Hymenopus coronatus – Malaysian Orchid mantis
General information
| Distribution | Malaysia, Indonesia, Sumatra, India, China |
| Habitat | Rainforest |
| Size | Female ~9cm Male ~4cm |
| Life expectancy | Female up to 1.5year Male up to 1 year |
| Colors | White/Pink |
| Agressiveness | Average |
| Difficulty | Average/Difficult |
| Group keeping possible | Only adult males |
Keeping requirements
Terrarium size
-Individual keeping 20x20x30cm
-Smaller nymphs are best kept in smaller enclosures in order to make sure they can catch their food more easily.
Terrarium setup
-Soil: soil, sand, kitchen towel, coco peat, spagnum moss or a mixture.
-Climbing surfaces: Branches, live or plastic plants, mesh sides or a combination.
-Ventilation: Top ventilation, best to provide ventilation from the side as well.
Temperature
Day: 20-28C (20-25C advised)
Night:18-22C
Humidity: Relatively high, 50-80%. Make sure you spray these, but don’t overdo it. The higher the temperature, the more you should watch the humidity. I advise to keep them between 20-25C, this will result in less mismolts. Frequency of spraying should depend on the amount of ventilation, but usually twice a week suffices.
Food recommendation
| L1 | Preferably big fruitflies, Drosophila hydei |
| L2/L3 | Big fruitflies (Drosophila hydei) |
| L4/L5 | Curly wing flies/green bottle flies/big fruitflies (D. hydei) |
| L6 till adult | Green bottle flies, blue bottle flies, small redrunners, small dubias. Preferably flying food. |
Sexing
In general: Praying mantises have segments on their abdomen(=belly). The amount of segments differs for males and females. This is a reliable method to use for sexing nymphs, the bigger they are the easier it is to see the difference.
You should always count the underside of the abdomen. Males will have 8 segments whilst females will only have 7.
Specifically for H. coronatus: There are several small extra differences to sex this species. From around L4, you can clearly tell the difference. Females will have rounder “petals”/lobes on their hindlegs than the males. The lobes on the hindlegs of males flatten out.
In later stages(L5-L8), females will have a green collar on their neck whilst males will get a brown collar. Before L5 this is an unreliable sexing method.
Sexual dimorphism is very present in this species, with the females being much bigger than the males. This will also be visible in nymphs from L4 upwards; the females will be bigger.
Breeding
Adult stage
Females will be adult in L9, Males in L7
Amount of molts can sometimes differ 1 when they are kept under extreme conditions. Both adult sexes will have wings, but especially the males are capable of flying short distances.
Sexual maturity
Males will reach sexual maturity after ~10 days, females will reach this after ~21 days.
Oothecas & incubation
Ootheca size is usually around 5cm. They are whitish and elongated, but thicker than most flower mantis oothecas. It’s important to let the ootheca harden out a couple of days if you want to remove it. The ootheca darkens slightly whilst incubating to a light yellow color. It should hatch between 45-75 days depending on temperature. It should be sprayed twice a day, with quite high humidity. Make sure there is ventilation on the top. Oothecas can be hotglued to the side or the top of the container.
The first ootheca will be laid approximately 8 weeks after the last molt. It is important to not overfeed her in a short amount of time, this can sometimes result in them becoming egg bound.
Usually they will lay 3 oothecas.
A 4cm ootheca hatches around 40 nymphs.