Mantids

[Plex]

I recently have gotten into the hobby of mantis keeping, and I am thoroughly enjoying myself thus far; they're fascinating creatures and actually quite friendly. ^^ I currently have three mantids; a ghost, a giant shield, and an asian marbled. I figured that some other people on here may be interested in these critters as well.


^ General Lysandre, my Ghost Mantis, coming out to say hi before feeding ^

^Scyther, my Giant Shield, enjoying his meal.. only time he's still enough to get a good shot^

Haven't managed to get a good picture of Sir yet, though. xD

 

[Alpha1]

General Lysandre and Scyther are both very nice, great photos, thanks for sharing them! Looking forward to seeing Sir, your Asian Marbled. I've always found observing the praying mantis in the wild very interesting. Although I wasn't known to harm insects, I remember my mother telling me when I was very young, never to hurt or kill a praying mantis. She said that they were very special, and it was against the law and I would go to jail. That even made me more interested to "carefully" watch them. :friendly_wink:

 

[Plex]

The wild praying mantis in the area are what got me into the mantis hobby. ^^ When I was a kid I used to catch & release different insects, and the ones that have fascinated me throughout life are arachnids and praying mantids, and my grandpa had a soft spot for the mantids I'd catch as well and would always tell me to be careful with them. The past year or so though I have only seen two wild mantises... the number has gone down drastically in the area and since I miss having them around I decided to start keeping them.
I definitely agree, they're extremely special bugs and utterly fascinating to watch. Especially Orchid mantises... they do this adorable 'stalk walk' that blends them in with orchid flowers and makes them look like an orchid simply swaying in the wind.
Hopefully I can get a decent pic of Sir tonight since it is terrarium cleaning day and he has to come out for that. I'll definitely post a pic of him when I do!

 

[wombat]

Facinating creatures, the Mantis, I had a baby one in my backyard a few days ago, our granddaughter has a leafy stick insect.

 

[Plex]

Stick insects are absolutely adorable!
And it is nymph season in some places. What area do you live?

All three of mine are nymphs, L3-L4 for the three I have.

I got a picture of Sir Reginald just now, as well as another of General Lysandre.


That is Sir Reginald, the asian marbled on my hand. I've had him for a couple weeks and this is the first time I've tempted him onto my hand without any striking out on his part, this species is supposed to be rather unpredictable.


General Lysandre on my finger, he's tiny right now at L3, still has a great deal of growing to do. ^^

 

[Alpha1]

Sir Reginald looks quite comfy on your hand.

 

[Plex]

Yes and it was actually difficult to get him off when it was time for him to go back into his enclosure. layful: He just wanted to stay out and crawl around on my hand and arms.. Same with the others. Like I said, they're usually quite friendly and have huge personalities for such a small critter.

 

[Matrix]

Amazing, they seem attached to you. I thought they would always try to escape. Sir Reginald reminded me of Kong Fu Panda.

 

[Plex]

They're quite friendly, and I was surprised by how quickly they can become attached to a new owner/handler after I got them. Haha, how does he remind you of Kong Fu Panda? =o

 

[Matrix]

how does he remind you of Kong Fu Panda?

Master Mantis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Kung_Fu_Panda_characters#Master_Mantis

 

[Plex]

Oh my god! XD The resemblance is striking! That's awesome!
o.o I've never had the chance to watch Kung Fu panda all the way through.. I might have to now. xD

 

[wombat]

I live in South Australia Plex.

 

[Plex]

oh neat! Australia is on the list of places I hope to someday visit.

 

[bluedreamer]

Very interesting creatures. How long do they live? Is it possible to breed them in captivity?

 

[Plex]

The life cycle depends on the species, with some being as short as 8 months and some pushing well over a year; the average is a year long cycle, though it also depends on lifelong diet and how well molts go as some species are rather fragile and can easily have mismolts.
It is possible to breed the majority of mantis species in captivity and my grandfather and I are actually planning on getting mine mates when they're adults and breeding them, and depending on how much it'll be to start up we may start breeding them for selling as well as keeping.

 

[Plex]

So I just figured out that I can take decent quality video of these critters without it being overly blurred, so I decided to take my first video of Sir Reginald, since she is the largest of the three and easiest to keep track of. ^^

Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZk5Wy0GXuE

 

[generide]

You have cool mantises. I remember I trapped a mantis in fourth grade.

 

[Plex]

Thank you! How did you trap the lil' guy?

 

[Plex]

Just received my first ootheca from a wonderful person also in the hobby, and this means hopefully within 4 months I will have a bucket of nymphs!

 

[jamesb]

General Lysandre and Scyther are both very nice, great photos, thanks for sharing them! Looking forward to seeing Sir, your Asian Marbled. I've always found observing the praying mantis in the wild very interesting. Although I wasn't known to harm insects, I remember my mother telling me when I was very young, never to hurt or kill a praying mantis. She said that they were very special, and it was against the law and I would go to jail. That even made me more interested to "carefully" watch them. :friendly_wink:

Hi Alpha, We too were always told not to harm a praying mantis because it was against the law. Does anybody know if this is true or was just mom wanting us to leave um alone. I've seen a lot of them here in New Jersey over the years. They always show up unexpectedly never when your looking for them.

 

[Plex]

Hi Alpha, We too were always told not to harm a praying mantis because it was against the law. Does anybody know if this is true or was just mom wanting us to leave um alone. I've seen a lot of them here in New Jersey over the years. They always show up unexpectedly never when your looking for them.

I don't think it's actually illegal, but it could be that they're protected in some areas if the population is dwindling... they are rather important for the ecosystem in places they live naturally.
Michigan used to have a ton around here, but now I rarely see adults, let alone nymphs or oothecae.

 

[Reptile person]

so cool

 

[Reptile person]

also reminded of pokemon scyther