Thursday 11 June 2020

Preying Mantis pt 3 April/May 2020 Lockdown


The Mantis species are all growing , some faster than others.    The Dead leaf is still very small and slow ,whereas the Orchids and , Giant Rainforest and  Stagmatoptera are growing fast!    its hard to keep enough food for them at times .  I now have a Wide armed mantis (Cilnia humeralis) and two spiny flowers (Creobroter gemmatus)


Firstly the Orchids , they have become Adult.  They get their wings in the last moult which is always a dangerous time, they need added humidity to prevent mis moults and damaged wings that don't expand properly.   

                                 Male Orchid  21 frames focus stacked canon 5dsr  100mmL





The female is sub adult, the wing buds are very clearly visible and it wont be long before she becomes adult.  Here is the old moulted skin next to her.









                                                                 23 frame focus stack.




April 22 now , I decided to shoot one on an actual Orchid flower , had to use a tripod for this, something I rarely do for macro.    Natural light and the 100mmL macro lens





                                   Single frame ,  almost ready to moult to adult.




May 24 th , she has moulted successfully overnight , I have waited a few days before taking her out to photograph , all her legs and wings needed time to harden properly.

                                    17 frames handheld focus stack , 5dsr  100mm L






                                                         And on black , 9 frames.

                                                The final Adult Orchid mantis 

                            Hymenopus Coronatus





                                                  Fabulous to see her as adult at last.


                                        Pre Sub adult female Stagomaptera femoralis









As a comparison , here is the female Giant Rainforest mantis, shorter ,wider abdomen ,more stocky and with a larger head .








                     Stagmatoptera   Sub adult female     12 frames handheld with the mpe-65 lens






                         and as a comparison   Hierodula majuscula    Giant Rainforest mantid
                                                               16 frames mpe 65





Now for the two new species ,   this is Cilnia humeralis l3. already at this small size feeding on a greenbottle ,  very aggressive hunters!











                            Portrait at x4 magnification  mpe 65 lens    20 frames focus stacked





Here are the flower mantis ,Creobroter gemmatus  ,  only a very small species just over 1-1 1/2 inch as an adult.   this is about 1 cm in length  30 th April










May 5th and they have just moulted , changing colour now and are pre sub adult with tiny flat wingbuds now showing.













                         May 15 th and they now look like this , up to about 15- 20 mm in length.





                                                         So cute , with loads of character





                                                And now up to date at the end of May




                                                    5 frames focus stacked portrait.







Almost forgot , the Cateye mantis ...............

                                           30 frames handheld  100mm L macro




                                              10 frame focus stack handheld. mpe 65




Still in lockdown at end of May , hopefully we will be able to start getting out a bit more soon.

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