Statilia parva canibalistic?

[ismart]

Does anybody know if Statilia Parva are canibalistic or communal? Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Fisherman_Brazil]

Does anybody know if Statilia Parva are canibalistic or communal? Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

They look tamed, but are certainly canibalistic. I have observed this happening at earlier nymphs stage, said like L2/L3, also female eating the male anytime attemping to mate.

 

[Hypoponera]

Out of 2 ooths, I have only found 1 instance of cannabalism. I currently have 16 L5-L6 sharing a 2 gallon tank. But the tank is kept FULL of feeders!! Maybe I have had good luck keeping them together as I overfeed them to the point that they consider each other too much effort. I have heard from Mantida that even well fed, hers still happily ate each other! So your results may vary.

 

[ismart]

Thank-you guys. I thought they were canibalistic. I do a head count every other day and the number stays the same. They are L3 moulting to L4. I guess i'm keeping them very well fed, or maybe i have a bunch of very :wub: mantids for now :lol: .

 

[Hypoponera]

Ismart,

I got my first adult male a few weeks ago. They really look like slim versions of the European mantid. They are also a fairly timid feeder. They are fast growers, but don't seem to eat as much as I would expect!

 

[Fisherman_Brazil]

When comes to mating business, a big cage is essential allowing male to escape. My first male was running away, and the second male was eaten by one female; somehow the 3rd male mated all 4 female successfully.

 

[hibiscusmile]

I have 2 containers with them in it and they even though well fed are either #1. escaping, or #2 being eaten, or #3 self destructing!

 

[MantidLord]

I have 2 containers with them in it and they even though well fed are either #1. escaping, or #2 being eaten, or #3 self destructing!

Self-destructing? :blink:

 

[Hypoponera]

#1. escaping

Great. That's all I need. A mantis that's as good an escape artist as my ants!!

Thanks for the breeding advise! I hope to be able to give it a go by the middle of May. Do you think a 10 gallon tank will be large enough?

 

[ismart]

I use a large cubed net cage for mating all my mantids. I have not yet had any male mantids get eaten in this enclosure. I even breed my wide-arms this way and the males are fine. I just make sure a have an abundance of blue bottle flies for them to eat. A ten gallon tank should be big enough for the male to escape. How big do the Statilia Parva get as adults?

 

[Hypoponera]

The adult male I have is just a hair under the 2 inch mark. I do not have an adult female yet. But I would expect her to be about the same size or a bit longer.

 

[hibiscusmile]

They are almost the same size, the males are smaller than the girls! I just took this picture of a pair, which live in a commune with 4 others! you can see the difference in size here.

 

[ismart]

Nice pics Hibiscusmile. Not to big of a size difference between them. Does this species have different color variations? The reason i ask is because all of mine are the same color, light brown.

 

[Orin]

In captivity they seem to only be brown but maybe they can be green in the wild (like Parasphendale).

 

[Fisherman_Brazil]

In captivity they seem to only be brown but maybe they can be green in the wild (like Parasphendale).

It is possible having other color morph, but only brown specimen captured up to now. This species can only be found at small area of southern Taiwan, not in a great danger, but considered relatively rare.

 

[ismart]

Thanks guys for all your replies. I have 30 of them turning L4. I'll let you all know if i get any other colors besides brown. I finally whitnessed some canibalism the other day, so i decieded to seperate them.