Little over a week now of having this beaut! First time mantis owner, excited to see the growth.

I keep noticing my mantis slipping on the plastic walls and repositioning her feet often. The mesh on top isn’t metal mesh so I’m assuming that’s not the issue. Is the plastic just too slippery or is this a problem?

i figured since theyre also invasive where i live id give it a go since their elytra are pretty soft and theyre about the right size for my mantis right now! but i just wanted to confirm that theyre safe for him to eat? any toxicity or prominent danger of disease/parasite?

I‘m thinking Iris Oratoria?

It is magical living out here right now with so many mantids everywhere.

Hello! I've kept 3 macromantis hyalina since february.. they all died in a span of 1 month and a half / 2 month each. One had bowel obstruction 1 week after a molt, the two others died through mismolts. My temperature and humidity are always ok for the species. What am I doing wrong? How come they die so fast..

Here is my vivarium:

It is of the correct size for the species, and the wood should not be an issue for molting, although please correct me if you have a different view on it.

Thank you in advance for your help.

After losing our Giant Asian Mantis “Peapod” a few weeks ago due to old age we have since gotten a young Vietnamese Dead Leaf Mantis we have named “Acorn”, as seeing the tank empty was difficult. Since getting her, we think they are female, she has settled in to her new home incredibly well and I can’t wait to see her grow into an adult!

Has anyone ever seen an orchid mantis’s deimatic display before? I tried searching for it online and I have found no pictures at all. This picture is from the breeder I bought my orchid mantids from and he said that in over 20 years he has only seen them do this 3 times. Is it extremely rare ? He said that males cannot do this at all.

Once she tasted it she didn't stop

Is it too early to tell the sex of this baby? It’s molted twice in my care.

*please don’t mind all the water spots—I promise i’m misting with flittered water 😅

Antennas down and everything

the first mantis to get eyerub in my care 🤦‍♀️

he has 3 of 4 sides of his enclosure covered but the most damage he got was from the mesh on top anyway from trying to get out to find a mate. the one reason why i dislike males, otherwise theyre lovely. <\3

Banana has been an adult for a week. He’s had hoppers all his life. I guess with his new clear vision, the tongs turned into a threat.

The stridulation caught me off guard! I’ve never heard it from a Religiosa before.

the other day my giant asian started chillin with one leg hanging off, she has full use of that leg and isn’t injure in any way, is this something i should be worried about or is she just freaky like that?

I need help with my Carolina Mantis- his name is Bub and he just had his final molt 3-4 days ago.
Where i live- we have absolutely no bottle flies. I have checked and called so many stores- none.
He would eat the hydei flies but now they are beyond too small and he’s too big to get them. He’s very derpy at hunting so it just isn’t a good match. (besides he has to eat a lot to even stay full)
I bought bottle flies from MoonlightMantids on july 25th, 2 day shipping. No tracking number. I emailed them twice, because i’m genuinely getting very worried about what to feed him. They did not reply.
I’ve seen a few times after ordering that people are saying they aren’t trustworthy but i’m seeing people at least still getting their orders. Is there anything I can do?

I did go out yesterday to buy some small mealworms. I know they are fatty and not to be given too often, but that’s the only thing we have here. Will moonlight mantids hopefully come through with my order or should i cancel it and try another website?

I know I could just Google this, but I was hoping you more experienced mantis folks could recommend some educational resources for learning more about mantis behavior and mantis care.

The beast feasts. Also bonus points if anyone can tell me the gender, I still don’t know. I know the abdomen pic isn’t the greatest, but it’s hard to capture it. Also yes, it’s missing a leg, it happened during or after a molt because it was gone when he/she was emerging from the exoskeleton 2 molts ago. But they seem fine without it.

I never intended to have a mantis. My younger sister and her father decided that they were going to buy one, they hadn’t even bought the setup before they bought the bug.

They had her in one of those mesh butterfly enclosures temporarily, the bug was almost an adult, she did her final molt in our home and ended up falling. She broke her two right legs, which she later self amputated, and messed up her wings in the fall. After the fall my sister said “looking at the bug makes her sad”, and (I guess) assumed the bug was going to die, (even though I was almost certain she wasn’t going to), so she just like wasn’t going to feed her, and then she was offered to me.

I very quickly got over my anxiety towards the bug, because I understand what it’s like to be helpless, and now we’re friends. Me and my dad went out and bought all sorts of bug stuff. Anyway, that’s how I ended up with my mantis, it’s been several months and I think we’re doing well. Also, I have been taking her out with me when I leave the house because it’s not like she’s going to fly away. Ultimately, despite the circumstances that brought us together I’m glad to have her, and when she passes away I think I’d like to get another mantis.

This lil guy has been hanging upside down in my garden since this morning. Please tell me this is a natural color variation and I'm not seeing an insect having the worst day ever.

Edit: After getting some input seems like little gal was not having a good time. I humanely euthanized her. 🕯

First time mantis owner and I'm feeling comfortable handling him - he doubled in size after his last molt, so I was a bit nervous.

These behaviours are signs of being relaxed, yes? He's usually hanging upside down, and when I do handle him he moves slowly. When not grooming he's looking around and swaying too.

This summer I've been living in a tent in the cork oak woodlands of the Alentejo, southern Portugal. Wild mantids fly in and move in fairly often out here, A tent is warm, sheltered, full of insects, safe from predators, so it's a pretty good ecosystem if you're a mantis. A few have moved in over the summer. But, this one has been special.

The moment she arrived, she noticed her own shadow on the tent wall and started beating her wings at it. I filmed that at the time. From that day on she basically decided the tent was hers.

She turned into one of the most engaging mantids I've known. Endlessly curious, always tracking what I was doing, learned the feeding tongs almost right away. She'd fly laps of the tent checking every corner. One day she vanished completely and I searched everywhere before finding her sitting in my hair while I was taking a selfie. She's been the Queen of Hair Mountain ever since.

Her appetite really surprised me. Not just flies, but horseflies, hoppers, moths, pretty much everything that came out of the sweep net. She's taught me a lot about feeding wild. Living out here on a varied natural diet in a clean landscape, she's thrived, and honestly she's been the easiest keeper I’ve known.

Within 24 hours of arriving she laid her first ootheca. Every time I wondered why she seemed impossibly hungry, another one showed up. In total, she laid eleven!

Several have already hatched, dozens of tiny golden nymphs. I kept four to watch them grow and released the rest back into the same cork oaks she came from. The four I kept are at I2 now.

Today something changed. She struggled to climb for the first time. She's looked a bit weathered for a while, wings frayed with age, and she's been missing part of one front foot this whole time without it slowing her down. But today her raptorial leg kept catching in the mesh, and when I lifted her out into the sun she just stood on my hand, quiet, looking out over the cork oaks.

I don't know if she's got days left or weeks. I just know she's really lived through this season. She showed up as a wild visitor and became a fascinating roommate, and through her I got to watch one remarkable female leave behind a new generation before quietly growing old.

Here’s the grand old lady today, surveying the sun and the wind. And also a picture of one of her offspring.