Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii- African flower mantis

General information:

Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii, also known as the African flower mantis, camouflages itself as a flower like all of its species. The basic color is a pinkish white with a broad green banding on the segments. It also has green bands or spots on its chest (thorax) and head as well as on its legs. I love this species of mantid. It is easy to keep and its visual appearance is exactly to my taste. An exciting experiment that you can try is to change the color of the mantis’ surroundings. It can adapt to its surroundings after each moult. So it can be colored blue, white, purple or green. Just give it a try and write your results in the comments. Its lobed outgrowths on both sides of its abdomen look like petals. There are yellow-green-black eye markings on the wings which they show when they feel threatened. They are shaped like the number 6 or 9, depending on how you look at them. In subadult animals, which do not yet have fully developed wings, there is an eye marking on the abdomen instead. They react to threats by raising their abdomen.

The eyes of the flower mantis shimmer slightly blue-violet.

Size:

Male: 3.0 cm – 4.0 cm

Female: 4.0 cm – 5.0 cm

Food:

L1/L2: Small fruit flies Drosophila melanogaster

L3/L4: Large fruit flies Drosophila hydei

L5/L6: Gold flies Lucilia sericata

L7/adult: Blowflies Calliphora sp.

Habitat:

The African flower mantis is found in East and South Africa. It is known in Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania including Zanzibar, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Transvaal, where it inhabits damp areas such as meadows or shrubs and especially flowers. It lies in wait on the underside or upper side of flowers for nectar-seeking insects. The size of their habitat underlines the fact that they are not too difficult to keep. The climatic conditions in these countries are a relatively high temperature of 28-35°C during the day with a drop to 23°C at night. Do not keep this species below 20°C, as they are very sensitive to cold and will die if temperatures are too low for long periods. The humidity is around 30-50% during the day and rises to 60-80% at night.

Photo: © Ralf Bauer

Keeping in the insectarium:

L1-L3

Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii are highly aggressive towards conspecifics. I therefore separate them immediately after hatching. This causes the animals less stress and they also grow faster and there is no risk of them being eaten by their conspecifics. I keep them in a 500 g/ml packaging cup. I have cut out an opening in the lid and rinsed a ladies’ stocking underneath and added ventilation to the side. I use wood wool for climbing and kitchen towels as a substrate, as they are cheap and hygienic. It is really important that you always leave twice the size of the mantids at the bottom so that moulting can take place without complications. In the evening, spray the kitchen towel so that it is almost dry the next evening. I always offer them food in the form of Drosophilas. The container is cleaned once a week.

(L1 Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii, special thanks to Chase Campbell)

from L4:

I use BraPlast tins with the dimensions 18.5×18.5×19.0 cm. There should be twigs and flowers like in their natural environment. The mantis does not distinguish between real flowers and plastic flowers. It can adapt its coloration to its surroundings. You can gain your own experience here.
If you take branches from the wild, place them in the microwave for 20 seconds or in the oven at 100°C for 15 minutes beforehand. This will kill any mites and other parasites that you have brought with you that could cause you problems later. Here too, the motto is less is more. Praying mantises are lurking hunters, you should not pack it full. Leave space for moulting, as this is the most dangerous time in your guest’s life.

Reproduction:

Sex determination:

First of all, we need to know what a female is and what a male is.

In all mantid species, females can be distinguished from males by the number of visible abdominal segments (sternites).Males have 8 sternites, whereas females only have 6 visible ones. This can often be seen with a magnifying glass from L3, from L4 and L5 it can also be seen with the naked eye. In most cases it is also sufficient to look at the last segment on the abdomen. If it is as long and wide as the previous segments, it is a female. If the last segments become increasingly smaller and narrower, it is a male. Note that in the adult stage the male also has an elongated last segment.In the subadult larval stage, the males of this species can also be recognized by their thickened and longer antennae. If you are unsure, you are welcome to send me photos by e-mail and I will then determine the sex for you.

If you would like to know more about sex determination:

Sex determination of a praying mantis

Sexual maturity:

The females become adults after approx. 7 moults, i.e. in L8. Males after 6 moults, i.e. in L7. The females need another 4 weeks after moulting until they are ready to mate. Males only 1 week.

This means that the males become sexually mature one moult and three weeks before. This is a feasible period, as the males live for around 2.5 months after moulting.

The difference between the sexes can be recognized from L3. This means you can keep the males slightly cooler than the females as a preventative measure. Please remember not to go below 20°C.

So about 4 weeks after maturing the animals are ready to mate.

Mating:

A special behavior of both sexes is flapping their wings for several minutes without taking off. The purpose of this is still unclear, but it could serve to distribute released pheromones in the air.

Due to the big difference in readiness to mate, the male should be kept a little cooler than the female until the female is ready. To do this, place the female in the male’s terrarium, as this means less stress for the male. The female should be fed sufficiently before copulation and can also be offered something to eat during mating. Now it depends on the female how the whole thing ends. It can happen that the female attacks and eats the male before mating, but it is of course also possible that the male makes it onto the female’s back. If the male is interested in the female, he usually flies immediately onto the female’s back. It often happens that you have to stimulate the male with up to 40°C and place him directly behind the female. Some males court with their wings up, others do not. At the beginning it can happen that he sits on his back but does not copulate for days. After the third day, it should be separated again to feed the male. Copulation itself takes about 4 to 7 hours. If the female attacks the male and eats his head, mating can still take place. If the male manages to get off his back unharmed after mating, he can be returned to his terrarium. The female then begins to lay the first of four to eight oothecae after around 4 to 10 days. The remaining oothecae are built at intervals of 7 to 14 days. The size can be up to 5 centimeters, the appearance is dark and very narrow.

I always mate the animals in the male’s insectarium. It is important to note that the males are good and agile fliers. I give the female a large food animal beforehand so that she is busy eating during the mating and does not attack the male. This reduces sexual cannibalism and at the same time ensures better oothecae. Mating takes place as follows. The male jumps onto the female’s back and holds her with his front legs. Copulation can last up to 12 hours, so you can watch the spectacle in peace.

Oothek tray:

The female begins to build oothecae after 4 days, at intervals of up to 10 days. Between 4 and 8, rarely more, oothecae are built. The coloration of the ootheca is dark, black or brown and up to 5 centimeters very elongated and narrow. In contrast to the free oothecae of cockroaches, mantis insects adhere their roundish, elongated, shield-like, drop-shaped or packet-like oothecae to various substrates. They are often attached to the climbing facilities or to the gauze cover. To do this, they first apply a protein-containing secretion to the substrate. More of this foamy secretion is then released with spiral movements of the abdomen, and the eggs are deposited one after the other in the same substrate in such a way that they are arranged in a certain order and each occupy a compartment of the ootheca. Finally, the secretion is drawn out in a more or less long thread before it hardens into a sponge-like, very firm cocoon. Along the surface is the thinnest part from which the nymphs hatch. It can usually be recognized as a large-pored, seam- or comb-like strip. You can find out more about the ootheca here.

Incubation:

The timing of the ootheca should be between 30-40°C and a humidity of up to 70% should be achieved. After 4-7 weeks, between 20 and 80 larvae will hatch from the ootheca at the same time. When they hatch, they are shiny black and imitate ants.