papilio's mantids

papilio

Arachnoprince
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Papilio are you making diabetic mantids now? ;)
I hope not! That may mean that I'd need to get tested for diabetes too, I much prefer honey to flies as well! :eek:

---------- Post added 10-09-2014 at 03:29 PM ----------

This is hilarious.

So Papilio...any chance you'd let us see some of their set-ups?

Afraid they wouldn't be very interesting, this is just my photography "studio set". :) I just keep them in plastic hex enclosures.
 

Beary Strange

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Afraid they wouldn't be very interesting, this is just my photography "studio set". :) I just keep them in plastic hex enclosures.
Well not everything has to be a glamour shot. It would be interesting to me. Pretty please with invertebrates on top? :D
 

papilio

Arachnoprince
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Well not everything has to be a glamour shot. It would be interesting to me. Pretty please with invertebrates on top? :D
LOL! Okay, some non-glam shots. :) Minimal processing, but as you can see it looks pretty blurry through the enclosure plastic. I keep the temps up to about 95F with a lamp, and I put a wet wad of paper towels inside to keep the humidity up around 70%, not easy at those temps. The paper towels are removed when dry and replaced, so as not to allow any mold to form.

The other shots show the mantis better ... though it's maybe a bit hard to tell, this female is an easy 5+ inches tip to tip. The camera is my little back-up D90.


Idolomantis diabolica female, L6








































 

papilio

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Ha, ha... 60-70% of my postprocessing time is removal of these nasty "dots" from the picture :D :D :D
I finally got my own cleaning supplies for my FF Nikon ... it's so easy, I wouldn't worry one bit about hurting the sensor (or more properly the low-pass filter), so much of the stuff on the web is just spreading paranoid nonsense about cleaning sensors yourself. :)

I certainly know very well what a pain it was to clone out all those spots!! ;)
 

papilio

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Beautiful shot as always! Does she got a bended leg?
Thanks a lot! :D

Yeah she does ... had plenty of height in the enclosure for molting, but chose a branch too close to the side of the enclosure.


That diobalicas gaining some size!

-JohnD.
No kidding! :D

With 3 instars yet to go before adulthood, she should be quite a monster!





Acromantis japonica









 

Austin S.

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Amazing photos man. Really enjoy mantids and viewing this thread makes me want to start collecting them again. Just always get bumbed about their life span!
 

papilio

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Amazing photos man. Really enjoy mantids and viewing this thread makes me want to start collecting them again. Just always get bumbed about their life span!
Thanks a lot Austin, I really appreciate it!

Yeah, when we're used to our Ts living for ten years or more the lifespans of insects don't seem worth the trouble sometimes, but mantids pack a lot of enjoyment in the time they're with us! :)



Hymenopus coronatus, Orchid Mantis L3






























Thanks for looking! :)
 

CEC

Arachnoangel
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Great thread and collection, Michael. I especially like that Hymenopus coronatus.
 

papilio

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Great thread and collection, Michael. I especially like that Hymenopus coronatus.
Thanks a lot Chase! :D

I'm pretty taken by these Orchid nymphs. Normally colors like those only show up under the camera's strobe, but the vivid pinks on these are immediately obvious to the naked eye. Really a remarkable little creature!

---------- Post added 10-23-2014 at 04:23 PM ----------

How many months do they live? Where u buy them from?
I'm too new to mantids to give a lifespan figure from experience, but it's something like one year.

I purchased my first mantids from an online dealer, until I discovered how much more cheaply they could be obtained on Mantidforum. Far wider selection too.
 

papilio

Arachnoprince
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Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii, L6

70 images @f/11



31 images



Crop of above



21 images, 2.5X @ f/16



Single image



46 images



Red channel image
 

viper69

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These are your best ones of mantids. You can even see the texture on the eyes w/that stack!
 

papilio

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These are your best ones of mantids. You can even see the texture on the eyes w/that stack!
Thanks a lot Chris! :) This is becoming a beautiful mantis.
Mantidforum wanted some stacks for the new calendar.



I've been moving and away from the camera for over a week ... already feeling a bit rusty! :eek:


Idolomantis diabolica male, L5


















 

papilio

Arachnoprince
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My first adult mantis molted last night, raised from hatchling.

Creobroter pictipennis, exuvia




Creobroter pictipennis, adult female

5 images





10 images




3 images




5 images




6 images




15 images




5 images




Just hatched, only three and a half months ago!
 
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