Wahlbergii Questions

[Mantis Dictator]

Hey guys. This is my Second post on these forums and i have a question. Are D. hydei suitable for L1 Wahlbergii nymphs? Also, will they survive iin room temps (75f). I dont mind if they grow realy slow due to temps.

thanks peoples

 

[Kruszakus]

Hey guys. This is my Second post on these forums and i have a question. Are D. hydei suitable for L1 Wahlbergii nymphs? Also, will they survive iin room temps (75f). I dont mind if they grow realy slow due to temps.thanks peoples

This is a tricky species - I would say that the temperature you want to keep them in is way too low - 28C is more suitable, of course during the night the temperature should be lower - about 23C.

I'd stick to D. melanogaster - you will make it easier for the nymphs to feed.

 

[Mantis Dictator]

This is a tricky species - I would say that the temperature you want to keep them in is way too low - 28C is more suitable, of course during the night the temperature should be lower - about 23C. I'd stick to D. melanogaster - you will make it easier for the nymphs to feed.

Thanks Kruszakus. They are a pretty communal Species right? All i need is to make sure they are well fed?

 

[mrblue]

i would not go so far as to use the word communal, but Pseudocreobotra in my experience is far less cannibalistic than many others. I have kept both P.wahlbergii and P.ocellata at L1 and both have fed well on D.hydeii but of course if you have D.melanogaster than this may be useful for the few weaker ones that may not be so bold as to grab D.hydeii. as long as they are well fed and the container is not too cramped then they should be ok together, at least for a while.

 

[Kruszakus]

You know... they are not so cannibalistic if you provide a lot of food - but you will have to "upgrade" the food quite often - from L3 I swithed from fruit flies to small wax moths and blue bottles - from L4 they were fed mostly with big house flies - to my surprise they had no problems with grabbing those.

But I did it only because it was easier to provide water for 40+ nymphs - since I was misting them 2-3 times a day, keeping them in separate containers would be a bit too much of a hassle.

 

[mrblue]

You know... they are not so cannibalistic if you provide a lot of food - but you will have to "upgrade" the food quite often - from L3 I swithed from fruit flies to small wax moths and blue bottles - from L4 they were fed mostly with big house flies - to my surprise they had no problems with grabbing those. But I did it only because it was easier to provide water for 40+ nymphs - since I was misting them 2-3 times a day, keeping them in separate containers would be a bit too much of a hassle.

i agree it is much easier to keep them together. and i agree that if you provide alot of food, they are not as cannibalistic as other species. i just think the only species i have kept that i would be comfortable describing as "communal" is g.gongylodes. but right now, i have a small group of 7 p.ocellata living together, but i have plenty of fruit flies for them (i wish i had bigger flies it would be alot easier).

 

[Kruszakus]

i agree it is much easier to keep them together. and i agree that if you provide alot of food, they are not as cannibalistic as other species. i just think the only species i have kept that i would be comfortable describing as "communal" is g.gongylodes. but right now, i have a small group of 7 p.ocellata living together, but i have plenty of fruit flies for them (i wish i had bigger flies it would be alot easier).

Yeah, but it's vital to separate them after they turn L5 - from that point on it's not a good idea to keep them together, since their cannibalistic nature comes to surface and less and less nymphs may be found in the enclosure

I found Idolomorpha and Phyllovates very communal - although Phyllovates females tend to be brutal towards the males...