Male or female?

[henn]

Hi,

I'm new in stomatopods, please advise how to determine the sex of Odontodactylus scyllarus. Below are some pictures of my specimen, more pictures available here

Thanks,
Henn

 

[T-T-Trigger]

very pretty...

 

[slylie]

Thats a girlie..

and nice! great pics.

 

[henn]

Thats a girlie..

Thanks, but how do you know that

 

[slylie]

Thanks, but how do you know that

The color of its carapace... males are more green. :smokin:

 

[GreasyMidget]

Mantis are sooo cool!

 

[Gonodactylus]

It is probably a female, but you cannot rely completely on color in this species. I have seen small olive or brown males and juveniles of both species can be yellowish. I have even encountered a couple of very large females that were sufficiently green to convince me that they were males before I made a positive sex determination. To be sure of the sex, look at the external genetalia. In all stomatopods, the penises (gonopods) are located in the male as a pair of tubes hanging down from the inside base of the last walking leg. These are quite large and extend down 1/3 to 1/2 the length of the leg. The female gonopores are exposed through a plate on the ventral mid-line between the first pair of walking legs. I have posted images under the "sex pictures" thread in this Forum.

Roy

 

[henn]

Thanks, Roy!

Very good answer indeed. I should now find out a way how to have a look at her base

 

[T-T-Trigger]

Well, she might be a hearty Cabernet type or maybe a fruity Zinfandel, but to be sure just slip her a Xanax and roll her over... never fails...

just kidding of course... it is pretty either way.

 

[slylie]

Well, she might be a hearty Cabernet type or maybe a fruity Zinfandel, but to be sure just slip her a Xanax and roll her over... never fails...

just kidding of course... it is pretty either way.

 

[henn]

Video link

Video link

Here's the link to a short video clip of her.
http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/mantis/mantis7.wmv
Disclaimer: No animals were hurt during the recording of this video! :strooper:

 

[henn]

Video link

Video link

Here's yet another link to the updated video clip of her.
http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/mantis/mantis11.wmv

New funny episodes added and bandwidth reduced to speed up the download.

Disclaimer: No animals were hurt during the recording of this video! :strooper:

 

[henn]

Finally got her bottom view, no Xanax needed, a good shrimp cocktail did the trick

However, I'm not sure if the gonopores are visible on the picture. Below is a magnified part of the same picture with gridlines. Where could I find the gonopores, if any on the picture?

There is also a newvideo clip available showing her at different viewpoints.