Rhombodera stalii and Hymenopus coronatus update

I am so excited that my female orchid (Hymenopus coronatus) molted to L5 last night. She has been put in the warm condition (28C) since I figured out her sex and the rest males are kept in cold place to slow down their metabolism so the males are 2 instar behind as they are all L3 right now.

Rhombodera stalli
I have 4 female but only 1 male! That was a terrible new i am not sure whether he could mate all 4 female i may trade with other friends on mantidforum to get some extra males.

They are all L5 and probably some will molt to L6 in 2 days

                                      very beautiful orange :)

Orthodera novaezealandiae and relationship with Choeradodis?

Orthodera novaezealandiae (Common name New Zealand flower mantis ), with a very narrow shield, is considered to be the relative sp of Choeradodis from South america and Asiadodis from Southern Asian rain forest. Orthedera sp nymphs had almost exact same behavior with juvenile Hooded mantis. My friend Wuchao, who is of the authors of Chinese mantis book, is assuming that Orthodera and Choeradodinae are developed from one genus and he is trying to proof it by using molecular genetic testing. The pair that I received will be sent to him for the test after they pass away)

Rhombodera Stalli's molting and branch for hanging

Happy new year to all !

Today on of my rhombodera stalli L3 nymph molted into L4. some people said that I have a magic branch for all my mantis' to shed their skin. Well that is true because I do use a single branch for my mantis to hang up and observe them.

 

Some breeders may want to use too many branches or screen wires to ensure the success of molting. again this is not mandatory. Yes a very rough surface can make mantis easier stick on it, however, sometime mantis only use the tiny hook(claws) on their legs to grab the surface and that may not stable enough during the molting. That's why some breeders respond that though they had provided a perfect substrate yet the mantis still dropped down during molting.

 

When the mantis molt on the "magic branch" (let me call it this lol), in order to crab it tightly, they will use the whole tarsus to crab the slender branch. It forms a big hook shape thus it is way more stable than the claws.