Sexing Chinese Mantis Nymphs (L1-L3)

[Teamonger]

I am getting a bit of conflict on this topic when I research it. I found a thread on this forum (that I've since lost) that said the segments fuse on the females starting at L3. Then after squinting at bug bottoms for an hour with little success and doing some more googling I found a good many more sources that say this method does not work til L4.

Can anyone shed some light on this for me? There are hints that there is some secret expert way to sex L1-L3 nymphs but I cannot find it that's for sure.

 

[CosbyArt]

@Teamonger Sexing of small nymphs typically tends to be a guessing game.

The more experience gained can lead to better success though (some species are much easier than others too) and other tell tale signs can help( abdomen shape, antenna shape/size, etc.), but again nothing is definite until later instars. Personally I don't bother determining gender until the sub-sub adult or sub-adult (L5 to L6).

Rick has a guide here, and the other common guide is here.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

How early you can sex with the naked eye tends to vary depending on species. There are some mantises I can start to sex as early as L1 and others that I find myself second guessing constantly until they hit L4-L5. Personally I've found Chinese mantises to be one of the ones that has harder to sex until they get older and the girls start to distinctly develop their ovipositor.

 

[Teamonger]

Thank you all for the confirmation. I kinda figured it was near impossible but the puzzle aspect of it all was driving me crazy and I needed a second opinion  

 

[Serle]

I have a pair of freshly moulted L4 Tenodera (same ooth) , the difference between Male & Female is quite pronounced .  The F. has 5 definite sections and is half again larger than the M.  The M. has 7 sections , I do use a 8 power glass to confirm .

S.

 

[Teamonger]

@Serle glad to hear it! I went so far as to borrow a jeweler's hoop which has some ridiculous magnification like x20 or x30. It was a bit overkill for the job to be sure

Guess its the waiting game again for a week or two before they all get their molt on again and I can finally sex/name my favorites.