The Idolomantis Project

[MrGhostMantis]

That's awesome ! Would love to see them...

 

[Ferrachi]

View attachment 376647

Just stunning looking !

 

[MrGhostMantis]

Just stunning looking !

A front pic that shows off his antennae

 

[Hisserdude]

Any chance you can keep the male a bit cooler, and the female warmer? That, in addition to power feeding the female and scarcely feeding the male, should help sync them up I'd think.

 

[MrGhostMantis]

Any chance you can keep the male a bit cooler, and the female warmer? That, in addition to power feeding the female and scarcely feeding the male, should help sync them up I'd think.

That’s what I’m working to do. The male is a fantastic eater, the female not so much. I also may lose an L6 female after a crippling mismolt and her refusing to eat.

 

[Hisserdude]

That’s what I’m working to do. The male is a fantastic eater, the female not so much. I also may lose an L6 female after a crippling mismolt and her refusing to eat.

Well good luck syncing those two up, fingers crossed you can get them paired up... Sorry to hear about the L6 female mismolting, that's a shame.

 

[Ferrachi]

View attachment 376714
A front pic that shows off his antennae

What a beautiful photo ! Those antennas look like something out of a Tim Burton movie...

 

[Zevil]

My male idolo back in July 2020. The rest of my nymphs didn't make it into adulthood.

 

[MrGhostMantis]

My male idolo back in July 2020. The rest of my nymphs didn't make it into adulthood.

How large was he? He sure was pretty!

 

[Zevil]

How large was he? He sure was pretty!

About 4 and a half inch

 

[MrGhostMantis]

About 4 and a half inch

My dude seems a bit small to get that big. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Ferrachi]

My male idolo back in July 2020. The rest of my nymphs didn't make it into adulthood.

Look at the colours on him !! Nice

 

[scorpiette]

Great to follow along with your journey! Idolos were by far my favorite species to keep, and like you I didn't notice much difficulty beyond challenging molts (and with all those morphological details, who wouldn't struggle?) I was lucky enough for all three (1 female, 2 males) to reach their final form, but my female had an accident, resulting in the loss of a leg and irreversible damage to her raptorial chelae + freshly acquired wings. She was unable to move, and undoubtedly would not have survived outside captivity. I sculpted a prosthetic for her out of a leaf twig, and eventually she was able to walk, recognize my shape as a feeder/participate in daily hand-feedings (since she was unable to grasp prey independently). It only worked for my particular "shape," though. In the end, she was a month shy of her species’ ideal lifespan, which averages one year… she was able to mate, but predictably the ootheca was sterile. I miss her--good luck with your brood!