When do babies get their color?

[Inigma]

Before I thought i had a few baby mantis's in my tank, but then wrote them off as a type of pod. Today looking in my tank thought I have one that is about a centimeter long and has very visible front apendages like a smasher and his legs very much look like a mantis too. The thing is thought that he is the same color as a pod that kinda clearish grayish white color.

He looks so much like a mantis, but is probablly just a large form of pod right?

And so when would a baby mantis start to show his coloration anyways? Or at about what size?

Thanks in advance,
KC

 

[Gonodactylus]

There is no simple answer to this question. It all depends on the species. I will assume you have a gonodactylid such as Neogonodactylus wennerae or Gonodactylus smithii. The eggs hatch after about three weeks and the larvae remain with the mother another week molting three times. During this period they are clear, but you can see the yolk in their yolk sac - usually orange or yellow, but in some species green or pink. At the third molt, they become photopositive and swim out of the cavity and enter the plankton. At this point, the yolk is usually exhausted and they are nearly transparent. They remain in the plankton another month or two (depends on the species and we have data for only a few) molting four times Occasionally when feeding you can see the dark stomach and gut, but generally they are clear. The last molt in the plankton transforms the animal into a postlarvae that has a nearly adult form, but which is still transparent (G. smithii has a slight greenish hue). Depending on species and nutrition, they molt to postlarvae at 6 to 10 mm long. The animals then settle out and live in the cracks of rocks. Within three or four days tiny specs of color begin to appear and within a week they start to show full coloration. They will molt again within two weeks and by the next molt two weeks later will have gonopod buds which allows you to determine the sex at 11-12 mm in length. I should stress that this description only applies for gonoactylids. Other stomatopods have vary different eary life histories.

Roy

 

[Inigma]

Thanks for the reply.