Spooky ghost mantis has wings!

Was shocked after work to see that Spooky ibviously molted to a final adult stage, with wings. Hope the molt was successful...am worried because he/she didnt fold his wings up. 

The eight little nymphs i got from Patty are doing very well although one seems kind of thin. 

I love ghosts! They are so different from Chinese mantises.

Gratz on the molt. Show us some pics of Spooky

What kind of housing does Spooky need now? He is ina deli cup which he has outgrown. A terrarium? I have screen mantis cages but tge humidity seems way too low. Diet? He seems to have outgrown hydei. Will try to get photos tomorrow. How long does an adult live? I hope a long tome asi love Spooky. Thank you.

Keep him in a terrarium, or other larger cage. Feed him moths, house flies, blue bottles, whatever you can find/buy. Adult male ghosts don't live as long as females. A couple more months is what you should expect of him.

- MantisGirl13

Thank you. I moved him into a mesh butterfly cage today with really sall crickets and a moth. Am hoping to catch some fruit flies today while waiting for the blue bottle fly spikes to mature. Dont know if Spooky is a male ir female. Will try to get a photo this weekend. 

Ok. It should be easy to tell if he/she is a male or a female. I am glad that you have a good cage for him/her! Do you have any other ghosts? He/She might want some company if your other ghosts are a similar size! Please post somes pictures!

- MantisGirl13

Comparison pic of adult male & female ghosts

Thanks for the pictures. Based on these, i think Spooky s a male. When i got him at a reptile show, i was told he was a female. Regardless, he will be loved and cherished. Only other ghosts i have are nymphs. 

I am sure he will have a great life. What instar are your other nymphs?

- MantisGirl13

Not sure, i think they have molted twice. They are so really cute! 

Looked at photos online...am guessing they are L3 or L4. 

Neat! Little ghosts are so cute with their twitching antennae.

- MantisGirl13

Never had a ghost mantis before but this species is on the list the ones I would like to keep.

I think one of the cutest things my ghosts do is how they bounce up & down when they see me after I've been gone all day or while eating prey....l think they do it when they are content and happy.

@PredatorhousepetThat is cute! What instar are your ghosts? My favorite species is the ghost mantis. My family and Patty gave me nine for my birthday in March, and I still have six of them.

-MantisGirl13

I have 3 ghosts...2 females and a male that I bought at the same time as L2 nymphs. All three have been adults well over a month now and I have 3 fertilized ooths incubating. Provided all goes well in a month or two I should have a LOT of ghost nymphs running around.

@PredatorhousepetCute! What are their names? I plan to mate mine as soon as they are old enough. I have even been asked by the Philadelphia Insectarium ( the second largest insectarium in America) to donate a ghost ooth or several nymphs!

- MantisGirl13

That is very cool, your nymphs would be shown to lots of people!

I haven't felt the need to give my mantises names, I've just called them by their scientific names or by common name and coloring. The funny thing is I was referring to the ghost females by their coloring at first...I had an olive green female and a light brown female but they kept changing colors so that got confusing real fast. (The male went from dark brown to a light grayish brown.) Now both females are an identical dark brown chocolate color and the only way I can tell them apart is by how thin their abdomens are/who laid their ooth last...so now I just call them the "ghost twins."

I name my mantids, because it gets too confusing if I don't. Your females sound very pretty! I have two chocolate colored males, two green females, a honey colored female, and a speckled honey-chocolate male. they are all pre-sub or sub-adult. 

- MantisGirl13