Cool Mantis

Cool Mantis

Postby Rob » Mon Mar 02, 2009 6:33 pm

A few days ago I was standing outside my house chatting to Trayton and as he spoke, and my mind began to wander, I spotted these little guys in the plants beside us.I have only posted pics of 2 of them, the pink and the yellow one, but there was also a green one. Very cool, I just love Mantis'.

I dont profess to be much of a photographer so please do not crit these pics, I just hope you enjoy the animals as much as I did.

Oh and I checked there 3 days later and the 2 pictured here were still there.
Anyone got some interesting info on these guys in particular and why they were 3 different colours (the green one looked identical in every aspect but colour)?

Image

Image
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Re: Cool Mantis

Postby Fooble » Mon Mar 02, 2009 6:34 pm

Those are some cool Mantis(s) man.
Nice pics too.
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Re: Cool Mantis

Postby Rob » Mon Mar 02, 2009 6:39 pm

Thanks, Mantii? :)
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Re: Cool Mantis

Postby drummer » Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:57 pm

They are young Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii . They can vary in colour. A long time ago i posted a picture of an adult i found. I have only ever found 1 adult. Have found about 5 nymphs like your before. Always cool finding them!

check an old thread http://sareptiles.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3076&hilit=mantis
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Re: Cool Mantis

Postby BushSnake » Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:06 pm

Nice. You are quite lucky to have them in your garden! Maybe I should move to KZN....

BTW - That is not necessarily the same as the one in drummer's link. There are at least two species, one being the normal flower mantid and the other the eyed mantid flower mantid, as and far as I know (i.e. don't quote me) the nymph phases look similar. The normal one looks like this one from the Soutpansberg:

Image
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Re: Cool Mantis

Postby insaniac » Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:11 am

Wow, love the colours !

Cool pics guys !

I can see how bugs can mistake them for parts of the plant...

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Re: Cool Mantis

Postby Chameleons » Tue Mar 03, 2009 9:33 am

There are two pseudocreobotras commonly found in SA: wahlbergii and ocellata. The photo from Bushsnake is harpagomantis, which varies quite a bit as an adult in it colouring; they are smaller but more colourful than the closely related pseudocreobotras. Some of the harpagomantis adult females can have a lovely pink or deep purple colouring. We had several adult females on display at our stand at the Expo this last weekend. The nymphs are horribly small on hatching which makes them a challenge to rear.

The nymphs of all three are very similar; I have sent the photos to the guru in Germany to see what he says.

They are beautiful things and you are fortunate to have easy access to them.
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Re: Cool Mantis

Postby Pythonodipsas » Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:55 am

Wow this is interesting! The ones in this post and Drummers' old post make me think of gargoyles and fantasy creatures.
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Re: Cool Mantis

Postby Chameleons » Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:32 pm

The guru in Germany confirms that they are nymphs of Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii.

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Re: Cool Mantis

Postby Trayton » Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:24 pm

@Rob- the photos came out flipping well, what were you whining about? Thought you couldn't get any good ones?

Wonder if baby bush vipers would eat these instead of crickets...i'm sure gray crickets get boring after a while.
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Re: Cool Mantis

Postby Durban Keeper » Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:59 pm

Breathtaking photo's all round. These are just out of this world!
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Re: Cool Mantis

Postby Rob » Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:41 am

An update, the yellow and pink one are still on the same plant and growing nicely, the pink one more than the yellow one. The green one has been missing for a few weeks now.
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Re: Cool Mantis

Postby Bushviper » Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:23 pm

Maybe he changed colour?
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Re: Cool Mantis

Postby Rob » Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:45 pm

Perhaps. But the maximum number I noted was 3 and now the other 2 are still there and 1 is missing. I have to presume its the green one and the remaining 2 are part of the original 3
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Re: Cool Mantis

Postby steve » Thu Apr 02, 2009 5:36 pm

Rob is this your 1st time seeing these? theres an awesome photograph of one in the Jan/Feb ultimate exotic!
vipers?
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