This what the LFS told me

[thatguy]

First I want to say that I am a big fan of this store and when it comes to fish and coral they generally know what their talking about. However, I think that mantis are out of their area of knowledge.

They have two mantis at the store that they claim are a pair. One is obviously a peacock. The other, I have no idea because it hides all day. They are both only 1"-1.5". They want $50 for the 'pair'.


Questions:
Do mantis mate between species?
Do they 'pair up'? If so, how do you tell?
At what size do they start mating?
Is caring for a smaller mantis in better/worse than a larger one?

There is more that I wanted to ask but can't think of it right now.

 

[mattyice]

a peacock that small is just getting out of its planktonic stage as far as i know, so it would just be able to eat on its own, get us a picture if you can so we can tell

Mantis will mate only with their own species as far as i know, i dont think they are "stupid" enough to breed with a different species to get a hybrid

Peacocks will never pair up, they will mate and then one will kill the other depending on who molts first, there are monogamous species like the L. Mac that pair up for life

sexual maturity is completely different per each individual species im guessing that peacocks will start mating at or around 4-4.5", but they will have to be seperated right after mating

caring for a smaller one is the same as caring for a larger one, just on a smaller scale

 

[Gonodactylus]

At that size, the animals are probably gonodactylids. Some gonodactylids mate-guard for a week or more, so it is possible to find a pair in one cavitiy. However, no gonodactylid that I know of forms long-term pairs. Such pairing is only known in the lysiosquillids. More likely they were simply in the same rock. It is common to find two or more living in one piece of rubble.

Because many species are color polymorphic or display sexual color dimorphism, it is quite possible that two individuals of the same species could look quite different.

O. scyllarus reach sexual maturity at around 4.5 inches. As a very loose rule of thumb, stomatopods reach sexual maturity at about half their maximum body length.

In the field, t is possible to find O. scyllarus in the same burrow where they may mate and cohabitate for a few hours. In the lab I"ve seen O. s occupy the same cavity for days, but it never lasts - usually with fatal consequences.

Roy

 

[thatguy]

Thanks for the information.

I'll let the LFS know this, maybe I can get a discount for helping them out.


Could an O. scyllarus of that size (1"-1.5") be kept in a 12g nano for the next year?


thanks

 

[Gonodactylus]

Yes, a 40 mm O. scyllarus could be kept in a 12 gal nanno for awhile - probably six to nine months before it doubled in size. I have a couple of 50 mm O. s right now and they are doing fin in 10 gal tanks.

Roy