Malaysian dead leaf mantis

Appearance

This mantis mimics dead leaves. Females are about 65 to 70mm in length and males are about 45mm in length. 1st instar nymphs are up to 15mm in length and 2nd instar nymphs are about 21mm in length when their abdomens are expanded. Their coloring ranges from dark gray to light mottled gray. They also possess a broad prothorax that looks ripped and crumpled like a leaf. Females have a wider shield than males as early as the 4th instar stage. Males have a slender body and a diamond shape shield.

Behavior

Nymphs are skittish but at the 1st instar they are calm and are not able to move quickly like most praying mantises. After the 2nd instar they start to get skittish. Nymphs are known to play dead. If startled sometimes nymphs will jump up into the air and fall face up or down to the ground with their legs pulled in. Adults and nymphs are known to do a threat pose when startled. "Deroplatys lobata" are aggressive toward each other and they will sometimes eat each other so they should not be kept together in captivity. Younger nymphs are not very aggressive toward each other so can be kept together and there will rarely be any cannibalism if they are fed enough. From the 1st instar to adult they often threaten each other by doing a threat pose and striking to scare off the other mantis. After laying the ootheca the female sits on her ootheca to defend it.

Habitat

"Deroplatys lobata" live on the ground around dead leaves and bushes in damp areas, tropical rainforests.

Reproduction

Mating this large species is not easy. They usually get too stressed up when kept in a small cage, and if the temperature is too low, then they ignore each other completely. Mate the female as early as 4 weeks after molting to adult. Mate the male as early as 2 weeks. Females molt 8 times and males molt 6 times to become adult. About 3-4 weeks after mating, the female will make her first ootheca. This species can lay around 4-6 oothecae with a period of 4-6 weeks in between each ootheca. After 6 weeks of incubation at 30 C and 70-80% humidity. Normal oothecae usually hatch out about 50 large nymphs and "Deroplatys lobata" Oothecae are usually about 35 to 40mm in length.

Food

They will eat just about anything that is the right size. Start feeding the nymphs 1 or 2 days after hatching. 1st instar nymphs get up to 15mm long when their abdomens are expanded so they can tackle and eat large prey. 1st instar nymphs can eat "Drosophila melanogaster" fruit flies and "Drosophila hydei" fruit flies and house flies but they could eat things much larger such as small roaches and crickets as well as small moths, et cetera.