Schizocephala bicornis

[yen_saw]

I had some bad luck with this species when I ordered a pair from Lars. One molted during shipping and was bent in half and died soon after, and I was ill-prepared with anything to feed their small hands.What are you feeding the adults, Yen?

Oh you got some from Lars too? or was it Solygia sulcatifrons that you got?

Adults of this species feed on blue bottle, house fly, moth, turkish roach, and lobster roach so far. their small front legs really don't deter them from catching big prey. Here are couple more pics as promised.

Wings of adult male

Adult female feeding on roach (Female has thicker antenna than male for this species)

 

[Katnapper]

Oh you got some from Lars too? or was it Solygia sulcatifrons that you got?Adults of this species feed on blue bottle, house fly, moth, turkish roach, and lobster roach so far. their small front legs really don't deter them from catching big prey. Here are couple more pics as promised.

Wings of adult male

Adult female feeding on roach (Female has thicker antenna than male for this species)

Very cool. I love her face and antennae.

 

[yen_saw]

Thanks Becky, yeah the odd thing is her antenna is significantly thicker than the male's. Here is another pic of her taking another bite out of the B. lateralis.

A little update for anyone interested with this species. The pair continue to mate for at least 4 more times. Male appear to be very robust and mate at will, while female is alert of his presence and do strike at him once a while he manage to find a way. I need to remove the male again so she can deposit another ooth without more "hassle" from the male. The female laid her first ooth while the male was away from her cage. I have hard time trying to remove the ooth from the net. Fearing of damaging it i let the ooth stays in the net cage, will probably remove the female out to another cage after her second ooth (hopefully).

 

[Katnapper]

Thanks Becky, yeah the odd thing is her antenna is significantly thicker than the male's. Here is another pic of her taking another bite out of the B. lateralis.A little update for anyone interested with this species. The pair continue to mate for at least 4 more times. Male appear to be very robust and mate at will, while female is alert of his presence and do strike at him once a while he manage to find a way. I need to remove the male again so she can deposit another ooth without more "hassle" from the male. The female laid her first ooth while the male was away from her cage. I have hard time trying to remove the ooth from the net. Fearing of damaging it i let the ooth stays in the net cage, will probably remove the female out to another cage after her second ooth (hopefully).

Yes, the combination of the long pointed eyes taking up most of space on the face and the thick antennae make for a distinctive and very appealing look.

I just ordered some more 12x12 net cages that I plan on using a lot for large species adults and incubating ooths of larger brood size species. I didn't realize it is troublesome to remove ooths from the net cage. Hmmm... I may just transfer female to a different net cage after each fertile laying, and incubate each ooth in that cage it was layed from there. (Don't mind me... I'm working out future plans and talking to myself "out loud," lol. )

 

[yen_saw]

Yeah the ooth stuck on the net like superglue. I am sure you can pull it out but could either damage the net or the ooth. i am not sure of the incubation period just in case the ooth hatch while she is still in there so removing her seems easier for now. I am hoping it won't take as long as B. borealis ooth need to hatch.

 

[Kruszakus]

Can you upload some shots of the whole body?

Not yours

 

[yen_saw]

See photos from previous page.

 

[Kruszakus]

I was them, but I'd like to see more - this species fascinates me

 

[spawn]

Oh you got some from Lars too? or was it Solygia sulcatifrons that you got?Adults of this species feed on blue bottle, house fly, moth, turkish roach, and lobster roach so far. their small front legs really don't deter them from catching big prey. Here are couple more pics as promised.

Yes I did. I did get Solygia sulcatifrons as well...I don't know how you knew that, haha. That's very, very weird to see the picture of her holding the roach. Lars told me they wouldn't feed on anything bigger than their claws. That's actually very surprising to me you got her to grab a roach.

 

[Dinora]

Some members here have requested for some update on this species so here it is. I received only a pair from German back in September which appear to have 3 molts to go. THe subadult female recently molted into adult after close to 3 months (took as long for her last 3 molts) and is about 12 cm. Male is close to molt soon with bulging budwing so i didn't bring him out of the net cage, he is considerably smaller than female.Adult female

FInger cross I hope to get a healthy adult pair and breed for another generation.

Wow! She is so beautiful and elegant! What size housing would you recommend for these guys? I'm wondering if I have the room, I'm trying to decide on my next.

 

[yen_saw]

Ah long forgotten thread but found it!!!

Wow! She is so beautiful and elegant! What size housing would you recommend for these guys? I'm wondering if I have the room, I'm trying to decide on my next.

THey do alright with foot cube net cage but larger be better... sorry for being ignorant i missed out this thread completely.

The adult female appear to be sick and not moving well. She deposited her thrid ooth yesterday which appear to be "incomplete" with eggs exposed.

So i decided to end her misery .... in freezer

Her first ootheca hatched today with only a dozen nymphs... I wonder if more will hatch. But this may means she might not be healthy before. Lesson learn: Get more than one pair if you plan to breed a species

My first generation for this species

 

[robelgado]

Very cool.

I love this mantis.

How long was it before the ooth hatched?

 

[yen_saw]

Took a long time for me, about 50 days :blink: Here is the pic taken whle they starting to hatch... bad pic sorry

Edit: another 20 nymphs hatched out today so i can let some go at L2 if anyone is interested.

 

[robelgado]

Took a long time for me, about 50 days :blink: Here is the pic taken whle they starting to hatch... bad pic sorry

Edit: another 20 nymphs hatched out today so i can let some go at L2 if anyone is interested.

I love how they come out of those ootheca. in such a tiny little space.

 

[yen_saw]

Actually i was expecting more to hatch. Hopefully tomorrow but looks like it is done for now.

 

[hibiscusmile]

I missed this posting Yen, very nice alien b abies u got!

 

[yen_saw]

Thanks Becky. Now i just hope i can get them to feed. I am surprise they are so small at this stage i can only hope they are alright with D. melanogaster. Right now it is hard to believe these little nymphs will grow up to the size of their mother :blink: I assume they get a good size increase after each molt. Can't wait to find out.

 

[Pelle]

Congrats! They look funny at their first instar :lol:

 

[kamakiri]

Very cool Yen! - Congrats on the hatchlings Please post updates!

 

[PhilinYuma]

Yes, very cool indeed! That's raffia in the cube, isn't it? I'll have to check out Michaels.

I just checked online, and it's mostly colored artsy craftsy stuff in small quantities. There do you get yours?