Toxodera denticulata

[shorty]

Is anyone currently rearing any of these? (Toxodera denticulata) I've heard it is one the largest species of mantis recorded and that it is from the Malay Peninsula. I also read that they are quite rare. If no one currently has any, has anyone here ever had them in the past? I'm curious about this species. If you have, post some pics please!

 

[Christian]

Noone has ever bred a species of this or a related genus. The few specimens which were available alive alltogether died within a few days without taking any food.

 

[Morpheus uk]

Hang on doesnt Lars Einfield offer a slightly similar species?

 

[Christian]

If you refer to Solygia sulcatifrons, it isn't similar, just large as well.

 

[Morpheus uk]

Found it, Cheddikulama straminea.

Im sure it said they are related some where on the internet, might be that tolweb thing

 

[Christian]

These ones were previously thought to be related, but this probably is not true.

 

[darkspeed]

Aaaah... Toxodera. This topic rises from the dead every so often. If nothing else it is a sure fire way to lure Christian into conversation. He is the only person on this board that has any kind of experience with the species. Works every time lol! :lol:

 

[Christian]

I don't have personal experience with them, but I collected a lot of available information on past experiences with living specimens. It's hard to get one's hands on those beasts, although I was on Borneo three times already.

 

[shorty]

I hope someday it makes it's way into the hobby. Does anyone have any pics of these at all? I had trouble finding any on my searches. This species particularly fascinates me. Not only because of it's size, but because of it's strange appearance.

Also, do you know why people had such trouble with successfully keeping them in captivity? Do they have a really specialized diet or something?

 

[Christian]

One problem seems to be that their legs get easily damaged by wrong housing, for obvious reasons they are more prone to leg damages than Idolomantis. Nothing is known apparently about why they didn't take any food yet.

There are several pictures on these taxa (Toxodera and Paratoxodera) on the net. Most are wrongly labelled, but nevertheless you get an impression.