Unknown Mantis

[hatchepsut001]

We got this mantis in January of this year. When we got her she did not have her raptorials. She's went thru 2 molts so far and her color keeps changing. We think she is an N. Wennerae but we are not sure. I know its kinda hard to identify a species from a video, but its been next to impossible to get a photo of her in the tank and we cannot catch her to take her out. Any help in identifying the species would be wonderful. Her mural spots are white.

Here's the link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSp5eW38ptM

[Gonodactylus]

Looks like N. wennerae.

[hatchepsut001]

That's what we thought too, the main reason we were questioning is she's changed colors every time she's went thru a molt. When we got her she was white with red lines, then she was burgundy with blue on her tail and orange raptorials and now she is what you saw in the video.

[stepho]

My N. wennerae has been 3 different colors. dark red with teal tail/head, completely bright red (didn't have a light on my tank for a while), and now bright green.

[j_wishbone]

what would impact colouration environment and food?

can we control this factors to achieve the best colour out of them?

[DanInSD]

In N. wennerae, coloration is a direct result of the light level and color temperature. Blue/dim light will get you a red animal; bright/full-spectrum light will get you a green one. I don't know about other species.

Perhaps Dr. Roy can chime in here regarding coloration -- do highly chromomorphic species adapt to the local environment (beige on sandy bottoms, green in algae beds, etc.), or is it mostly random selection (those that are not predated in a particular environment will prevail).

Dan