Shield mantis

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Shield mantis generally refers to Rhombodera. Most Rhombodera are quite aggressive towards food and some individuals can be really defensive. Rhombodera megaera and extensicollis are probably the largest of the genus that's currently in culture. Double shields (Pnigomantis medioconstricta) are a medium/large species that's quite bulky and supposedly has quite the feeding response, I haven't kept them yet but have a couple oothecae incubating.

 
Sounds nice. How big do R Megera and extensicollis get? Double shields? What about valida or basilis? Length and bulkiness of each species? 

 
KevinsWither said:
Also, which of the shield mantids is the most aggressive?
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That's tough to say. Do you mean towards prey or defensiveness against us? My Rhombodera stalii were really aggressive towards food, but my valida was usually more focused on threat displaying towards me rather than grabbing food. I've heard extensicollis have a good feeding response. And I've also heard Pnigomantis medioconstricta will eat almost anything they can hold onto lol. I can't say much about the other species as I have no experience with the others.

 
Rhombodera basalis is pretty skittish as nymphs, but very outgoing and aggressive as adults. 

Stalli are the most aggressive. Had an adult female escape, eat her way into her sister's container (by chewing through the mesh), and proceeded to devour her sister. 

 
PlayingMantis said:
Rhombodera basalis is pretty skittish as nymphs, but very outgoing and aggressive as adults. 

Stalli are the most aggressive. Had an adult female escape, eat her way into her sister's container (by chewing through the mesh), and proceeded to devour her sister. 
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Yeah stalii are pretty insane haha. I have a pair of sub basalis coming this week hopefully so I'm excited to see what they're like.

 
The basalis I'm most familiar with and have seen photos of (IGM 128), has a much more rounded prothorax it seems. Those have a much more Valida or stalii look to them in my opinion. But it may be the other basalis (IGM 83). 

 
I have a female Rhombodera Extensicollis. She's full grown, her last molt was in October, and she just laid her first ooth (unfertilized). I don't have much experience in keeping mantids (she's my first) so I can't compare her to other species. She loves to eat!! She's a great hunter, very responsive to prey. She has never seemed threatened by being handled, so I've never seen her defensive response. I couldn't get a perfect measurement (in enclosure) but I'd estimate her to be 8.5 or 9cm long. Hope this helps  :)

 
Extrememantid said:
The basalis I'm most familiar with and have seen photos of (IGM 128), has a much more rounded prothorax it seems. Those have a much more Valida or stalii look to them in my opinion. But it may be the other basalis (IGM 83). 
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To be honest I got my original basalis stock from someone else, I raised them to adult and bred them, so I'm on my second generation. I've raised both valida and stalli and the ones I have right now look pretty different. Stalli lacked the bluish tint and the bright red abdomen. Valida had the red abdomen but had a rounder shield and were not bluish. I hope mine really are basalis. At least I know they're not stalli or valida. :p

 
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Extrememantid said:
Yeah stalii are pretty insane haha. I have a pair of sub basalis coming this week hopefully so I'm excited to see what they're like.
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Don't be disappointed if they're very skittish at first. My adult female basalis almost drew blood twice. They had the death grip on me.

 

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