Gurders Mantis

I was made aware that Pseudocreobotra family aswell as Hymenopus family had the ability to change there colour to mimic their surroundings over a period of several moults.

I intent to run an experiment for the duration of a generation with my Pseudocreobotra ocellata. The nymphs will start from 4^th and 5^th instar and will be provided with a plastic flower of different colours and monitor any colour mimicking ability shown between the 3 different coloured flowers and the control.

12 P.ocellata nymphs will be used and they will be split into groups of 3.

Group 1 will be the control group that will be housed in a typical enclosure.

Group 2 will have a specific coloured flower, matching coloured tissue, matching coloured sponge in the feeding hole and matching coloured netting on the top of the enclosure.

Group 3 will have another different coloured enclosure.

Group 4 will have a very unnatural coloured enclosure.

The surface of the tray has been divided and each third covered by the chosen colours which, are red, blue and black. Coloured card dividers run the length and width of the tray allowing as much light into each enclosure from above but ensuring the environment visible to the mantids is the chosen colour. The control group will be placed on the usual shelving unit.

27th March

After a couple of moults the pots needed replacing with bigger cups, coloured flowers hot glued to side of cup

Pics of each nymph after 2 moults in colour controlled environment

Some visible differences but nothing effect all of any group

2nd May

6 are now adult 5 males and 1 of the females

Some of them have different colour strains, I will take pics of them shortly. I tried once so far and the males just wanted to try out their wings and I got no decent pics.