So, I found her outside me house earlier this year. She is invasive so I figured, free pet + removing invasive species= win/win. She had her final molt at end of August. She is very chunky in this picture. I fed her 3 days prior so I think she is getting ready to lay her oothica soon. Anyway, hope ya enjoy 😉

I haven’t seen a mantis since I was in elementary school (so over 20 years ago). Back then we had an abundance of them at the playground, I was fascinated by them & held them often. We have books on all kinds of insects & I’ve told my kids about all the praying mantis’s I used to see when I was younger. Today they got to see one, the first real one (in person) they’ve ever seen in their lives — so it was a very sweet moment.

New friend stopped by after all the rain this weekend

I got her at the Tinley NARBC yesterday! I was initially planning on getting an amblypygid, but I got a deal for her and the enclosure and I’m ultimately so much happier with her. Shes my first non-native mantis and I’m so excited to watch her grow. I’m especially excited to see how different (or similar) she’ll be to my Chinese mantises. I fed her a dubia nymph last night since the blue bottle flies still need to pupate, and she took it down pretty quick! Her name is Lux.

I’ve noticed a few german cockroaches in my bathroom. I’ve never once had roaches in my life, and I keep the house as clean as I personally can.
I need a way to try to get rid of this without hurting my mantises or jumping spiders or isopods. I have quite a few, and I’m stressing out very bad. Is there any traps or glue or anything? It’s an old ass house so “sealing everything up” won’t help, there’s cracks every fucking where.
And we rent.

My bedroom where i keep all my pets is right next to the bathroom, they share a wall. I’ve yet to see any roaches in any other room, and I’m trying to fix the issue before it becomes worse because it doesn’t seem bad right now since I just noticed it.

Biggest mantis ive ever seen, i took him home and let my little brother keep him as a pet.

Any wasp that enters my home in the fall is gonna be mantis lunch. Look at the pipes on her! 💪

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians.

Hi! I am starting my journey as a mantis keeper. I decided to plan for a ghost mantis (Phyllocrania paradoxa) and am gathering supplies now.

For general supply, I have some tongs for feeding/feeder transport/enclosure adjustment, and a small misting bottle. Any other suggestions are welcome!

I understand that in the early life stages you should keep them in an appropriately-sized smaller container. Is this something that will come with a mantis from a breeder (like a deli cup) or could I properly prep a 9 x 9 x 9.5 cm acrylic case (to be reused with each baby I get)?

Will Organza mesh work for these guys?

For feeding, how do you guys contain flies once you are feeding? I understand, from what I've read, that Ghost Mantes are more attracted to flying prey, how does feeding go for L4 and below?

Is an occasional overnight temperature of 65 degrees Fahrenheit ok?

On my 1st floor balcony. It's been a little over a month since then and it's been getting colder, I hope the little ones make it! I check on it often to make sure no harm comes to them.

I know nothing about mantises besides what I googled, but I love them and there are a lot in my area, so far I've seen three different species (I think).

Hello, this is my giant Asian mantis (L3 or L4) Ripley. I got them about 2 weeks ago and they molted last Wednesday. They have not been wanting to to eat much which I heard is normal after a molt, but its been multiple days. I was able to get them to eat a few fruit flies yesterday but they have been wanting to refuse them. I also tried small roaches today as I was worried about their abdemon size since it was pretty flat earlier. This is a recent picture and I just wanted to see if this looks like a good size for the abdomen? I'm just worried about them not really eating as I am new to this and my l3 spiny flower has been eating still.

Had a ton of mantids on my patio this year (at least three breeding pair). The abdomen of this one was constantly wriggling and it was moving about very slowly. It looks like something was burrowing into it.

First picture after feeding, second picture during.

Hi, my mantis molted during the early hours of Saturday and I offered a blue bottle this morning. I thought with his size one would be more than enough but he's still as flat as before. I can't see any black in his abdomen but I can see lots further up his body, there's no signs of any vomiting. I've seen him inflate his abdomen briefly before flattening it again not long after he finished the fly. Do I offer him another, I'm slightly concerned with the food still sitting quite high up his body it's not something I've noticed when feeding him previously.

Thanks for any advice

I was wondering what their ooths look like, and where I can find them. We are approaching winter, and so I know they have laid, but I have no idea what they look like. I tried looking it up but I can’t find pictures online which is weird. I am talking about SoCal species by the way.

I've noticed her doing this for the past 10 minutes

Paired her twice and she laid one egg before dying and it looks really weird compared to the ones I see outside and online. It’s light brown, and doesn’t have the white stripe on top. Is it infertile, or just formed slightly differently?

(Hers is the first one in the studio lighting)

Hi! I fear my room is a bit on the chilly side 71°F and I’m worried my little ghost is cold. What do you guys do for heating? Especially for such a small enclosure? Bonus if I can see ur set up!

NOTE: Enclosure is for a Ghost Mantis :)

Hi! I'm trying to get a heat source for my mantis enclosure because I've been monitoring the temps (before I've got the mantis!) and it's dropping to 18-19°c sometimes during the day.

I know people advise against heat lamps, but I can't seem to find a heat mat that would go on the side of the enclosure - they all seem to be for underneath?

I've heard people mention heat tape as well but I don't think I can get that in the UK.

Any advice/info/recommendations would be much appreciated. Thank you!

hi there!! this is my first ever mantis and I got her on the 30th of August, I've had her since and she hasn't moulted once. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong because I feed her every time her abdomen goes flat, and mist every few days. she gets fed a mix of fruit flies and wax worms (worm and moth form) just a bit worried for her, any advice is appreciated!

Oi gente ontem eu peguei um louva a deus que está sem uma perna e eu decidi cuidar dele eu já alimentei ele ontem com uma larva de tenebrio e uma Mariposa e eu fiz esse terrario para ele eu quero saber como ele pode regenerar a perna dele e e isso

I have more macro shots on the same phone but better.

I know that the abdomen should be flat when hungry and rounded when full, but I can’t really find any photo reference online what a flat abdomen looks like on this species..

Does anyone have example pictures of what an orchid mantis looks like when she’s hungry vs fed?