UK mantis forums newsletter

UK Mantis Forums Newsletter 

Issue 6 

January 2012 

The winning picture in the August POTM. Fourth instar Deroplatys lobata by Sulasula 

www.ukmantisforums.co.uk founded in August 2008 by Andie Johnson 

Editor: Gillian Higgins 

Forum Owner: Andie Johnson 

Section Moderator: Cain Eyre. Forum Advisers: Rob Byatt, Stefan Engelhardt, Chun 

Siew, Gary Symes. 

Forum Moderators: Lynne Dunning and Craig Smith 

Forum Administrator: Gillian Higgins 

Forum Statistics: 29 th December 2011. Members: 1,855, Active Members: 256

Editorial 

Gillian Higgins 

UKMF Newsletter issue 6 

For the forum there is an exciting year ahead as the software was upgraded in October and 

now also includes a content management system (CMS). The forum upgrade was a success 

and painless thanks to Andie Johnson’s planning and hard work. The CMS will give forum 

members the ability to organise and share information on mantises in an easily accessible 

way. 

I am very pleased that for this issue of the newsletter Stefan Engelhardt has written a 

detailed guide to keeping the Malaysian Dead Leaf Mantis (Deroplatys desiccata). This large 

and impressive species is popular in culture appearing in the top ten of the species kept in 

culture list (Newsletter no. 5). Stefan has kept this species for around 2 years. Currently his 

first generation adults are in the process of mating and ooth laying. (The first generation is 

the progeny from a first breeding but is sometimes confused with the parents which are 

generation zero.). 

Inbreeding issues have arisen on the forum on a few occasions and have always resulted in 

heated discussions as this is a complex and difficult issue. Chun Siew has written an article 

on inbreeding and how it relates to mantis keeping that helps us understand why this is such 

a controversial issue. 

For the New Year we have an article on caring for new nymphs by Kirobella. This detailed 

piece shares Kirobella’s many years of breeding experience and contains details of interest 

to more experienced keepers as well as providing a good start for new keepers. 

Over the past year members have entered breeding reports into a thread and these have 

been summarised for this issue of the newsletter. I think the collection of reports of matings 

and hatchings and the details, particularly hatch number, has been very successful. I hope 

that this will continue in 2012. A finding that is a possible cause for considerable concern is 

that Thesprotia graminis might be having difficulty being maintained in culture (see page 18). 

The problem could be due to special breeding conditions required by the species or to an 

inbreeding ‘bottleneck’. I hope that members with this species might get together to discuss 

if there is a problem and what can be done. Nico has submitted a breeding report for the 

newsletter for Thesprotia graminis including records from an unfertilised ootheca. I have a 

particular interest in reports of parthenogenesis and this report adds to the only other report 

in this species. 

Andie Johnson is developing a species database for reports. This will be a unique database 

as it will be the only one where members’ records can be combined for each species in 

culture. This will be a long term project that will hopefully get underway in 2012. I believe that 

with our large active membership and the number of members who keep records, or are 

happy to note stages and sizes of the species they keep, it will develop to be a useful ‘one of 

a kind’ resource for mantis keepers. 

For the end of the year I have compiled what I believe is a fairly comprehensive list of 

abstracts from 2011 Mantodea related published literature and a forum digest. 

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www.ukmantisforums.co.uk


Captive Husbandry of Deroplatys desiccata, the 

Giant Dead Leaf Mantis 

Stefan Engelhardt 

Scientific classification 

Kingdom: Animalia 

Phylum: Arthropoda 

Class: Insecta 

Order: Mantodea 

Family: Mantidae 

Genus: Deroplatys 

Species: Deroplatys desiccata 

Common names: Giant Dead Leaf Mantis, Malaysian Dead Leaf Mantis 

Distribution: Malaysian Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Borneo 

Natural habitat: tropical rainforest, damp areas, on ground with dead foliage, bushes 

According to Ehrmann (2002) 11 different Deroplatys species are known; these can all be 

found in Southeast-Asia. Just four of them are established in culture (more or less 

successfully captive bred): D. desiccata, D. lobata, D. truncata and D. trigonodera. 

Adult female Deroplatys desiccata. Photograph by Cain Eyre 

Deroplatys desiccata, also known as the Giant Dead Leaf Mantis, is a large sized mantis. 

Adult females reach up to 10 cm and the adult males have very long wings making their 

adult size 7-8 cm. These long wings allow males to develop into extremely skilful fliers. 

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An impressive threat display, bizarre and dead foliage-mimicking appearance together with 

high aggressiveness towards prey animals make this species a valuable addition to any 

mantis keeper’s/breeder’s collection. The most characteristic body part by which the different 

Deroplatys species can be distinguished is the large pronotum. Deroplatys desiccata is 

considered to be the easiest species of the genus Deroplatys to keep and breed, but some 

experience in mantis keeping will prove to be advantageous. My Deroplatys desiccata stock 

is derived from IGM15 and at the moment I keep several adults of my first generation. In this 

little caresheet I will present information about successful husbandry of this beautiful species 

and I will include my observations and advice in order to show that, given proper conditions, 

Deroplatys desiccata is one of the most rewarding mantis species. 

Ootheca incubation 

Some days after being laid the ooth should be carefully removed from the female’s 

enclosure. From plastic surfaces they can be easily detached. It is more difficult when they 

are laid onto mesh or bark. In this case the best you can do is to transfer the ooth together 

with the mesh/bark into the hatching box. I have used 350 ml (12 fl. oz.) plastic cups with 

mesh on the top onto which I have glued the ooth. Wet kitchen towel on the bottom supports 

a constant humidity which should also be increased by daily misting. For Deroplatys sp. it 

cannot be emphasised enough that a too low humidity will result in a non-hatching ooth. 

After incubating the ooth over a period of 40-50 days between 27-30 o C (and a drop to 

approximately. 20 o C during the night) a minimum of 30 nymphs and up to 60 nymphs will 

hatch. Unlike hatchlings of other species that hang from a thread, Deroplatys desiccata 

nymphs shed their pre-nymphal skin immediately after emerging from the ooth, which 

explains why ooths are laid sometimes at ground level on dead leaves or bark openings. 

High humidity will also avoid nymphs becoming stuck during hatching. Compared to lots of 

other species, the hatch itself doesn’t happen in the morning: According to my observation 

nymphs hatch between early and late afternoon (this might be explained by their origin: the 

rainforest, their natural habitat, offers the best conditions for hatching in terms of humidity in 

the afternoon due to the daily rain). 

Left: Deroplatys desiccata hatching; middle: 350 ml cup; right: 600 ml cup. 

Photographs by Stefan Engelhardt 

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Nymph care 

First instar nymphs are comparably big, so they should be fed with Drosophila hydei fruit 

flies which they will take already one day after hatching. Interestingly, the characteristic 

pronotum is already obvious at this early developmental stage. The most important 

parameters one has to consider during nymphal development are ventilation and humidity. It 

is crucial to provide an enclosure that ensures high ventilation as very young nymphs can 

die very quickly in a damp environment. It is not enough to put mesh just on the ceiling, at 

least one side should be permeable to air. Since 1 st instar nymphs are not that aggressive to 

each other (given a good supply of fruit flies), I keep hatchlings together in BraPlast-Boxes, 

185x185x190 mm (LxWxH): 

4 

www.ukmantisforums.co.uk 

BraPlast-Box for keeping hatchlings 

or older instars. Photograph by Stefan 

Engelhardt 

Wet kitchen towel on the bottom ensures 

a constant humidity which is increased 

every night by misting (I have used also 

vermiculite and was very satisfied with it.) 

This misting also serves as freshwater 

source: Young and also older instars 

often drink from water drops on 

branches, mesh or walls. For decoration 

and climbing support I provide willow 

branches and raffia (the latter has to be 

changed regularly along with the kitchen 

towel due to mould). The kitchen towel 

might also serve as a cushion for 

nymphs that fall during moulting. 

After about 2 weeks the nymphs moult the first time. It has to be noted that Deroplatys sp. in 

general do not grow quickly, especially the sub adult stage can last up to 2 months. From 2 nd 

instar on nymphs can feed on houseflies, from 3 rd instar on greenbottle flies and from 5 th 

instar on bluebottle flies. I provide some food variation by occasionally feeding them Dubia 

roaches (Blaptica dubia), locusts and mealworms. Despite former reports that Deroplatys sp. 

prefer crawling prey, it is my experience that flying prey is taken, at all instars, with the same 

enthusiasm as crawling prey. When a moult is imminent all prey animals, especially roaches 

and locusts, should be removed from the enclosure. In order to avoid mis-moulting you have 

to make sure that nymphs have enough space downwards (this means the enclosure should 

be at least 3 times the nymph’s length in height). Sometimes nymphs moult too close to the 

bottom resulting in a bent thorax in the best case. This is mostly an indication of a too low 

humidity and/or a lack of proper moulting surfaces in the upper part of the enclosure. 

Additionally, even from an apparently perfect position to moult, nymphs might fall during 

moulting. If you are lucky to be around when this happens, the nymph can be rescued either 

by hanging it back on the mesh or by holding it carefully with tweezers from the very end of 

their legs (the latter requires some patience and a calm hand).


Reliable sexing works from 3 rd instar on by checking the shape of their pronotum. Male 

nymphs show a 20 pence-like shield, while female nymphs develop an M-shaped pronotum: 

Pronotum development of Deroplatys desiccata. Photographs by Stefan Engelhardt 

Another possibility for distinguishing the genders is to look at the lower abdominal segments. 

Females have a big last segment (in total 6), the males’ last segment is divided (a total of 8 

lower abdominal segments). This way of sexing works reliably from 4 th instar on. With a bit of 

experience 3 rd instar nymphs can be easily sexed, even without having both genders for 

direct comparison. 

From 3 rd instar onwards I keep nymphs separately in a 350 ml cup, from 5 th instar onwards in 

a 600 ml cup, and from sub adult I use BraPlast-Boxes as enclosures (all the different 

container types are shown above). Due to their aggressiveness I would recommend keeping 

nymphs separately, especially if only a few nymphs are present. Females should generally 

be kept separately. The development from hatch to adulthood takes, dependent on the food 

supply, around 6 months or more. Nymphs can adopt a variety of colours, from red-brown to 

grey-brown to dark-brown/black. How these colours are determined is, as with other species, 

not well understood. I kept all of my nymphs in equal conditions and background colours and 

obtained differently coloured morphs indicating that nymph colour is influenced to a large 

extent by their genes. As mentioned above, especially the sub adult stage can last for more 

than 2 months. Before their final moult nymphs stop eating for around a week and in 

comparison to other species it is quite hard to guess when this moult exactly will start: The 

swollen wingbuds are a clear sign of the imminent final moult, however extensive pumping of 

the abdomen is visible only minutes before. 

5 



Developmental stages of Deroplatys desiccata. Photographs by Stefan Engelhardt 

Females will moult 8 times, males one time less. This is an important point for breeders. If 

you intend to breed nymphs that hatched from the same ooth, it is advisable to slow down 

the development of the males to make sure that both genders reach adulthood at least at the 

same time or, even better, the females become adult first. 

6 



Exuviae of female and male Deroplatys desiccata (female 4 th instar exuvia is missing); 

Photographs by Stefan Engelhardt 

Breeding 

Adult females need 4-6 weeks before serious mating attempts should be started. I have not 

observed the “calling” of females earlier than 4 weeks after the last moult. If you try to 

introduce a male too early, in the best case the female will reject him, in the worst case she 

will eat him. This 4-6 weeks period is necessary for the female to fatten up and to produce 

eggs and ooth material inside of her body and a male introduced too early might be mistaken 

as prey. Once you see the female “calling” or if she has been an adult for at least 4 weeks 

and has gained weight, the male (adult for at least 2-3 weeks) should be put on a surface or a 

branch and left in peace. Some minutes later the female should be put in front of him so that 

he faces her abdomen. When she moves and he is in the mood, he will point his antennae 

towards her abdomen and will follow her. Usually the male jumps onto the female pretty 

quickly and it doesn’t take long for him to connect. The total mating time is rather long and he 

might be connected with the female for more than 24 hours. Afterwards he often stays on her 

back for some hours until he eventually leaves. I would recommend mating them outside their 

enclosure to provide enough space for the male to escape. The females are usually not very 

aggressive during mating and the males leave them unharmed (at least I haven’t lost any 

males due to mating cannibalism yet). 

Left: introducing a female (left) triggers courting behaviour in male (right); right: 

mating of Deroplatys desiccata. Photographs by Stefan Engelhardt 

It takes quite a while for the female to lay the first ooth after mating. Up to 4 weeks is not 

unusual. Further ooths are laid after 3-4 week intervals. A total of 7-10 ooths can be laid 

7 



during a female’s lifetime. Since males are long-lived (up to 6 months) females should be remated 

after the 4 th ooth to make sure that all subsequent ooths contain fertilised eggs. 

Summary 

Given proper conditions and regular food, Deroplatys desiccata will prove to be not more 

difficult to keep than other species and will definitely add to each keeper’s collection. The 

extremely long-lived females, that can easily live for more than a year as adults, offer a great 

possibility to enjoy keeping this particular mantis species longer than others and to learn even 

more about their behaviour. Like all praying mantis, Deroplatys desiccata is a master of 

camouflage and the merging with background shapes and colours is as much an eye-catcher 

as their impressive threat displays: 

Threat display of adult female (left) and adult male (right) Deroplatys desiccata; 

photographs taken by Cain Eyre (left) and Stefan Engelhardt (right) 

Parameters 

Temperature: 27-30ºC (day) / 20 ºC (night) 

Humidity: 70-80% (daily misting) 

Ventilation: high 

Ooth incubation: 40-50 days 

Hatch rate: 30-60 nymphs 

Ooth number: 7-10 

Copulation readiness: 4-6 weeks (female); 2-3 weeks (male) 

Substrate: kitchen towel, vermiculite 

Number of moults: 8 (female), 7 (male) 

Decoration: bark, twigs, branches (willow, wild cherry, birch), raffia 

Food: flies (Drosophila hydei, houseflies, greenbottles, bluebottles), locusts, roaches, 

mealworms, waxworms and moths 

Reference 

Ehrmann, R. (2002) Mantodea: Gottesanbeterinnen der Welt. Natur und Tier, Munster. 

8 


Is Inbreeding Bad? 

Chun Siew 


It is a common assumption that inbreeding is ‘bad’ for a species. We were taught this at 

school and we, as humans, avoid and frown upon breeding with our close relatives, so it is 

easy to conclude that inbreeding is ‘bad’. Following on from this theme, many animals and 

plants have evolved rather sophisticated mechanisms to avoid inbreeding. Such 

mechanisms are even evident in our beloved Order the Mantodea and it is not uncommon to 

find females of some species undergoing several more instars than their male counterparts. 

For example, in several flower mantids from the family Hymenopodidae, such as the orchid 

mantis (Hymenopus coronatus) and the banded flower mantis (Theopropus elegans), sexual 

dimorphism is very obvious with males undergoing several less instars before maturing than 

their sisters. By the time a female matures into an adult, her brothers would have moulted 

into adults several weeks or months ago. As adult males do not live very long, particularly 

with these species, they would normally die before their sisters can reach sexual maturity. 

By maturing at different times, the probability of siblings fertilising each other is greatly 

reduced. 

9 


A male Theopropus elegans mounted on 

a female shows the extreme sexual 

dimorphism in this species. Photograph 

by Chun Siew. 

So why did these mechanisms evolve? What are the real disadvantages of inbreeding? In 

this article, I aim to summarise my experiences and explore basic theories in evolution, and 

discuss whether inbreeding has any detrimental effect on captive mantids and see how we 

can apply these theories to mantis husbandry and breeding. 

Inbreeding can be detrimental by increasing the probability of detrimental mutations and 

genes being passed on, which can reduce the fitness of offspring. Let’s imagine there was a 

small population where inbreeding was unavoidable and that individuals were susceptible to 

genetic diseases or defects. Over time in this small population, these disease-susceptible or 

detrimental genes accumulate and over generations of inbreeding, the probability that your 

offspring inheriting these genes becomes increasingly likely with every generation. Such a 

scenario is not uncommon and unfortunately occurs quite commonly in pedigree dogs and 

many of our domesticated animals. 

Apart from the accumulation of potentially detrimental genes, another big issue with an 

inbred population is the lack genetic diversity between individuals in the population. This 

means that the probability of you sharing your genes with another individual in the population


becomes increasingly high in comparison to the probability in a randomly and selectively outbreeding 

population. 

Why is it necessary to have genetic variability? What are the advantages of having a 

highly diverse and varied gene pool? 

To highlight such example, here is an extract from Wikipedia: “George C. Williams gave an 

example based around the elm tree. In the forest of this example, empty patches between 

trees can support one individual each. When a patch becomes available because of the 

death of a tree, other trees' seeds will compete to fill the patch. Since the chance of a seed's 

success in occupying the patch depends upon its genotype, and a parent cannot anticipate 

which genotype is most successful, each parent will send many seeds, creating competition 

between siblings. Natural selection therefore favours parents which can produce a variety of 

offspring.” 

High genetic variability and diversity can help improve a population’s chances of exploiting 

untapped resources or new environments. When resources are exhausted in a given area, 

competition increases and individuals may then be forced to migrate to other areas in search 

of available resources. However, these resources can be in areas subjected to harsh 

environmental conditions or treacherous with predators. Those individuals within a 

population that can adapt morphologically and behaviourally to these new environments can 

therefore exploit these new resources and survive to reproduce and eventually spread their 

genes. In a way diversity and variability offers the population more ‘chips ‘to bet with’ and a 

population with the most chips to begin with will have the highest probability of winning big. If 

the gene pool is diverse, then there is a greater chance that individuals from this population 

can adapt to their new conditions and exploit the riches. These individuals carrying genes for 

these advantageous adaptations can therefore survive, mature into adults, reproduce and 

produce fitter and more offspring. Over time these adaptations become fixed into the 

population’s gene pool, as those lacking the advantageous gene sets would be outcompeted 

by those better adapted. By having variability, you are increasing the probability of your 

offspring’s ability and potential to adapt to changing environments. Such process is called 

natural selection, and this does not happen over one generation but through several or many 

generations. 

However, genetic diversity can be the deciding factor of whether a population 

survives, thrives or goes extinct. 

The Red Queen Hypothesis based on a reference to the Red Queen in the novel Alice and 

Wonderland, uses the analogy depicting the race between Alice and the Red Queen; 

describing nature’s evolutionary arms race. The author compares Alice’s race with those 

faced by practically every organism between pathogens, parasites, and predators and their 

hosts and preys. There is always a conflict between the exploited and the exploiter. The prey 

and the host, the exploited, will always try and stay one step ahead of their exploiters 

(predators and parasites) by evolving better immune systems or defence mechanisms. As a 

result, there is an ongoing cycle as the exploiters are forced to evolve better mechanisms to 

exploit their prey or host and so forth. This cycle is called the evolutionary arms’ race. In 

evolutionary terms, this is essentially a race between the exploiters and the exploited. As 

pathogens and diseases can wipe out entire populations; this can pose a serious problem to 

10 



populations that lack genetic diversity and variability. If a population lacks genetic diversity, 

pests and diseases can easily exploit the population. In a genetically varied population, it is 

harder for the pathogen to exploit all the different combination of genes present. For 

example, it’s harder to win a game of lottery when you have to get all 10 numbers right as 

opposed to only getting all 3 numbers. During a disease outbreak in a genetically diverse 

population, susceptible individuals will die, however, not all the population is susceptible and 

the resistant ones will therefore survive and have a higher probability of spreading their 

genes. In a closely related population with no genetic diversity, there is no spectrum of 

resistance or immunity; all individuals are either susceptible or resistant. Therefore, parasites 

and pathogens can be important selective agents in a population. In addition, many empirical 

studies have also shown that high genetic variation in honeybees can be correlated with 

lower disease prevalence and increases in colony growth rate, suggesting the benefits of 

genetic diversity in preventing malignant infections and reducing parasite transmissions. This 

helps explain why natural selection has favoured out-breeding and a diverse gene pool over 

inbreeding in many animals and plants. 

A good example is the evolution of polyandry (mating with multiple males) in honeybees. 

One mating from a male can keep the virgin queen fertilised for the rest of her life, yet mated 

queens brave the elements and risk predation in order to mate again. In one particular case, 

a researcher documented one female that had mated with 100 males. Further empirical 

studies have shown that genetic diversity and variability can mean the survival of a colony of 

bees, which helps explain why these queens take considerable risks to leave the safety of 

her nest to mate with more males. 

So inbreeding is bad right? 

There are good reasons to assume that inbreeding is bad and detrimental. However, it is 

wrong to assume that inbreeding is detrimental to all animals. For example, many animals 

including insects and even mammals are inbred, such as termites (read up on diplodiploidy 

for those who are interested), parasitic wasps, the African naked mole rat and even our 

beloved felines and canines. Therefore, we need to consider whether inbreeding is 

detrimental on a case-by-case basis. 

There’s no denying the benefits of genetic variability and diversity, but this depends 

on the circumstances. 

Inbreeding has played a big role in domestication and selective breeding for desirable traits 

in dogs, cattles, pigs etc. It is even used by plant breeders to select for disease, pest and 

drought resistant crops for example. Inbreeding can also be equally important in fixing 

beneficial genes in the population, which is why traits for antibiotic resistance can spread 

extremely quickly within a population. In other words, once resistance or a beneficial trait 

evolves, the offspring or clone is almost guaranteed to inherit those sets of beneficial genes. 

However, crossing of genes as a result of sexual reproduction means there is only a 50% 

chance that gene would get passed onto your offspring (unless both your parents possess 

the beneficial trait). Similarly, inbreeding can also be advantageous, as useful mutations 

such as resistance to a particular disease can be passed on to the next generation very very 

quickly, whilst out breeding increases the chances of your resistance genes being mixed up 

with susceptible genes and diluting the advantageous resistance. In insects with shorter 

11 



generation times, such advantageous genes can be accumulated at a much quicker rate 

than for example a mammal, which is why pest insects can become resistant to insecticides. 

So how does this relate to breeding mantids? 

I remember when I first started keeping mantids people were claiming that they were 

experiencing the effects of inbreeding in species such as Gongylus gongylodes, with low 

hatch rates, random deaths, uninterested males and females laying dud oothecae. However 

we can’t say for sure whether this was true or hobbyists simply pointed their finger to 

inbreeding (as it is pretty easy to do so especially when a mantis dies ‘for no reason’). 

I will let you make your mind up on this topic, but from my experience, I believe that under 

certain circumstances, inbreeding can actually be beneficial. 

By keeping a mantis in captivity, we have to understand that we are providing them with an 

'unnatural' environment. We provide them with a limited range of temperatures, humidity, 

food items and subject them to artificial lights and photoperiod. Along with these unnatural 

conditions, how many of us can say that we had more than 20 breeding individuals to breed 

with? By using such a small number of individuals we are creating a bottleneck effect. We 

are inadvertently providing a selective pressure when keeping and breeding mantids in 

captivity. Think back to the natural selection. In this new artificial environment, those 

individuals that can adapt, survive and breed in these environments will continue to survive 

and reproduce, whilst those that are the most sensitive to environmental (and physical) 

stress will die and fail to reproduce. If a certain stock is doing fine, the introduction of new 

genes into the gene pool can be more detrimental than advantageous contrary to popular 

belief. Even if both stocks came from the same country, one cannot assume that they both 

came from the same location or are adapted to the same environment/microclimate. This is 

one of the reasons why IGM had been set up, so people can keep track of their stocks and 

its origin. For those interested, I suggest going back to the first issue of the newsletter and 

reading Christian’s IGM article (rather than having to repeat what he has written). 

Realistically, the majority of people on the forum are casual hobbyists. How many of us can 

say we have bred a particular species for more than 5 or even 3 generations? Most people 

either get rid of their stock or move onto another species after several generations. If this is 

the case, the probability you will encounter any problems from inbreeding is close to zero. 

However inbreeding can contribute to whether a newly introduced line will persist or ‘go 

extinct’ in the hobby, which is why we should consider whether inbreeding is detrimental on 

a case-by-case basis. Under such circumstances, it seems like inbreeding can actually be 

beneficial, although I base this all on my experience. 

This was a topic for a rather heated debate on UKMF earlier this year and I thought it would 

be interesting to revisit the issue with an open mind. The difficulties breeders face when 

introducing a new species in the hobby and making sure that it will still be around in years to 

come is finding the balance between establishing as much genetic diversity as possible from 

a small group of captive stocks but yet ensuring that introduction of genes from wild 

specimens do not reset the gene pool of captive populations to captive environments. This is 

no easy feat and this is probably why many of the new species that get introduced into the 

hobby never get establish and die out before they can become widely available to everyone. 

12 



It is difficult to say whether a species failed to establish in culture after a few years is a result 

of limited genetic variability. There are many reasons why stock die out, especially when 

working with such a small number of breeding individuals, stochastic (random) events 

become a very important factor in influencing whether a species persists or perishes from 

culture. These are random events, which can cause a substantial consequence on a 

population. In the wild, these include sudden drought, an introduction of a non-native 

predator, freak weather etc. For example, the marine iguana populations were threatened to 

extinction as a result of the El Nino in the Galapagos. In captive conditions, the stochastic 

event is us. We are humans after all, and no one can say they have never made a mistake. 

The issue of whether genetic diversity is necessary in mantis husbandry is complex. In 

summary, when genetic variability is high, adaptation to new environments occurs quicker. 

Over several generations, a particular stock can become adapted to the artificial conditions. 

When we eliminate predators, parasites and diseases and provide our beloved mantids with 

suboptimal conditions and a constant supply of food, this allows more individuals with 

different genotypes to survive and reproduce. Mutations still occur and over time the genetic 

variability increases because the environment is no longer a selective pressure as the stock 

becomes acclimatised to artificial conditions thus more individuals make it to adulthood and 

reproduce. When a species remains in a hobby for several generations, the captive 

population becomes increasingly adapted to the environmental conditions we provide. I am 

not suggesting that introducing new blood to the gene pool is bad, but if it is unnecessary, I 

think it’s best working with what we’ve got instead of having to constantly rely on collecting 

new ‘blood’ from the wild. 

I hope this article has stimulated some thoughts into this topic. 

13 



Mantid Nymph Care: A Personal Overview 

Kirobella 

After a mantid has successfully mated, a fertile ootheca laid and the incubation requirements 

of ventilation, humidity and heat have been met, a handful or more nymphs will need 

attention. All three mentioned elements are key to the growth and survival of nymphs. Each 

can be critical to such delicate creatures – especially in the first week or so of their life. 

After hatching from an ootheca nymphs need to harden off the chitin exoskeleton which 

protects them. The surface of the exoskeleton becomes rigid after a while which, for 

example, allows the legs to set properly. A good circulation of clean air is necessary but 

drafts should be avoided. 

A collection of various dud and spent oothecae (left) and a female Hierodula 

unimaculata laying an ootheca (right). 

I have found nymphs will quench their thirst twenty four hours or so after hatching with a very 

light fine mist spray. Preferably the water would have been left to stand for twenty four hours 

prior. It should neither be too cold or too hot – tepid is best. This very fine misting will be 

sufficient for their small mouthparts and avoids the water from forming into larger droplets in 

which the nymphs can drown. I will repeat spray three to four times on the very first day 

before any prey item is offered to them. Use your judgement to see that indeed the first 

misting has evaporated before continuing with successive watering. Excess humidity can 

lead to an accumulation of moisture especially if the first factor of ventilation is not met. 

Furthermore, large moisture droplets can prove fatal to a nymph. 

To maintain a background level of humidity some use a simple plastic box, such as those 

obtained from the purchase of a box of locusts for example, which has small perforations in it 

and to which further holes can simply be added. A sufficient wad of kitchen roll or fabric that 

has been wetted and placed in the box can be used to maintain the humidity. Note that the 

14 



lid to the box is secured too. Some of the material may also be teased through a small hole 

in the plastic so as to provide for a drinking platform if needed. Emphasis to this last point is 

that when I have kept a hatch communally there always seem to be a number of nymphs 

that will permanently occupy a lower niche in the enclosure and it is for their benefit to which 

I address this tendency. Often branches, leaves and other footholds will block an adequate 

fall of spray without a more heavier ‘drenching’ since I will only mist from the top. 

A warm ambient temperature is beneficial for all mantids, some requiring more heat than 

others but generally not until they are more developed in further instars. This will be very 

relevant for us members here in the United Kingdom having a temperate climate, which is 

variable even upon summer days as well as when in the year an ootheca hatches. 

Hatching S. aurea nymphs (left) and a fine spray mist dispenser (right) 

I have found that most oothecae hatching in the spring or early summer will see nymphs not 

requiring additional heat sources and that the mean temperature day and night is suitable. 

Nymphs are quite delicate and additional heat is not always necessary, although heat will aid 

humidity as well as in general increasing metabolic rate and in turn that drive to feed and 

thus grow. Another factor is the size of the enclosure and the material from which it is made 

which will add to the overall equation of the nymphs’ husbandry, if indeed additional heat is 

used. Nymphs within a heated ‘insect room’ are fine but the last issue concerns those that 

only have one or more separate enclosures to look after and may be thinking of using heatmats 

etc. 

With many species having nymph numbers reach one hundred or more a suitable enclosure 

is required. I cannot emphasise the importance of the previous three elements which may 

well optimise the success rate which you will experience raising such nymphs and these will 

influence your choice of enclosure. Of course, if a spare large glass or plastic tank is at hand 

then I’m sure that would suffice. Not all species need nymphs separated as to avoid 

cannibalism and many will co-habit up to around 5 th instar or more. This is especially true of 

most Sphodromantis species. 

15 



16 


I recommend the fishing 

ring-net enclosures which 

can be found for as little as 

one pound in high street 

outlets. These provide 

ventilation, can be mist 

sprayed from the outside 

and hung from a ceiling out 

of the way. A slow rainfall 

of faeces will over time 

accumulate though. . Be 

sure to check that the 

mesh size is adequate to 

prevent the escape of fruit 

flies. I have one type that 

has a very fine triangular 

weave whilst others have 

hexagonal, round or square 

weaves. 

A cheap £1 ring net 60 cm x 30 cm (left). A slit on one side approximately one straws 

width for feeding (right) and a close up of the triangular weave of the ring nets I find 

best. 

When I use these ring nets I will cut a small hole in the lower side of the netting, one along 

the hem of the net where the two ends meet, and then sew the top and the bottom of the 

said to stop the slit from widening. The slit is just a sufficient size to allow a drinking straw to 

pass through it (or the tubing from a pooter). Fruit flies are fed into the chamber via this 

opening. A small safety pin provides to close it when not in use. 

With the approach of an expected hatch the breeder has to be prepared. An essential and 

often much overlooked item is the availability of prey. One should establish a good few 

batches of fruit fly cultures beforehand. All nymphs will take fruit flies. What I find convenient 

with fruit flies is that because they are so small they will not disturb a nymph during ecdysis. 

A few have reported that a nymph has fallen during such a process resulting from blue or 

green bottle fly action. I will use fruit flies for as long as possible – in some instances right up 

until 4 th instar depending upon species. There are many online outlets from which fruit flies 

are obtainable, or any good pet store, provided an order 

is placed and perhaps paid for prior. 

As the nymphs grow and develop into larger instars, 

larger prey items such as wax worms and moths, green 

and blue bottle flies, maggots, hatchlings and small 

locusts will be needed. The need to feed them will 

eventually become apparent if the cannibalism rate 

increases. I tended to leave a batch of fly castors in a 

tub that hatched so many every day and topped this up


with further castors that had been kept cooler. A variety of other prey was offered every 

week. 

I have used the frame from a flexarium here covered with a finer net to house a batch of 

Rhombodera basalis. The net size prevented fruit fly escape. I later attached thin ribbons of 

the same netting to the ceiling and left them to dangle so as to provide a greater surface 

area for the nymphs to occupy. 

Left: A couple of potted Guzmania bromeliads placed on a wet tea towel within 

the net flexarium. Right: Two flexariums placed one on top of the other to 

accommodate two different hatches. Both have Lawsons cypress branches within. The 

upper unit shows also a tub of green bottle castors which were placed within and allowed to 

hatch in the heat of the summer. 

Later in the season a few artificial stems were suspended from the ceiling of the net 

enclosure to provide a greater surface area for the spatial distribution of the nymphs. This 

allowed them to occupy a niche, to catch prey and ecdyse and minimise disturbance from 

each other and prey. 

All photographs are the authors. 

17 



Breeding Events 

Gillian Higgins 

From the forum classifieds: nymphs bred by members and offered for sale from 

September 2011 to December 2011 

Species IGM Offered from 

Acromantis formosana UK 

Acontista multicolor 153 UK, Poland 

Cilnia humeralis 169 UK 

Creobroter apicalis 211 UK 

Creobroter gemmatus Poland, UK 

Deroplatys lobata UK 

Gongylus gongylodes 177 Germany, 

Hierodula membranacea UK 

Hymenopus coronatus Germany, UK 

Idolomantis diabolica UK 

Miomantis binotata 226 UK. Switzerland 

Miomantis cf caffra (Johannesburg) 222 Netherlands 

Miomantis paykulli UK 

Omomantis zebrata 176 UK 

Oxyopsis gracilis UK 

Phyllocrania paradoxa Poland, UK 

Phyllovates chlorophaea UK 

Polyspilota aeruginosa UK 

Popa spurca Poland, UK 

Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii 49 UK 

Sibylla pretiosa Poland 

Sphodromantis cf aurea 164 UK 

Sphodromantis gastrica Poland 

Sphodromantis sp.(blue flash) 214 Germany 

Stagmomantis theophila 220 UK 

Theopropus elegans UK 

26 species of captive bred nymphs were offered for sale in the classifieds during the last 4 

month period. In total this year nymphs from 46 species were captive bred and offered for 

sale on the forum. 

At the end of February a forum thread was started to report matings and hatches. The 

purpose of the reports was mainly to see if species declining in culture were being lost 

because of breeding difficulty or because of lack of breeding attempts. Twenty-one members 

entered reports and in addition entered data such as hatch number and incubation time. 

Breeding data will vary depending on environmental conditions, parental nutrition and the 

number of oothecae a female has laid. However by collecting the data from a number of 

keepers the range of typical hatch rates and other data can be determined and added to 

care sheets. For example Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii ooths were reported to hatch between 

15 and 23 nymphs and Hymenopus coronatus were reported to hatch between 70 and 105 

18 



nymphs. A big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to submit these reports, they 

will eventually also be submitted into a species in culture database. The results are 

summarised in the supplementary table at the end of the newsletter. 

Some interesting findings from the breeding reports for the year: 

� Species that are being very successfully bred in culture at the moment by a number 

of breeders are Acontista multicolor Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii, Hymenopus 

coronatus, Popa spurca, Deroplatys desiccata, Phyllocrania paradoxa, 

Pseudoharpax virescens and Sibylla pretiosa. In most cases at least four different 

keepers reported successfully breeding these species, but with Hymenopus 

coranatus and Phyllocrania paradoxa this also included two generations reported 

over the year. For example Paul MI6 reported a first generation of Hymenopus 

corantus in February 2011 and a second generation ten months later in December 

2011. The Ghost Mantis (Phyllocrania paradoxa) had the most reports (7) of 

successful breeding attempts. 

� There could be a problem with breeding Theopropus elegans. Five keepers reported 

mating this species but only one reported a successful hatch. For example one 

keeper noted ‘Theopropus elegans. Mated, ooths laid and failed to hatch’. 

� A hatch was reported of one nymph from a Creobroter gemmatus ooth that was 

thought to be infertile. Could this be a possible case of parthenogenesis? 

� A Harpagomantis tricolor ooth hatched 14 nymphs with one or two nymphs hatching 

every day over nine days. 

Thesprotia graminis hatching report by Nico 

This review is based on three oothecae. Two of them were laid by mated females. One was 

laid by an unmated female. My original stock came from a breeder in the USA. He sent three 

oothecae from mated females, captive bred by him. I presume his original stock came from 

the wild as this species can be found in this state. 

Incubation. 

� First ooth: Room temperature (25-26°C), humidity level 50-60%, never sprayed. 

Incubated for 5 weeks. Hatched 20 nymphs. 

� Second ooth: 28°C, humidity level 50%, sprayed every week. Incubated 4 weeks. 

Hatched more than 30 nymphs! 

� Third ooth (not fertilised): 28°C, humidity level 50%, sprayed every week. Incubated 

6-7 weeks. Hatched 3 nymphs. 

Nymph care 

I gave water to the nymphs immediately after hatching as they appeared to like and need to 

drink then. Nymphs were sprayed lightly with water every 2 days, but they can tolerate a 

totally dry climate. They were able to catch Drosophila hydei and D. melanogaster fruitflies 

without any problem but will look for smaller prey such as springtails. Wood wool seems the 

perfect decor for them when they are young. Cannibalism will occur only if there is not 

enough food. They do not seem to need much space to achieve successful molting (every 2 

weeks). At the time of writing they are now fourth instar (1 st ooth), third instar (2 nd ooth) and 

second instar (3 rd ooth). 

19 


Competition Winners 


Congratulations to our picture of the month (POTM) winners: 

August 2011, theme ‘A Mantis on or with a flower or flowers’. Sulasula. Newsletter cover. 

September 2011, theme ‘Predatory behaviour’, Bogzla. 

October 2011, theme ‘Halloween/fear, Sulasula. Shown below. 

November 2011, theme ‘Dead leaf mantises’, Bauapaul. 

‘Hellboy’ the winning entry in the October Halloween POTM. Photograph of male 

Gongylus gongylodes by Sulasula 

All the winning pictures of 2011 can be viewed in a ‘sticky’ thread in the competition section. 

All forum members are encouraged to enter and vote and suggestions for themes are 

welcome. 

Congratulations to Jane who won the book The Praying Mantids by Frederick R Prete, 

Harrington Wells, Lawrence E Hurd. The book was donated by Andie Johnson as an award 

for spotting the forum Christmas decoration. 

20 


Forum Digest: 2011 


Following a suggestion from Mrblue I have selected some of the many interesting threads 

on the forum. For this issue one thread has been selected from each month. It was hard to 

select just one thread from each month as some months had a number of very interesting 

threads that should really be included but are not, due to space. In future issues this will be a 

regular feature with selected abbreviations of some of the threads. If any member would like 

to volunteer to produce a regular forum digest for the newsletter please contact me. 

January 

I thought it would be a good idea to remind everyone about instars with this post from Rob 

Byatt in January 2011 when he reposted a post he made on another forum (Bugnation) in 

2007. “Okay, as most of you know I'm a traditionalist when it comes to naming the stadium 

at which an insect is at. I wish for all posts to describe this stadium as an instar not 'L'. This 

is for a reason - it is the correct scientific way. We all know what happened last time I didn't 

reference this, so.....The intervals between the ecdyses are known as stages or stadia, and 

the form assumed by an insect during a particular stadium is termed an instar. (Imms, A.D. 

1964. A general Textbook of Entomology. London: Methuen & Co. inc.. p.222.)" In recent 

months I have seen an increasing number of people slipping back to the dark side, hence 

this post” 

And people are slipping back again, hence the reminder for the New Year here. 

February 

Drumkitchen (Stefan Engelhardt) began a breeding diary for Deroplatys desiccata in 

February that has had over 2000 views to date. This is a very detailed, complete diary with 

beautiful pictures and observations and I agree with Kirobella’s post: “Congrats - one of the 

best diaries I have read”. 

This diary has the full scientific name in the title of the thread and so makes it easy for 

people who are searching for information on a species. It is hoped that in 2012 we will begin 

to push towards having scientific names in the first instance in a thread as it will help 

searches and avoid confusion. 

March 

In March 94 members submitted a list of the species they were keeping into survey software. 

A discussion of the full results can be seen in Newsletter no. 5. A total of 85 species were 

being kept and for me a surprise result was that Gongylus gongylodes was the second most 

commonly recorded species in culture at the time. 

April 

In April Cameron Die Konigin posted some pictures of the remarkable Peruvian Shield 

Mantis (Choeradodis rhombicollis) that he had described collecting on his trip to Ecuador in 

the February 2011 addition of the newsletter. “They are slow to grow, presumably because 

21 



they put most of their effort into developing the 4.5 cm wide shield (for the female), hence 

why they are called shield mantis or leaf mantis.” 

Chun Siew added that he had collected various males in Costa Rica but never managed to 

get a female, since they were coming to light-traps rather than hand-collecting as Cameron 

had. 

May 

Mantis Massive started an interesting thread called “Taming the mantis” asking whether 

people notice if their mantises get accustomed to being handled over time. “If you take them 

out of their enclosure for handling when they are nymphs, will it be less of a hassle when 

they are full size and you want to mate them? Basically, I don't want to cause my mantis 

nymphs (first to 4 th instar) any extra stress, but am finding that the mere presence of me 

peering in at them will sometimes spark quite a full on threat display” 

Electrophil, mick-h and strike had all found that their mantises become calmer with regular 

handling. 

June 

Bransckia posted information on the Humbertiella stock currently in culture in the thread 

‘Humbertiella "ceylonica" is Humbertiella sp. (IGM 212). “It is the same stock that was 

introduced in August 2010 from India. More details are in the IGM List number 212: The 

information may help if you are looking for counterparts or more specimens of this 

stock/species.” 

In the discussion that followed forum members shared their information on the care 

conditions they use for this species. Draco wrote that he had a hatching rate of around 30- 

40 nymphs but that he had difficulty keeping them healthy. Branskia replied that he had the 

same difficulty with raising all the hatchlings. Kovachii and Psychniko also shared their 

culture conditions and both used very high humidity with the hatchlings. A more full account 

of the culture conditions that these members used can be found in this thread. 

July 

In the General Mantis Discussions forum Diamorphine 

started a thread ‘Male ate our female?’ as it appeared that 

her male Ghost Mantis (Phyllocrania paradoxa) might 

have eaten the female during mating. In the discussion 

that followed there were three further examples of this 

unusual behaviour. MantidLord reported that he had an 

adult male Iris oratoria which ate the female. 

Creobroterman reported that he had seen a 

Pseudoharpax adult male munch on the female's thorax 

but that he separated them in time and Mylo reported that 

a Spiny Flower Mantis (Pseudocreobotra whalbergii) 

exhibited "reverse cannibalism” where the male was on 

her back and locked onto her and ate her head. 

22 


Phyllocrania paradoxa showing 

fatal injury. Photograph by 

Diamorphine


August 

Danielbd100 asked for advice on breeding Mantis religiosa after being given two adults that 

mated almost immediately. Drumkitchen and Tom Boeije offered good ootheca and nymph 

care advice and then the discussion moved onto ooth diapause in this species. 

Drumkitchen explained diapause: “For some species, especially the ones to be found in the 

cooler temperate regions, a diapause is absolutely crucial for their development inside of the 

eggs. Without a cooler period over several months they would never hatch”. 

Tom Boeije and creobroterman offered some techniques for incubating ooths in diapause. 

By placing ooths into a cooler environment the resting diapause is broken and the ooths can 

develop and hatch. This prevents them hatching before the winter frosts. 

September 

Regularly on the forum we get identification requests for mantises found in the wild. Although 

a full identification is not really possible from a picture, suggestions can be made by 

members of a possible genus and maybe species when combined with the knowledge of the 

location. This was the case when RyoKenzaki asked for identification help for two species 

he found in Malaysia. Dessicata suggested an Amantis species for one and RyoKenzaki 

agreed that seemed possible as the ooth also had the appearance of an Amantis ooth. 

Christian then suggested Hapalopeza nitens as the other species and agreed the possible 

identification of Amantis, and suggested it was probably A. reticulata. 

October 

Birdfly began a thread “Plistospilota guineensis, Mega mantis, 3rd time lucky ??” An 

interesting observation that he made was that the behaviour of this latest generation was 

different to previous generations. “My last male moulted to adulthood successfully last night 

so I have 3 adult males and 2 females now. I must say that these 5 are real settled 

compared to the 10 I've kept before which would throw themselves to the floor at the 

slightest chance, run around like headless chickens and damage themselves until totally 

stressed out”. 

MrBlue suggested this might be the distance from the wild. Rob Byatt has kept these for 

many generations and wrote “The species seems to be settling down a bit at last; they are 

becoming easier to rear (notice how many managed that last year compared to previous 

years?), but breeding them is still a pain“. 

23 


The thread has stunning pictures and 

valuable information on this species and 

continues into 2012 AlienMarky and Emago’s 

breeding attempts. 

Plistospilota guineensis foreleg 

showing the discoidal spines. 

Photograph by Gary Symes


November 

Stunning photos of a species new to the forum were 

posted in November from two threads started in October. 

Kovachii posted pictures of a mating pair of 

Parymenopus davisoni. The species is sometimes seen 

referred to as Parhymenopus davisoni but 

Branksikia.cleared up the name confusion with a 

reference to the paper where the name was revised 

(Roy, R. 2007. Parymenopus Wood-Mason 1890, et 

Cataspilota Giglio-Tos, genres valides (Dict. Mantidae). - 

Bulletin de la Societe Entomologique de France 112(1): 

p. 89-91). 

Chun started a thread Parymenopus davisoni (IGM 230) 

in late October with some photographs nymphs and 

Mrblue also added photos the interesting comparison 

shot shown of a P. davisoni female (above), one moult to 

adult and a Hymenopus.coronatus female (below), 

perhaps three moults to adult. Hopefully we will see 

some more of this species in 2012. 

December 

For December I have chosen a thread that began at the 

beginning of the year and has continued throughout the 

year to December. The thread was begun by Lethalhayd 

to find out who was still keeping Acanthops sp. IGM 151. 

Gurd wrote that his first generation females were still 

growing strong after 6 months as adults and gave 

breeding and care advice. Chun described breeding this 

species and wrote that “The males can be a little rough 

when mating and it is not uncommon to see the males 

accidentally piercing the female abdomen”. 

The thread was quiet for a number of months until. 

PaulM16 reported that he had hatching success. Mrblue 

wrote that the unusual shape of the females seemed to 

confound the males sometimes. PaulM16 replied “I 

noticed that on the first 2 mating attempts the female kept her shape fairly 'tight' and fought 

off the male aggressively, but on the third attempt she lowered her abdomen as if to signal 

that she was receptive to the male and didn’t so much as flinch during his approach”. 

In November PaulM16 reported the good news that his third ootheca had the largest hatch 

yet with 47 nymphs. This post that began in January ended with success for this species 

with this last post of the year by PaulM16. “4th and 5th ooths have also hatched 35 and 38 

nymphs respectively. 6th ooth has been sent out to another breeder and my female has laid 

ooths 7,8 & 9 over the last few weeks”. 

24 


Photograph by MrBlue 

Acanthops sp. mating. 

Photograph by MrBlue


Mantodea Abstracts, November 2010 – December 

2011 

Compiled by Gillian Higgins 

The abstracts for scientific papers related to the study of mantises are listed below. 

Allen, L. E., Barry, K. L., Holwell, G. I. (2011), Mate Location and Antennal Morphology in 

the Praying Mantid Hierodula majuscula. Australian Journal of Entomology. 2011, doi: 

10.1111/j.1440-6055.2011.00843. 

Abstract: Many sensory modes can be exploited to determine the location of potential 

mates. In insects, long-distance location primarily involves chemical or acoustic cues, 

whereas short-distance communication mainly utilises visual or tactile cues. The structural 

complexity of the environment may influence the transmission of information, and therefore, 

it is common to see multiple sensory modes employed to increase the likelihood of accurate 

mate location. Praying mantids are known to use airborne chemicals for long-distance 

location and visual cues in close proximity. This study examined which types of cues are 

used for mate location in an unstudied species, Hierodula majuscula, from Queensland, 

Australia. The timing of female pheromone emission during ‘calling’ periods reached a peak 

at 3:00 h, with the majority of females assuming a calling posture at this time. Scanning 

electron microscopy was used to confirm the presence of basiconic sensilla (used for 

chemical reception) on male antennae, and males successfully responded to female 

chemical cues and subsequently located potential mates. Males were not as successful at 

finding females when restricted to using visual cues. 

Allen, L. E., Barry, K. L., Holwell, G. I., Herberstein, M. E., Perceived Risk of Sperm 

Competition Affects Juvenile Development and Ejaculate Expenditure in Male Praying 

Mantids. Animal Behaviour, 2011, 82 (5): 1201-1206, 

Abstract: Sperm competition occurs when a female mates with more than one male, and 

the sperm of those males compete directly over fertilizing her eggs. In polyandrous animals, 

males can respond to the perceived risk of sperm competition by flexibly adjusting aspects of 

their development and reproductive investment. In high-risk scenarios we might expect 

males to accelerate development so as to mature quickly and locate receptive females first 

and/or transfer more sperm so as to outcompete rival sperm. We examined these 

predictions using the false garden mantid, Pseudomantis albofimbriata, a medium-sized 

praying mantid found on the east coast of Australia. Males are less than half the mass of 

females. Sexual cannibalism occurs in up to 40% of interactions, highlighting the importance 

of investing optimally in reproductive opportunities for males. We housed juvenile males in 

two operational sex ratio treatments: three males, one female (high risk of sperm 

competition) and one male, three females (low risk). We found no evidence of accelerated 

development in the high-risk group; instead, high-risk males took longer to mature. Possibly, 

males exposed to a higher risk of sperm competition delay maturity in order to invest in 

testes development and sperm production. We also found that males reared in the high-risk 

treatment transferred significantly more sperm than males reared in the low-risk treatment, 

providing evidence of strategic ejaculation in male P. albofimbriata. This is the first study 

demonstrating a male response to the perceived risk of sperm competition via delayed 

development and increased ejaculate investment in praying mantids. 

25 



Avendaño, J., Sarmiento, C. E., Allometry and Ontogeny in Callibia Diana Stål 

(Mantodea: Acanthopidae). Neotropical entomology, 2011, 40 (4): 462-469. 

Abstract: The life-cycle of Callibia diana Stål is described and linear and geometric 

morphometrics are used for studying allometrics and shape changes throughout this 

neotropical mantid species' life-cycle. Significant changes were expected in the allometry 

and shape of the raptorial leg and abdomen, given the importance of hunting and 

reproduction. The allometric slopes were obtained by using total length as the independent 

variable. Geometric morphometrics of landmarks were used for frontal femur and tibia. 

Hunting and reproduction-related structures had the steepest slopes and positive 

allometries. Negative growth of both disc width and head width found in the last moulting 

event may be a consequence of prothoracic muscle growth which is responsible for 

predatory strike strength. The tibial claw and femur of the raptorial leg become larger, while 

their spines become more orthogonal to the longitudinal axes which may facilitate prey 

retention. These changes in mantid shape throughout ontogeny were consistent and 

suggested the resource allocation and development programming of the body that improved 

reaching distance and prey retention. 

Barry, K., Holwell, G., Herberstein, M., A Paternity Advantage for Speedy Males? Sperm 

Precedence Patterns and Female Re-mating Frequencies in a Sexually Cannibalistic 

Praying Mantid. Evolutionary Ecology, 2011, 25 (1): 107-119 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10682-010-9384-3 

Abstract: Scramble competition polygyny is expected when females and/or resources are 

widely dispersed and not easily monopolized by males, or when there is an abundance of 

mates during an extremely restricted reproductive period. Additional factors such as first 

male sperm precedence or low female re-mating rate might further explain the propensity of 

males to engage in scramble competition. The sexually cannibalistic praying mantid 

Pseudomantis albofimbriata exhibits a polygynous mating system, where females exist in 

low-density populations and male competition manifests as the race to find females rather 

than as direct physical fighting. Here, we aim to determine whether there is a paternity 

advantage for the first-male to mate and/or a low frequency of female re-mating. First, we 

determined sperm precedence patterns in P. albofimbriata using the sterile male technique. 

Second, we tested the likelihood of female re-mating in P. albofimbriata by comparing the 

close-range approach behaviour and frequency of successful mating attempts for males 

when paired with virgin as opposed to recently mated females, and by comparing the 

frequency of long-distance male attraction between virgin and mated females. We found no 

paternity advantage for the first male to mate, rather a second male advantage. Although 

mated females were not rejected by males when approached from close-range, they were 

chemically unattractive to males searching from a distance. Since initial mate attraction in 

many praying mantids, including P. albofimbriata, is mediated via long-distance chemical 

communication, we believe the latter result is more ecologically relevant and therefore more 

important. These results suggest that the relatively low frequency of female re-mating 

observed in P. albofimbriata may be an additional factor driving scramble competition in this 

system. 

26 



Battiston, R., Galliani,C., On the Life-cycle of Ameles spallanzania (Rossi, 1792) 

(Insecta, Mantodea). Atti Soc. it. Sci. nat. Museo civ. Stor. nat. Milano, 2011, 52 (I): 25-35. 

Abstract: The recent find of an Ameles spallanzania population in a continental area of 

northern Italy permitted to redraw the northernmost edge of the distribution of this species 

and to study its life cycle in extreme climatic conditions. A comparison with collecting records 

of adult specimens from the Mediterranean area has been performed to put in evidence how 

this species adapts its life-cycle timings in different latitudes: hatching earlier or using 

nymphs to overwinter in warmer localities or oothecae in colder ones. Overwintering 

strategies of Ameles spallanzania have been compared with strategies of other genera of 

mantids that share the same habitat but have different life-cycle strategies and general 

distribution. Different developing times in mantids seem to be linked to behavioural 

strategies more than physiological attitudes. 

Chandra, K., Sharma, R. M., Harshey, D. K., Gongylus gongylodes (Linnaeus) (Insecta: 

Mantodea): A New Record for Madhya Pradesh, India. Bugs R All, 2011, 17: 2230-7052. 

Koli, Y. J. and Bhawane G. P., Mantid Fauna of Chandoli National Park, Maharashtra, 

India. The Bioscan, 2011, 6 (1): 77-80 

Abstract: A year-long survey was conducted to assess the mantid species assemblage in 

various natural and anthropogenic habitats of Chandoli National park. Total of 11 Mantid 

species belonging to 11 genera, 7 subfamilies and 3 families were recorded. The family 

Mantidae (7 species) was found to be dominant in the study region, followed by families 

Hymenopodidae and Empusidae (2 species each). 

Kral, K., How Far Stationary Contrast Boundaries Can Be a Way to Elicit Behavioral 

Responses in Praying Mantis. Journal of Insect Behavior., 2011: 1-10 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10905-011-9283-7 

Abstract: The aim of the present study was to investigate the distance at which vertical 

black and white stripes (contrast boundaries) elicit object-related behavioral responses in 6th 

instar and adults of the praying mantis Mantis religiosa. The mantids reacted when the 

contrast boundaries were not further away than 60 cm. However, with increasing distance 

(>20 cm), the contrast boundaries became progressively less significant for the mantids. 

Jumps/preparation of jumps could be observed between 10 and 30 cm. The results are 

supportive for distance measurement of up to 20–30 cm, which corresponds to distance 

accessible for the insect. It seems that image motion cues induced by peering movements 

play an important role. 

Lombardo, F., Umbriaco, R., Taxonomic Re-evaluation of Parastagmatoptera abnormis 

Beier, 1963 (Dictyoptera, Mantidae: Stagmatopterinae): An Unusual Case of “Parasiteinduced” 

Synonymy. Zootaxa , 2011, 2735: 31–34 

Abstract: The Neotropical genus Parastagmatoptera Saussure includes medium-sized 

species distributed in tropical and subtropical areas of Central and Southern America. 

Thirteen nominal species have been so far described (Agudelo et al. 2007), with most 

species currently known from few specimens, often of one sex only. Beier (1963) described 

Parastagmatoptera abnormis Beier, 1963 based on a single male specimen from Surinam. 

Unfortunately, Beier’s original description lacks enough details to allow an accurate 

literature-based identification and, since its original description, no additional specimens 

ascribable to P. abnormis have been recorded. We recently had the opportunity to examine 

27 



the holotype of P. abnormis, which is deposited in the Biozentrum Grindel und Zoologisches 

Museum (ZMH-Hamburg, Germany). After the examination of the holotype’s external 

morphology, we believe that the erection of this species was the result of an unusual case of 

misidentification. The type specimen exhibits some interesting morphological features that 

we believe might have resulted from the activities of an internal parasite, which we describe 

as follows. 

Luan, F., Zhang, S., Cai, Y., Sun, Z., Wang, B., Huang, B., Li, Z,. Identification of the 

Molecular Origin and Development of a Panzootic Caused by Beauveria bassiana in 

Praying Mantis Populations in Eastern China. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, 2011, 

108, (2): 98-105. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022201111001121) 

Abstract: A panzootic in praying mantid species Tenodera sinensis and Statilia maculate, 

caused by Beauveria bassiana, occurred in north, southwest and southeast regions of Anhui 

Province, eastern China in Autumn, 2009. A 3-d principal component analysis (PCA) of 123 

isolates from three sites revealed that the B. bassiana populations were heterogeneous with 

obvious dominance. Furthermore, the causal source of the panzootic in Anhui was shown to 

be polyphyletic. The populations were homogenized into homogenous subunits for 

investigation of genetic structure by inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers. Variance 

was greater than 70%, largely due to genetic differences within populations and 

subpopulations. Genetic distances and genetic differentiation were negatively associated 

with geographic distances and it was speculated that this was due to the effects of 

monsoons and topography. Mantid isolates were divided into five pathotypes based on a 

two-way cluster analysis of genetic distance. Pathotype I consisted of the predominant 

subpopulations of Huangcangyu and Chashui populations, with a genetic distance of 0.120 

and gene flow up to 1.833. This pathotype caused a widespread epizootic in north and 

southwest Anhui, and Pathotype III caused enzootic at Site A in September and then 

epizootic in October, while the other three pathotypes caused enzootics at all three 

investigation sites. The widespread epizootics and isolated enzootics composed the 

polyphyletic panzootic in Anhui. A strong gene flow between isolates from the two mantid 

species was identified, resulting in negligible gene differentiation. This indicated a lack of 

host specificity in mantid isolates of B. bassiana. 

Maxwell, M.R., Gallego, K. M., Barry, K. L., Effects of Female Feeding Regime in a 

Sexually Cannibalistic Mantid: Fecundity, Cannibalism, and Male Response in 

Stagmomantis limbata (Mantodea). Ecological Entomology, 2010, 35 (6): 775-787. 

Abstract: 1. Female feeding regime exhibited a cascade of effects on reproductive biology 

and behaviour in the mantid Stagmomantis limbata (Hahn). 2. Well-fed females (High diet) 

consistently attained greater body mass, thicker abdomens, and higher fecundity than foodlimited 

females (Low diet) in four annual generations. Dorso-ventral abdominal thickness 

strongly correlated with fecundity. 3. In an experiment in captivity, Low diet females were 

more likely to cannibalize males than High diet females. 4. High diet females attracted more 

males than Low diet females in several contexts. In terms of long-range attraction, caged 

High diet females attracted more males in the field. In terms of short-range attraction, males 

preferentially mounted and copulated with High diet females in captive paired choice trials. In 

naturally-occurring pairs in the field, a preference for females with thick abdomens was 

evident. These results point to two possible explanations: male choice for well-fed females 

and state-dependent female pheromone emission. 5. Two years of field data indicate 

considerable variation in female feeding success, as measured by abdominal thickness. 

28 



Average feeding success in nature appears to be relatively high, when comparing the rate of 

abdominal expansion in the field to captive females maintained on High diets. 6. In the field, 

nearly all mounts and copulations occurred in September in both years, when female feeding 

success is expected to be high. If mating activity occurs during a window of high female 

feeding success, so as to reduce the risk of cannibalism for males, then the female feeding 

regime may be implicated in the phenology of mating activity in cannibalistic species. 

Mohammad, K. S., Alla, S. M. G., El-Hamouly, H., Ehrmann, R., Nasser, M. G. E., 

Mantodea of Egypt. Zootaxa, 2011, 3044: 1–27. 

Abstract: The Mantodea of Egypt were studied by examining and identifying specimens 

from four main Egyptian collections and some of those preserved in international museums, 

collecting specimens from various parts of the country between July 2007 and April 2010, 

and previous Egyptian records. We found 60 species belonging to 21 genera and 4 families. 

Eremiaphilidae included 31 species in 2 genera with one new record from Egypt, 

Eremiaphila gigas; Empusidae, 7 species in 4 genera; Mantidae, 18 species in 13 genera 

with one new species, Elaea solimani; and Tarachodidae, 3 species in 2 genera. We provide 

identification keys for Egyptian taxa, data on the material examined, the world distribution, 

synonyms and a description of the new species. 

O’Hanlon, J., Intraspecific Interactions and Their Effect on Habitat Utilisation by the 

Praying Mantid Ciulfina biseriata (Mantodea: Liturgusidae). Journal of Ethology 2011, 

29 (1): 47-54. Url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10164-010-0220-6 

Abstract: Tree trunks are spatially separated habitat patches for the tree-running mantid 

Ciulfina biseriata (Mantodea: Liturgusidae). This paper investigates how intraspecific 

interactions may affect spacing patterns in C. biseriata. Many mantid species inhabit tree 

trunk surfaces, but little is known about how they interact with this type of habitat. 

Behavioural observations and choice tests investigated the effect of a conspecific on habitat 

utilisation. Field surveys were used to investigate patterns of movement in the field. The 

decision to inhabit a tree trunk may be affected by the presence of a conspecific. Whereas 

adult males seek out females when selecting habitat, females will actively avoid males. 

Habitat choice decisions are primarily based on aspects of their mating system rather than 

on competition for space or food resources. The behavioural interactions of C. biseriata are 

described, including novel observations of same-sex mating behaviour in adult males. 

O’Hanlon, J. C. and Holwell, G. I., The Influence of Abrupt Forest Edges on Praying 

Mantid Populations. Insect Conservation and Diversity, 2011, 4 (2): 107–114. 

Abstract: 1. The concept of an 'edge' habitat that is influenced by the biotic and abiotic 

characteristics of neighbouring habitats is a broadly applied principle in ecology. 2. Ciulfina 

klassi Giglio-Tos (Mantodea: Liturgusidae) inhabit vertical tree trunk surfaces in a restricted 

patch of coastal Melaleuca woodlands in the world heritage listed Wet Tropics Region of far 

north Queensland, Australia. Preliminary observations suggested that abrupt forest edges 

may have a positive effect on population density in the praying mantis C. klassi. 3. During 

field surveys over a two-year period, mantid densities were found to be higher at forest 

edges than forest interiors. 4. Greater sapling recruitment at forest edges may contribute to 

this edge effect by providing dense patches of tree trunk habitats. 5. The population 

characteristics of C. klassi are also described here in the context of our current 

understanding of praying mantid life histories. Aspects of the ecology of this tropical praying 

29 



mantis species contrast with what is already understood about previously studied temperate 

species. 

Peck, S. B., Herrera, H. W., CDF Checklist of Galapagos Cockroaches, Mantids and 

Termites - FCD Lista de especies de Cucarachas, mantidos y termitas de Galápagos. 

In: Bungartz, F., Herrera, H., Jaramillo, P., Tirado, N., Jiménez-Uzcátegui, G., Ruiz, D., 

Guézou, A. & Ziemmeck, F. (eds.). Charles Darwin Foundation Galapagos Species 

Checklist - Lista de Especies de Galápagos de la Fundación Charles Darwin. Charles 

Darwin Foundation / Fundación Charles Darwin, Puerto Ayora, Galapagos:2011, 

http://www.darwinfoundation.org/datazone/checklists/terrestrial-invertebrates/dictyoptera/ 

Prete, F. R., Komito, J. L., Dominguez, S. Svenson, G., Lopez, L. Y., Guillen, A., 

Bogdanivich, N., Visual Stimuli That Elicit Appetitive Behaviors in Three 

Morphologically Distinct Species of Praying Mantis. Journal of comparative physiology 

a-neuroethology sensory neural and behavioral physiology, 2011, 197 (9):877-894 

Abstract: We assessed the differences in appetitive responses to visual stimuli by three 

species of praying mantis (Insecta: Mantodea), Tenodera aridifolia sinensis, Mantis religiosa, 

and Cilnia humeralis. Tethered, adult females watched computer generated stimuli 

(erratically moving disks or linearly moving rectangles) that varied along predetermined 

parameters. Three responses were scored: tracking, approaching, and striking. Threshold 

stimulus size (diameter) for tracking and striking at disks ranged from 3.5 deg (C. humeralis) 

to 7.8 deg (M. religiosa), and from 3.3 deg (C. humeralis) to 11.7 deg (M. religiosa), 

respectively. Unlike the other species which struck at disks as large as 44 deg, T. a. sinensis 

displayed a preference for 14 deg disks. Disks moving at 143 deg/s were preferred by all 

species. M. religiosa exhibited the most approaching behavior, and with T. a. sinensis 

distinguished between rectangular stimuli moving parallel versus perpendicular to their long 

axes. C. humeralis did not make this distinction. Stimulus sizes that elicited the target 

behaviors were not related to mantis size. However, differences in compound eye 

morphology may be related to species differences: C. humeralis' eyes are farthest apart, and 

it has an apparently narrower binocular visual field which may affect retinal inputs to 

movement-sensitive visual interneurons. 

Roy, R. and Svenson, G. J., Revision of Platycalymma Westwood, 1889, and the 

Synonymy of Ichromantis Paulian, 1957 (Mantodea, Iridopterygidae, 

Tropidomantinae). Zootaxa, 2011, 3014: 1-25. 

Abstract: The endemic Malagasy praying mantis genus Platycalymma Westwood, 1889, is 

taxonomically treated with a re-description of the genus and of the type species, P. latipennis 

Westwood, 1889. The genus Ichromantis Paulian, 1957, is newly determined as a junior 

synonym to Platycalymma, which results in the inclusion of two additional species within the 

genus, P. befasica (Paulian, 1957) and P. dichroica (Paulian, 1957), both re-described within 

this study. In addition, we add three new species to the genus described from Madagascar: 

P. annulicornis n. sp., P. mahafalica n. sp. and P. viettei n. sp. A key to the six species in 

English and French is provided for increased accessibility to the people of Madagascar. 

Illustrations of major features used to diagnose species are provided including the head, 

pronotum, apex of abdomen and male genitalia. Species distribution is presented and 

locality coordinates are provided in print as well as being available for download as a KML 

file viewable in Google Earth. 

30 



Svenson, G. J. and Roy, R., 2011. Taxonomic Treatment of the Endemic Malagasy 

Praying Mantis Genus Hyalomantis GIGLIO-TOS, 1915, With a New Synonymy and the 

Description of Three New Species (Mantodea, Iridopterygidae, Tropidomantinae). 

Zootaxa, 2011, 2777: 1-24. 

Abstract: The praying mantis genus Hyalomantis Giglio-Tos, 1915 (Mantodea, 

Iridopterygidae, Tropidomantinae) historically included two species, H. madagascariensis 

Saussure, 1870 and H. punctata Giglio-Tos, 1915. However, we found that H. punctata is a 

junior synonym through investigation of the original descriptions and specimen comparisons. 

We have redescribed H. madagascariensis to encompass variability of color patterns that 

may have led to the description of H. punctata. The taxonomic history for the genus and 

species is outlined partly to resolve under Article 33.3.1 of the Code (ICZN, 4 th edition) an 

incorrect subsequent spelling of Miopteryx madagascarensis Saussure, 1870 that is in 

prevailing use. In addition, we add three new species to the genus described from 

Madagascar: H. antsingica n. sp., H. murzini n. sp., and H. whitingi n. sp. A key to the four 

species in English and French is provided for increase accessibility to the people of 

Madagascar. Illustrations of major features used to diagnose species are provided including 

the head, pronotum, and male genitalia. Species distribution is presented and locality 

coordinates are provided in print as well as being available for download as a KML file 

viewable in Google Earth. 

Umbers, K. D. L., Holwell, G. I., Stow, A. J. and Herberstein, M. E., Molecular Evidence for 

Variation in Polyandry Among Praying Mantids (Mantodea: Ciulfina). Journal of 

Zoology, 2011, 284: 40–45. 

Abstract: Estimating paternity patterns provides insights into the importance of competing 

evolutionary forces on mating systems. The number of sires contributing to a female's 

offspring is mostly influenced by her relative promiscuity. However, in a postcopulatory 

context, it will also be affected by sperm competition and cryptic female choice. Here, we 

describe the paternity patterns of two species of praying mantis from the genus Ciulfina, the 

agile praying mantid. This study is the first to describe patterns of paternity in the Mantodea. 

We found a variation in paternity in these two closely related species. Ciulfina rentzi 

exhibited single paternity, with a single male siring all offspring within a clutch. By contrast, 

Ciulfina klassi displayed multiple paternity, with the minimum number of fathers contributing 

to a clutch ranging from one to four. Differences in copulation duration and reproductive 

output between these two species may help to explain these paternity patterns. 

Vyjayandi, M. C., Rajeesh R. S., Sajin John P., Dhanasree M. M., On a Collection of 

Praying Mantids (Insecta: Mantodea) from Goa, India, With New Distribution Records. 

Journal of Threatened Taxa, 2010, 2 (12): 1325-1329. 

Abstract: Mantid fauna of southern India is very rich. Out of the 162 species of mantids 

under 68 genera reported from India, 45 species under 35 genera are known from southern 

India (Mukherjee et al. 1995). Only one species was reported from Goa, which is one of the 

smallest states of India located in the western coast. Serious attempts for field surveys and 

collection of mantids have ever been carried in the region. The present paper is based on 

some mantid species from Goa collected during a field survey conducted during the months 

of September October 2008. A total of six species of mantids under six genera are collected 

and reported for the first time from Goa, India. 

31 



Watanabe, E., Adachi-Hagimori, T., Miura, K., Maxwell M. R., Ando, Y., and Takematsu, Y., 

Multiple Paternity within Field-Collected Egg Cases of the Praying Mantid Tenodera 

aridifolia. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 2011, 104 (2): 348-352 

Abstract: We developed microsatellite loci to examine the occurrence of multiple paternity in 

the praying mantid Tenodera aridifolia Stoll, as inferred from the genotypes of the progeny 

within field-collected oothecae (egg cases). The microsatellite locus MTA, developed from 

field-caught mantids, was found to have three alleles (A, B, and C) among >600 hatchlings 

from 18 oothecae from two locations in Japan. Of the 18 oothecae, two show clear evidence 

of multiple sires, two show equivocal evidence of multiple sires, and the remaining 14 do not 

show evidence of multiple sires. Thirteen of the latter 14 oothecae are exclusively 

homozygous, with all progeny being of the same genotype (BB). Although the exclusively 

homozygous oothecae suggest a high incidence of monogamy in these field populations, we 

caution that we probably underestimated the incidence of multiple paternity, given our use of 

one locus with three alleles. This study is the first genetic investigation of field-collected 

progeny of a sexually cannibalistic species, as well as the first demonstration of multiple 

paternity in nature for a sexually cannibalistic species. 

Wipfler, B., Wieland, F., DeCarlo, F., Hörnschemeyer, T., Cephalic Morphology of 

Hymenopus coronatus (Insecta: Mantodea) and its Phylogenetic Implications. 

Arthropod Structure and Development, 2012, 41 (1): 87-100 

Abstract: External and internal head structures of the mantodean Hymenopus coronatus are 

examined and described in detail. The results are elaborately compared with the literature. 

Strong crests on the anterior tentorial arms that articulate with the subantennal suture, a 

parietal suture and glossae and paraglossae with anteriorly bent tips are proposed as new 

potential apomorphies for Mantodea while a head capsule being wider than long, enlarged 

compound eyes, the presence of a frontal shield or scutellum, lateral lobes in the anterior 

tentorial arms, the presence of a transverse and an interantennal suture and the reduction of 

the mentum are confirmed as apomorphies, As potential apomorphies for Dictyoptera the 

reduction of Musculus tentoriobuccalis lateralis (M. 49) is newly presented and a “perforate” 

tentorium, lacinial incisivi that are located in a galeal pouch and the presence of a postmola 

are confirmed. The present study shows the value of cephalic morphology for phylogenetic 

analysis but also points out that further studies including evolutionary key taxa are essential 

for resolving the evolutionary adaptations among dictyopterans. 

Yamawaki Y, Uno K, Ikeda R, Toh Y. T, Coordinated Movements of the Head and Body 

During Orienting Behaviour in the Praying Mantis Tenodera aridifolia. Journal of Insect 

Physiology, 2011, 57 (7): 1010-1016 

Abstract: The visual orienting behaviour towards prey in the free-moving mantis was 

investigated with a highspeed camera. The orienting behaviour consisted of head, prothorax, 

and abdomen rotations. Coordinated movements of these body parts in the horizontal plane 

were analysed frame-by-frame. Rotations of these body parts were initiated with no or slight 

(


Zhang, Y. L., Zhang, J., Jiang, N., Lu, Y. H., Wang, L., Xu, S. H., Wang, W., Zhang, G. F., 

Xu, Q., Ge, ,H. M., Ma, J., Song, Y. C., Tan, R. X., Immunosuppressive Polyketides From 

Mantis-associated Daldinia eschscholzii. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 

2011, 133 (15): 5931-5940 

Abstract: Polyketides with unknown architectures are highly desired for the discovery of 

new drugs and agrochemicals. Here, the mantis-associated Daldinia eschscholzii, a fungus 

known to produce immunosuppressants dalesconols A and B, was found to simultaneously 

generate four novel skeletons capable of shaping the unusual chemistry of the fungal 

polyketides, of which seven were structurally unique and substantially immunosuppressive. 

In particular, the scaled-up fermentation of the microbe enabled the structural 

characterization of minor or "transitional" intermediate polyketides that allowed the 

reasonable recognition of the four biosynthetic pathways initiated by condensations of four, 

five, six and eight acetate units, respectively. Furthermore, the decarbonylation reaction of 

triketone, as in the case of daeschol A, was described for the first time, in addition to the 

structural correction of sporothrin C and nodulone. The work provided a set of novel 

immunosuppressive molecules that are of significance to drug discovery. 

33 


Supplementary table 

2011 breeding reports thread summary. Matings and hatches have been summarised to not include 

subsequent ooths, mates or re-mates of that set of the breeding attempt. Hatch numbers include 

subsequent ooths from the breeding attempt. 

Species Mated Hatched Hatch number 

Acanthops sp 

1 

Acontista multicolor 

3 15, 14 

Acromantis sp 

1 approx 20 

Ameles sp. (not sure which one) 

1 

Brunneria borealis 

1 

Cilnia humeralis 1 1 105 

Creobroter gemmatus 

Deroplatys desiccata 1 3 

Deroplatys lobata 

Deroplatys truncata 1 

Empusa fasciata ooth from Tel-Aviv 

Euchomenella sp 1 

Gongylus gongylodes 3 2 

Harpagomantis tricolor 

2 approx 20 

1 30 

1 23 

1 14 

Heterochaeta orientalis IGM 180 1 1 (50 - 80) 

Hierodula membranacea 

Hymenopus coronatus 2 4 105,70,90,90 

Idolomantis diabolica 

Mantis religiosa 1 1 

Miomantis binotata 

2 

2 77, 32 

2 23,12,5,10 

Miomantis paykullii 1 2 Av 36 

Miomantis sp. from Tanzania. 

Miomantis sp. 'Johannesburg' IGM 222 1 

Odontomantis sp 

Oxyopsis festae 

Parasphendale affinis 1 

1 

2 35 

Phyllocrania paradoxa 6 7 29 

Phyllovates chlorophaea 1 1 30 

Plistospilota guineensis 1 

Pnigomantis medioconstricta 

Polyspilota aeruginosa 2 2 

Popa spurca 2 4 >100 

Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii 3 4 22, 26,15, 27 

Pseudogalepsus nigricoxa IGM 224 

Pseudoharpax virescens 1 4 

Rhombodera basalis 1 2 

1 

1 

1 110 

Sibylla pretiosa 4 3 32 

Sphodromantis lineola 1 1 

Sphodromantis sp. "blueflash" 

Sphodromantis viridis 1 

1 160 

Sphrodomantis cf aurea 2 2 150 

Stagmomantis californica 

Stagmomantis limbata 1 1 

1

Stagmomantis theophila 

Theopompa servillei 

Theopropus elegans, 5 1 

Thesprotia graminis 


1 

1 30-40 

1 23

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