Orchid Mantis Spam!

Molted last week (see pic one for molt), and so I fed it today. I'm almost positive it's female.

Unfortunately this one's lost most of its pink since I got it. (As girly as it sounds, it would be cool to have a hot pink bug.)

Thats pretty cool. I always wanted some mantids.
-Eddy

That is one of the awesomest animal I have seen.

Too bad their life isn't too long.

Yeah, that's what sucks. But they're pretty awesome while they're alive, and they do pretty good as preserved specimens.

How do you preserve something as delicate as that?

Careful pinning technique.

I've got a spiny flower mantis that's been sitting in the freezer for about a year and a half that I haven't pinned yet, and one of its legs fell off. I have to find my insect repair adhesive.

My giant Indian just went into a jar of alcohol 'cause she was so fat.

I have wanted an Orchid for so long now! I just cant find anyone that has them for sale locally!

This one set me back $35 at a show.

thats a little pricey

Mantis, mantid, same difference. The order is Mantodea, one of the families is Mantidae, and the iconic European mantis is in the genus Mantis. I just think "mantid" is easier to pluralize.

The one you saw in Spain was stalking the bug. When prey isn't within range, they rock back and forth to look like a harmless little leaf while walking closer to the prey. Really fun to watch.

What's also great is when you hold a prey item next to them -- they'll be staring at you and suddenly whip their head around to look at it, and you can see them sizing it up before making the strike.

Beautiful! I know they don't last long but they're nice to have when they're alive. So enjoy this beautiful little one. Do you know what gender?

At the time, I was pretty sure it was a female, and she's molted once more since then and now I know it is. Which is awesome, 'cause the females are about twice the size of the males.

She also regained some pink in her last molt.

That is an awesome picture of you feeding it water. I look forward to having some plain mantids here in a couple days.

Thanks! I forgot, but I should mention that photo credit goes to Lori for that one (both my hands were occupied). She changed the aperture settings a bit and so the coolest poses got washed out.

But, this one still turned out pretty good.

cool! its absoulotely beautiful.

i saw one in morrocco...it looked like it was going to jump on me...it was doing the wobbly thing and staring straight at me...it diddnt break eye contact once and was being reely wierd.
i kept it for a week or two and fed ita few times...it ate a fish! but it was pretty big...couldnt take it over the border though, i asked but they said no [im morroccan].

i dunno wat species it was....green with reddy brown spots and a pale underside, big eyes!

this, my friend, is one beautiful bug. theres a guy selling these at my place.. after converting, should be around USD 15. =D

any basic caresheet u can conjure up mike? =)

i wanna learn more bout this beauty.

I've just kept mine in the container I got her in (well-ventilated, pretty much a tall delicup) and mist every so often. Every couple of days I'll offer a prey item if she doesn't look too fat.

15 USD is a great price -- I paid more than twice that, but then again, this species is native to your country.

okay. life span? water supply? substrate?

I bought this one in November as a tiny nymph, and right now she's on the verge of her ultimate molt. She'll probably have a few months left in her as an adult. (Mantids never live long ).

The only substrate she has is a few pieces of moss that were there when I got here. There's one stick to facilitate climbing, but she spends most of her time on the lid.

Just make sure it's in a well-ventilated container and mist every so often for water. I probably only mist once a week, but she's still doing fine.

i was thinking about getting a mantid,they're facinating creatures. what is the best type of mantid for a beginer? religiosa?

European mantids (M. religiosa) are good for beginners, mainly 'cause they're easy to find and catch.

Anywho, keep an eye on this thread as I'll be posting pictures as soon as she gets over herself and molts. B)