seemingly UNKNOWN species

[mantisboybrandon]

Hey guys, I'm new here and i petty much made an account here to ask what the heck type of mantis i have been breeding for years now. Im 17 and ive kept this mantis as a pet for as long as i can remember and am now keeping two adult female specimens right now. I've looked online for southern california mantises and i cant find any leads. it looks like a typical california mantis but the femaile's abdomins are a lot skinnier and are mostly tana-green instead of DARK brown like the typical larger species that lives in southern california i guess. please help as i do not know what kind of species this is even with trying to reserch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vz1CB-MNZY

there is a video of one of my FEMALE mantises. idk if you can see it that well but as you can see it is a lot skinnier form of the larger, more circle-shaped abdormined california mantis. Also, idk if it helps but almost all females (idk about males as i only capture them when i need them to breed) have a spot on theyre abdomin. mine has one on the second to last segment. also, this mantis creates egg sacks that are more rectangle shaped, with litte "mountains" on the top of them. their abdomins are also not curled when they are nymphs so like i said it cant be the larger "california" mantis. i live in southern california, near palm springs so it gets really hot here and ive never seen one of the larger ones out here as its probobly too hot.

idk about if this is a common mantis but im am sooo confused as to what species it is. haha i really want to know what species this is and its scientific name(if you couldnt tell lol). thanks guys for all the help and i look forward to hearing what you guys think!

 

[Ghostie]

I can't see anything from your videos. Maybe somebody more experienced will. :huh:

Lighting is off and you can't see really what kind of mantis it is.

The Eurpean I found the other day was that color and he was in 100* weather at the gas station or close to that temp. That doesn't look like one though cause I Can't see those arm spots.

The limbatas I found hanging on the edge of shade and 100* full sunlight.

If you say the abdomen is straight on all of them when nymphs it might be a Chinese. All my Chinese nymph abdomens are straight.

 

[MantidLord]

Hello, welcome to the forum. Basically from what I've gathered, you've had some experience with "common" mantids before? Just like ghostie said, it's a little difficult to identify the mantis from the video. Perhaps a picture of the full mantis can help. Although, in my opinion, it is likely to be a Stagmomantis species (either limbata or maybe the elusive california) or Iris oratoria (identified by an orange dot on the second to last abdomen). After rereading your post, they are Iris oratoria (Mediterranean mantis) Second to last abdomen has a dot. Is it orange? Here, let me help:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iris_oratoria

http://www.bugsincyberspace.com/iris_oratoria.html

http://bugguide.net/node/view/71486/bgimage

By the way, the ootheca you describe fits the description (though it also fits the description of stagmomantis species).

 

[mantisboybrandon]

thanks guys and sorry for the poor quality of the video and i dont ever usually take my mantises out except when changing their cages(as they can be pretty jumpy) so i cant really take a reletively clear photo with my phone but YES my mantises are indeed the meditteranean mantis or Iris Oratoria!!! thank you so much for helping me identify them!

but on a side note, i have a question that i also have not really seen an answer but why do praying mantises' eyes change color at night or when its dark out? i get that they have the "3-dot" light sensors that the use to detect light and that the change is based on light differences and that they have compound eyes and such but what is the purpose? does it give them better night-vision or what? its so purplexing to me as every searson ive seen the same thing happen. is there an answer or what because its deffinitely purplexing me.

 

[MantidLord]

Glad to help. But honestly, I have no idea. I would imagine it enables them to see better in the night but as to how and what causes the change, I'm not sure.

 

[Rick]

A common species. I have a few here right now.

Welcome to our site. Please make your intro in the introductions forum.

 

[LauraMG]

Welcome to our site. Please make your intro in the introductions forum.

I almost said it last night, but I didn't want to step on any toes!

Take some pictures with a regular camera and try posting those. You may have some better luck with ID

 

[Seattle79]

but on a side note, i have a question that i also have not really seen an answer but why do praying mantises' eyes change color at night or when its dark out? i get that they have the "3-dot" light sensors that the use to detect light and that the change is based on light differences and that they have compound eyes and such but what is the purpose? does it give them better night-vision or what? its so purplexing to me as every searson ive seen the same thing happen. is there an answer or what because its deffinitely purplexing me.

I'm guessing the Mantids eyes dilate to see better at night, that is why they have black eyes. I know their eyes are totally different than mammals but I think they react the same physiologically. Cats eyes at night are totally black, this helps them see. When you are in a dark room your eyes get accustomed to the environment after 10 or so minutes and you can somewhat see whats around you. This is because your eyes dilate and try to capture what little light there is. I hope this helps answer your question.

-Kevin

 

[MantidLord]

Rick, this species doesn't occur naturally where you live does it? Or did you buy from someone.

 

[mantisboybrandon]

Hey i was wondering, how cannibalistic are these mantids? I have never housed my mantids together except for breeding but can it be done without losing all of them??

 

[MantidLord]

They are cannibalistic but I've been able to raise up to four in a container without cannibalism, although this took a lot of food. However, in my experience the nymphs seem to be more aggressive than the adults towards each other. Though the adults will fight. I've kept up to 7 adult females together. The adult males haven never cannibalized. But on the safe side, I'd keep them separate.

 

[mantisboybrandon]

Sounds good. I knew it was sorta a bad idea as i keep one female in a wired cage, one in a large plastic jar and my male in a med. sized plasic jar.