101227 Odontomantis. Partial life history.

Somewhat regenerated foreleg.




Adult form. About 22 mm long.



Photos taken on 101119. 13 mm long.



Photos taken on 101219. Some time after molting on 101125. 17 mm long.



Photos taken on 101211. 18 mm long.

Housing conditions was a 50-CD container with a sheet of toilet paper taped to one side for mantis to hang vertically to molt. Some of the feeding was done by transferring the mantis to a smaller container containing the prey. Once prey was captured, the mantis seemed unconcerned about any movement of the container it was in so long as it was not too drastic.

Partial life history:
101119 First caught at roadside tree at Jalan Limau Kasturi, Singapore.
101123 Ate one pholcid, 3 hoppers and 4 moths (none longer than 5 mm) since 101119.
101123 Ate one moth. Forelegs kept shivering.
101124 Ate one moth. Stopped shivering.
101125 Evening, already molted. Anchored on toilet paper to do so.
101126 Daybreak, ate moth almost as big as itself.
101128 Night, did not seem interested in Chrysopidae.
101129 Daybreak, ate the Chrysopidae but left a shrivelled abdomen/part of abdomen.
101130 0225h, ate 6 mm long moth.
101201 2335h, ate wasp/ant alate, started to eat from the thorax. One leg grasped the neck the other pinned the wings to the abdomen.
101202 Fought ant alate as big as itself. Got bitten at right foreleg trochanter. Alate escaped.
101203 0100h, ate 2 mm long pholcid. Got antenna webbed up quite badly and took about 5-10 min to clear.
101203 0113h, ate 2 legs from 2nd pholcid (slurped them like pocky sticks). 0119h, finished up second pholcid.
101203 0130h, ate 3rd pholcid.
101203 0211h, ate 5 mm long moth.
101203 2012h, wrested with and ate struggling moth. Right foreleg broken joint leaked green fluid.
101203/4 somewhere near midnight, ate midge.
101204 morning, right foreleg trochanter onwards missing, left only coxa. Probably chewed off and eaten.
101206 morning, ate 2 small moths. Did not touch leafhopper half its size.
101208 0100h, ate 10 mm long moth, started by biting off and eating the legs.
101211 0122h molted. Anchored on toilet paper to do so.
101211 1100h, batted away 10 mm long moth but received and ate moth leg fed to it with tweezers.
101212 0100h, ate 10 mm long moth. Probably needs about 24h after molting to stabilize.
101214 2319h, ate 4 mm long moth.
101214 2330h, ate 6 mm long moth.
101215 0110h, ate 4 mm long hopper. Makes grooming actions with stump of right foreleg. 7 abdominal segments.
101216 2116h, ate 8 mm long moth. Used mouth to grip moth while left foreleg readjusted for better position.
101223 0439h, ate male Embiidina.
101223 0459h, ate Limoniidae 13 mm long. Ate legs first, similar fashion to previous pholcid (101203).
101226 Mantis abdomen and winglets grew much broader. Much broader than pronotum. Right foreleg stump has black scarred end.
101227 1928h, final molt. Did not anchor on toilet paper, anchored itself directly to plastic side of container. Right foreleg somewhat regenerated. Femur onwards much smaller and crooked. Able to flex the femur and tibia.
101227 2247h, willing to catch and eat dead cockroach that was tossing around in container. Ate cockroach legs first. Crooked foreleg was able to grasp and hold a severed cockroach leg on its own.