Baby Mantis

 
It was quite an achievement to even find this mantis as the length of body as it stands is less than 5mm. This image was taken at minimum focus distance, considering that this is a macro lens, this gives you some idea of the size of this little beauty. The image is cropped to 2000pxl sq.
 
I find in my folders that I have photographed this minuscule creature four times before, these were in July 2012 and December 2012, each within a day or two of each other. I have only seen this color mantis as a tiny juvenile and have never found an image on my web computer research.
 
I have always had this mantis pegged as a separate species, but having collected the evidence or non-evidence over the last three years, I can now draw some conclusions:
 
Coloration – because it is seen for only a few days, and as the tiniest of mantids, I can conclude that this is purely the hatch coloration and after the first instar (skin shedding), the color changes.
 
I also have another unidentified mantis, larger but still juvenile, that has a mottled brown color. It too has these pointed eyes.
 
Eye shape – one other mantis has this distinctive eye shape and that is the jewelled flower mantis, which I have blipped many times.
 
So the conclusions are; that this first instar mantis is in fact a juvenile jewelled flower mantis, as is the other larger juvenile mentioned above. The July – December discoveries indicate that it breeds twice per year.
 
Armed with these conclusions, I searched for ‘Creobroter gemmatus first instar’ and there it was, problem solved, why didn’t this possibility occur to me before – embarrassing.
 
As for the twice per year breeding, I have not found that information yet and cannot spend any more time on the research.
 
This is all part of the advantage of photographing the same patch of land, year in and year out. After a few seasons you start to learn about the subjects. I can even look back over the previous January and see what I can expect to find today.
 
Dave