Unidentified mantids hatched out loose in bug room

[Katnapper]

I've just added a blog entry about some unknown (to me) species of mantids that have hatched out loose in the bug room. Any help with ID'ing these little imps would be greatly appreciated!

Note the "bulb" near the base of the antennae. Could that be a clue? And the different color gradient of the antennae? The abdomen and head do not have the reddish contrast color I photographed in the previous C. humeralis hatchlings. But I wonder if the color maybe hasn't developed yet? I just don't know!

Info and link about the previous C. humeralis hatching can be seen in previous entry in my blog.

Here's a preview pic:

 

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[SIZE=14pt]IDK Becky but its a cute little one & nice clean pic, by the way what kind of cam & setup did you use?[/SIZE]

 

[jarek]

I don't think they're the same species, I see that mantis in the picture has different head than the one in "previous entry" pictures and if you take a better look their thorax also differs from one another.

 

[mantidsandgeckos]

theyre pseudocreobotra wahlbergii or ocellata nymphs

 

[Katnapper]

theyre pseudocreobotra wahlbergii or ocellata nymphs

You're right, friendofgeckos!!!! They are P. wahlbergii nymphs! I just discovered this myself when I was tackling a different problem in the bug room.

I have acquired an ant problem recently in the bug room. They've gotten in and found out there is abundant food in there (honey especially, cricket and roach food, dead ff's, etc.). I discovered ants in my P. wahlbergii nymph net cage just a bit ago, so set about carefully removing, vacuuming, and smashing them all. I figured there had to be a hole in the net cage that was letting them in. I found it. Then it dawned on me.... there were a lot less P. wahlbergii nymphs in there than there were before! It wasn't a hatchout in the bugroom, it was them escaping out of their net cage! No wonder!!! I've just patched the holes with extra netting and hot glue. So now I need to reunite the escapees with their siblings in their original cage.

I'm really glad I found out what they were...... but I was sooooo hoping, and a bit disappointed to find it was not a hatchout of that weird looking C. humeralis ooth that I'd left in the cage unzipped!

Thanks for your reply and confirmation of my recently discovered theory, friendofgeckos!!

 

[ismart]

Mystery solved!

 

[hibiscusmile]

yep, u got it Kat, the wahs and ocels all sparkle when little!

 

[jarek]

yep, u got it Kat, the wahs and ocels all sparkle when little!

little diamonds

 

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[SIZE=14pt]Cool Becky but I didn't even know you had any spinys "ha ha ha" [/SIZE]

 

[Katnapper]

 

[hibiscusmile]

Neither did she!!!

 

[Katnapper]

:lol:

 

[Katnapper]

[SIZE=14pt]IDK Becky but its a cute little one & nice clean pic, by the way what kind of cam & setup did you use?[/SIZE]

Thanks, Danny. I use a Canon Rebel (original version, digital) with Canon EF100mm f/2.8 macro lens.