Woo hoo! New babies arrived today

[Schloaty]

Psyched!

Despite some USPS foolishness, I received my four E. macrops babies (l2 or l3, almost one inch long already) healthy and strong today. They're freakin' cool!

I can't wait to watch these guys grow up - and I mean GROW up....maybe I can scare the &^%& out of my wife with them in a few months.... :lol:

Plus I got a mystery mantis - looks like a Giant Asian, but it's too early for my untrained eye to tell.

Thanks Rebecca! You Rock!

 

[hibiscusmile]

haha, thanks! and leave wifey alone especially if she cooks for you.... I always say to my sons and nephews, [notice, I dont have to tell the girls} never to piss off the cook!

These are the best mantis! They will follow you around with those long necks and be careful, the boys can fly quite a distance when they get their

manly wings! The girls only have a tiny wing saddle, so she can't fly, but as long as she is she only has to flitter across the room :tt2:

 

[hibiscusmile]

Oh yea, these are the ones Krissim Klaw has too and she can tell u how fun they are, I think they help her draw! But she pretends she does it all

 

[AmandaLynn]

Congratulations! How big do these guys get?

 

[hibiscusmile]

A good four inches!

 

[Schloaty]

Yeah, I'm still stoked. They came as l2 or l3, but even at such a young age, they're almost an inch.

I love it when they lay low against the stick and just pretend to be part of it. Makes it hard to find them, though.

They do seem "inquisitive." That may be giving them more intellectual credit that they deserve (they ARE bugs after all), but they do like to explore given the opportunity.

And fortunately, they seem to like the porch-light-special meals they've been getting. Mostly mosquitos and other small flying insects.

I have two living alone, and two together to see how they do as a "communal" species. That way I'm really only risking one. But I prefer communal species because they save space. So we'll see how that goes.

I have already discovered that Border mantises (Arizona, I forget the latin name) are most decidedly NOT communal. They are so aggressive, I'm surprised they don't eat themselves...

But with any luck, I will be able to keep the Macops like I do the ghosts.

 

[hibiscusmile]

They do really good together as long as din din is around, and I like your "porch light special"

 

[Schloaty]

Well, it's been what, two weeks now? Almost....

Everyone is still doing fine - some of them are starting to look a little "fat" (fat being relative with thise stick mimmics).

They seem to like mosquitoes....which is FINE with me. But I am NOT going to guy-load 'em! No sir! :lol:

Also, I'm going to have to post a pic of that mystery mantis to see if anyone can guess its species (or even genus)).

It's almost white! I've never seen so pale a manits....and despite a leg injury due to molting during shipping, it seems ok. One more molt and it should be back to 100%.