluttering his useless wings frantically...poor guy. At least I came home in time to save him!

I'll probably re-mate Marge with a new normal male once the other two turn two weeks next week.

Cherisse and Marge are finally putting on some weight and are finally taking 2 adult crix in a feeding. Feedings have been once or twice a day.

 

[hibiscusmile]

YOu guys did good, I ended up with just girls

 

[Zelthan]

Could you please show me photos of your limabtaas?

 

[kamakiri]

Could you please show me photos of your limabtaas?

Many of us have some in this thread (link to my post):

Hatch limbatas post

YOu guys did good, I ended up with just girls

Hrm...does that mean they're for sale?

Might be interested in swapping for something! :lol:

But that does make me wonder about the differences in male vs. female ratios. :huh:

 

[yeatzee]

idk what the ratios are, but I just checked and found out to my dismay that I only have 1 male!!! Im going to need to find some wild ones quick!

 

[kamakiri]

Here's a couple of the girls fattening up...

EDIT: Cherisse is much smaller and was about 2 3/4" long after her last molt. Marge is about 3 1/4".

Cherisse having a cricket:

Marge doing the same:

 

[Peter Clausen]

I have quite a few L4 and L1 nymphs (two diff. ooths). The older ones are kept in the same kinds of individual containers (3 inches tall with paper towel). Lots of different colorations showing despite all having the same decor.

 

[kamakiri]

Vanessa wasn't putting on weight like the other girls...so I am guessing that Mr. Chicken may be sterile. I am re-mating her with another crinkle wing, Dexter, right now.

Peter, it sounds like you will be better equipped to try a color breeding experiment sooner than I will. I only have one L5 male that is not green, but tan-camo for now.

 

[kamakiri]

Vanessa finally appears to be putting on weight and needs to catch up with her sisters!

I also think Mr. Chicken must have damaged his phallomeres from the first mating. They've never retracted for him and all the other males to survive mating seem to have.

Dexter and Vanessa from last week:

Also wanted to point out that all three females show puncture marks at the base of the fore wings from the males tibial spines. Perhaps it is what one should look for on wild caught females to predict fertility of her oothecae.

 

[OGIGA]

Also wanted to point out that all three females show puncture marks at the base of the fore wings from the males tibial spines. Perhaps it is what one should look for on wild caught females to predict fertility of her oothecae.

That's an awesome idea! I never thought of looking for those puncture marks to indicate fertility. Props for you.

 

[jameslongo]

Hey Kamakiri,

Your S. limbata look almost exactly the same as the Aussie P. albifimbrata (False Garden Mantid). I guess Falseys are our response to yours Is the crinkle-wing specific to this mantid, or do other varieties display this trait? And is it common in S. limbata? I'm just asking to see if I can't spice up my humble stock

Cheers,

James.

 

[kamakiri]

Hey Kamakiri,Your S. limbata look almost exactly the same as the Aussie P. albifimbrata (False Garden Mantid). I guess Falseys are our response to yours Is the crinkle-wing specific to this mantid, or do other varieties display this trait? And is it common in S. limbata? I'm just asking to see if I can't spice up my humble stock

Cheers,

James.

James, I think the crinkle-wing is specific to an ooth (could be oothecae) from a wild caught female that Arkanis found last year. I got my 'first batch' stock from him. I believe this to be a new genetic mutation or an environmental issue with the keeper(s). I hope my experiment with Vanessa and Dexter tells us which it is!

 

[kamakiri]

That's an awesome idea! I never thought of looking for those puncture marks to indicate fertility. Props for you.

Thanks, perhaps this would have been a better talent contest entry :lol:

 

[yeatzee]

Look at those wings! I didn't expect them to be that bad! I'll have to see if i get any/find any.

 

[kamakiri]

Look at those wings! I didn't expect them to be that bad! I'll have to see if i get any/find any.

I hope you don't...

Are you misting your mantises?

 

[cloud jaguar]

Kamakiri, none of the crinkle wings we raised have wings as crinkled as those of the males in your pictures above. Are those males pictured typical of the ones you raised from the same ooth as ours or especially crinkly?

Only the males are crinkles? We had one female slightly crinkled but she fell during molting and i had to reposition her so not sure if her very slight crinkles are from fall.

As far as ours go, the factors which may have affected these crinkle wings are:

1. recessive mutation

2. inbreeding - wild found ooth

3. humidity based (sprayed every 2 days with distilled water but can get very dry here like 25%). All enclosures have foam bottoms to conserve humidity.

4. light based - during the day these guys dont get too much light at all

5. cricket based - these were fed on crickets exclusively save for an occasional found treat . These crickets are giant and cannibalistic even though well fed on greens, oats, dog food kibbles, nectar and water. They are kept in a tub in the same room where the mantids are so they get about the same amount of light as the mantids.

An important observation made by my wife is that several of the crickets are crinkle wings too. This fact makes factors 3, 4, and 5 more attractive to me as reasons for the crinkle wings.

Also, while we had very very low casualties of the s. limbatas through all stages of nymphdom, once they became subadaults many of the pinks or brown camos mysteriously weakened and died very suddenly despite being well fed and watered. Also i discussed that our first s. limbata to become an adult and happened to be pink died mysteriously at about 2 weeks just as i was getting ready to have her mated to a crinkle winged male.

Currently we only have one adult female and no adult males since there are some crinkles and normals living out there in our mantis garden - which reminds me i need a pic of that garden soon when the tall stuff starts to fill in.

Anyways, it is intriguing about the crinkle wings - a true enigma.

 

[kamakiri]

There's been a huge setback to the experiment. Vanessa died sometime this morning. She had a bit of diarrhea when I left for work. Came back home just after lunch and she was legs folded on the floor. Ugh. :-/

I've been anxious enough that none of her sisters have laid yet, but this really sucks on so many levels.