PhilinYuma
Well-known member
In the short time that I have been a member here, I thought that I had heard all the Idolo ooth stories, almost all of them bad. There was the infamous Villosa scandal in which he was supposedly selling WC ooths which didn't hatch. It turned out that in many cases, the failure was due to the fact that the ooths were made of Styrofoam! Then there were Frey's WC ooths none of which hatched so far as I know (except for one which hatched for her!), not surprisingly. Another batch of WC's in which Chun was possibly the only winner or was that from Villosa's genuine batch?), and Mantisfart's one-man war on Ian, then an Admin here, for offering WC's for sale, though he was very careful to point out the rsisks. There have also been regular, if infrequent
So when my partner sent me four very fresh looking Idolo ooths on about the 1st of this month, I didn't even check to see if they were CB and stuck them, two to a pot ,in the back of the hatchery. What's that you say? Get to the part where they hatched? Hey, this is my story!
So guess what? When I made my first check of the ooth this am, both the ooths in one pot had hatched into either Idolo nymphs or small goats, it's a bit soon to say.They are amazing, huge and plentiful, and I guess that i will keep enough to make a series of mounted ones to represent each instar.
This means that the scarcity of this species in the US is likely to become a thing of the past. Until recently, CB Idolo production was controlled by handfull of mostly German hobbyists who have been selling these for interesting prices for years at Hamm, and arguing that the collection of WC ooths in Africa may lead to the extermination of the species. If I were a cynic, I would say that they...but I am not, so I won't. Now, though, Polish commercial breeders are turning them out in the thousands until the effort is no longer finanvcially attractive. I suspect that breeding will still be a problem for a while in the U.S., though, although Sporeworld et al are going a long way towards correcting this and will be get my vote for this year's Mantid Forum Medal of Excellence.
The sad thing is that I am not particularly attracted to these dim witted, unathletic giants. I'll hold onto them until L2, despite their size, and if there is anyone out there who is interested and still doesn't have any (perhaps not by now!), drop me a line, and I'll make a list on Word against the time that they make L2, I'll probably give preference to exchanges, though. Now if only someone could do the same thing for Orchids.
Meanwhile, the financial value of my bugroom has just reached an all time high, so off I go!
So when my partner sent me four very fresh looking Idolo ooths on about the 1st of this month, I didn't even check to see if they were CB and stuck them, two to a pot ,in the back of the hatchery. What's that you say? Get to the part where they hatched? Hey, this is my story!
So guess what? When I made my first check of the ooth this am, both the ooths in one pot had hatched into either Idolo nymphs or small goats, it's a bit soon to say.They are amazing, huge and plentiful, and I guess that i will keep enough to make a series of mounted ones to represent each instar.
This means that the scarcity of this species in the US is likely to become a thing of the past. Until recently, CB Idolo production was controlled by handfull of mostly German hobbyists who have been selling these for interesting prices for years at Hamm, and arguing that the collection of WC ooths in Africa may lead to the extermination of the species. If I were a cynic, I would say that they...but I am not, so I won't. Now, though, Polish commercial breeders are turning them out in the thousands until the effort is no longer finanvcially attractive. I suspect that breeding will still be a problem for a while in the U.S., though, although Sporeworld et al are going a long way towards correcting this and will be get my vote for this year's Mantid Forum Medal of Excellence.
The sad thing is that I am not particularly attracted to these dim witted, unathletic giants. I'll hold onto them until L2, despite their size, and if there is anyone out there who is interested and still doesn't have any (perhaps not by now!), drop me a line, and I'll make a list on Word against the time that they make L2, I'll probably give preference to exchanges, though. Now if only someone could do the same thing for Orchids.
Meanwhile, the financial value of my bugroom has just reached an all time high, so off I go!
