Recent content by asylum23

Yes, he flew right back thru my yard into the woods when he'd had enough of me taking his pics. He was actually behind the bug zapper, but I go out all thru the night, see what is out there.

Thanks! Maybe in October when it really starts to get cold, I'll bring some in. It depends on how much extra money I have, I know from raising them how expensive it can get! But I will consider it, I have some tanks to put them in.

Thanks! I have seen this one and the post on the 5" guy, I have not yet seen a female of this very large size. But I hear that in winter they will die? If so, it is getting colder out here. I would hate to have a mantis this large pass away on me. They are coming from my 70+ acres of woods...

Hello, I posted the 5" Wild Praying Mantis in Michigan topic. Well I found this guy tonight, I do not think he is the same mantis, he seems younger, the eyes are different and the colors are different, plus he was a lot friendlier. I really tried to get some pics w/ the ruler. This one was...

Are they usually smaller? I haven't seen one since I was little, always called them leaf bugs. I put him in the forest on leaves that looked just like him, so he should be safe. I have locusts here too that are super huge, I know the female is larger, so it's the females I'm seeing who are huge.

Yes, I figured, I'm used to raising them in Las Vegas where it didn't get that cold, not like Detroit. The katydid is 3" and the Chinese is 5", I measured both and both flew when I did the ruler. Tho neither seemed too proficient at flying.

I guess I am not very proficient at the ruler/camera combo, it was 3", I did measure, but it started flying all over. I put him/her in the woods, maybe I'll try again. Are these common??? I was thinking it was a leaf bug? I have tons and tons of grasshoppers and locusts, which I know all 3...

This is who was bright green and flew into my garage, a 3" leaf bug. I moved him/her into the woods, I think it is cute! Look at those feet!

I did think about keeping him, but my worry was he was old! I thought he would die and then I'd feel terrible. He probably must get around good to be so big, but when it gets colder here in MI, will they not just die? Also, I pulled the webs off of him after I took these photos, then he ran...

Here is a pic by a regular moth, you can kind of tell the size better. He was knocking down spider webs too.

I guess I should call it a him, I thought female b/c of the size. But I will definitely look for him, take a pic w/ a ruler. I did measure him w/ a ruler, that's where I got 5" from. But he kept jumping/flying at and on me, I guess he did not like the ruler? I have seen quite a few in my...

I think there was another bright green one out there earier around 9pm too, that one flew in my garage, so I will watch for it. This one I did measure, but did not get a good pic w/ the ruler. She kept flying at me. I am not sure why, I know they are not aggressive toward us. When she landed...

What is pretty funny is there are a ton of rather large garden spiders living near that bug zapper, she was marching around and destroying their webs. I did not see a single spider. Went back out, do not see her, the spiders are all back out frantically rebuilding their webs. I guess they...

Thank you! I'm guessing she must be old to be so large, she was right next to the bug zapper which I have unplugged! This is the 4th praying mantis I have found in my yard in a month! I have never found so many so fast before.

I raise mantids and release them for pest control, I was living in Las Vegas, but just moved back to Metro Detroit. I have 70 acres next to my house and have found the strangest bugs I have ever seen. Tonight I found this praying mantis on my garage, she measured in at 5"! She is the largest...