# waht made you come to this hobby



## elf run1 (Sep 27, 2009)

okay just a random question(s)

1.why did you begin raising mantises?

2. waht do you think is the most facinating thing about them?

3.how many mantises have you had added together

4. waht was your favorite mantis

(in memory of allanon) long live allanon


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## Ntsees (Sep 27, 2009)

1.why did you begin raising mantises?

(1) I found that I can't keep finding mantids when I want them. The best way to have them is to just breed them. It'll save the trouble of finding them. (2) They are fascinating insects.

2. waht do you think is the most facinating thing about them?

Everything about them.

3.how many mantises have you had added together

Too many I've lost count.

4. waht was your favorite mantis

I like both _Iris oratoria _and _Mantis religiosa_. I'm thinking of looking into the Chinese mantids because they are so large (I want to have the largest Chinese mantids they can possibly be).


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## Rick (Sep 27, 2009)

*What

1. Goes back to when I was a young child. I was finding and observing mantids at a very young age. I remember being just 7 or 8 and perhaps younger collecting and observing mantids. As a child I would have "mantis places" where there was a high concentration of mantids. I spent a lot of time in these places. My family called me "mantis man". Only in the last five years or so did I find out there were actual hobbyists out there that bred exotic mantids and of course I had to join them.

2. I love nature and have always been an outdoor person. I find most things about mantids fascinating. I am not really interested in to many insects but mantids have interested me nearly my entire life.

3. No idea.

4. I have a lot of favorites. No way to narrow it down to just one.


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## idolomantis (Sep 27, 2009)

1:

I Started off with stick insects but once i visited some person who had mantids.. i found the creature so fascinating i had to keep one..

Few months later in france i found my first.

2:

I find almost every bug fascinating, so it's hard to tell.

3:

eh...

4:

My _Ameles decolor_ female.

Ofcourse i like all my bugs, but that one ws my first mantis and my fave.


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## cloud jaguar (Sep 27, 2009)

1.why did you begin raising mantises?

-A beautiful pink s. limbata landed on my wife's arm when we were playing a game of warhammer outside with some friends. After the creep factor subsided we were fascinated by the creature. Something was wrong with the mantis and she soon died - we wanted to learn more about them.

2. waht do you think is the most facinating thing about them?

-My wife and I still consider these the true fairies of our garden and i am fascinated by the fact that they seem like little people. Plus I like how they rip other nasty bugs apart since i do not really like bugs at all.

3.how many mantises have you had added together

-counting nymphs in the hundreds - ones that we raised to l4s and released probably several hundred - ones that we raised to adults from nymphs around 50.

4. waht was your favorite mantis

- i love s. limbatas as they are hardy, great eaters, many excellent color morphs, tame, and seemingly friendly.

- i do like ghosts, but lately i am really liking phylovates chlorophaea because they are so darned weird!


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## bassist (Sep 27, 2009)

1.why did you begin raising mantises?

When I was around six found a female _Tenodera sinensis_eating another mantis which I can only assume was a male she laid a couple of oothecae and I released and kept some of the nymphs.

2. what do you think is the most facinating thing about them?

Everything dunno I've always been drawn to mantids.

3.how many mantises have you had added together

Hundreds if you include nymphs.

4. what was your favorite mantis

Individual wise the female _Tenodera _I originally found. Species wise probably _Hymenopus coronatus_ at the moment.


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## a1_collection (Sep 28, 2009)

1.why did you begin raising mantises?

Well I found a bunch at school and thought they were interesting. This is all from my love of entomology too.

2. what do you think is the most fascinating thing about them?

I find their accuracy and strength in killing prey fascinating. Mantids seem to be built to kill. They have all the right features and more to take out what they need.

3.how many mantises have you had added together.

I don't really remember the number but I have housed at lease 2 different species.

4. what was your favorite mantis

S.Limbata


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## d17oug18 (Sep 28, 2009)

1.why did you begin raising mantises?

*Lovely hobby and fun to see what they do when released into a room.*

2. what do you think is the most facinating thing about them?

*The fact that they have 6 legs that arent only for walking, there speed.*

3.how many mantises have you had added together

*around 300*

4. what was your favorite mantis

*Stagmomantis Limbata, Violin Mantis*


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## yen_saw (Sep 28, 2009)

1.why did you begin raising mantises?

-Breed a generation of mantis species.

-Great photographing subject.

-Want to promote this hobby

2. waht do you think is the most facinating thing about them?

- They chase down the prey and capture it with lightning speed strike - still fascinate me.

3.how many mantises have you had added together

- A LOT

4. waht was your favorite mantis

- Idolomantis and Hymenopus


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## MantidLord (Sep 28, 2009)

1. My uncle called me upstairs one day and I saw him holding a bowl with Chinese nymphs attacking each other and eating each other. He called it the arena of sports (from GI Joe) and ever since then i was fascinated.

2. Everything but in particular, their eyes and ability to "problem solve".

3. Even I don't even know.

4. Mantis religiosa. Reminds me of home.


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## ismart (Sep 29, 2009)

1. I find raising mantids fun, and challenging. When i was a kid, i remember seeing an adult female chinese mantis eating a cicada. It had a long lasting impression on me.

2. I love their hunting prowess, and there mind blowing strike speed!

3. Over the years i have probally had a few thousand or so.

4. My favorite species is _Cilnia humeralis_. I just love the way they demolish there prey. Not to mention i like their look!


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## ABbuggin (Sep 29, 2009)

king of elves said:


> okay just a random question(s)1.why did you begin raising mantises?
> 
> 2. waht do you think is the most facinating thing about them?
> 
> ...


1.) I've been extremely interested in insects all my life, mainly mantids. It could be said that the museum that I work/volunteer at got me into exotics.  I've been raising mantids since I was 8, and bred my very first exotics, Pseudocreobotra, wahlbergii, that I got from DeShawn years ago when I was 12. (now 18)  

2.) Their extreme diversity. For example, the only thing that both _Schizocephala, bicornis _ and _Tarachodes, sp._ appear to have in common, is that they are both mantids. They look like completely different invertebrates.

3.) Right now, I have 13 or so different speceis, not sure how many mantids.

4.) Hard to say. Top three in no specific order are: _Tarachodes sp., Gongylus, gongylodes, and Schizocephala, bicornis_.


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## beckyl92 (Sep 29, 2009)

1.why did you begin raising mantises?

i kept stick insects for about 4 years when i was young  

about 2 years ago my brother was watching praying mantis videos on youtube and he was like whoaaa they're badass! for some reason i got the impression that they could harm humans  about 1-2 months later i did some research on them. i saw some on eBay and thought, i have to buy one! so i bought my first mantis Kyo  (R.basalis) i kept just the 1 for about 6 month and then i found out about all these over species so i kinda went crazy and bought about 15 mantids at once.. then my collection grew and grew and now i breed them and i love it  

2. what do you think is the most facinating thing about them?

loads.. i think they're adorable for one. i love their big eyes and how they're so alien like!

i think its pretty cool how fast they are at striking for their prey.

3.how many mantises have you had added together

oooo.. um.

species about 14-15

mantids including 1st instar nymphs about 700?

4. what was your favorite mantis?

i loveee R.basalis and it was my first mantis. i think they're stunning.. another favorite of mine is the Hierodula Salomonis (jade) mantis.


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## Kruszakus (Sep 29, 2009)

1. I was bored.

2. How peculiar are some of the people who are into this hobby.

3. Hundreds.

4. Nothing compares to Idolomantis, but I also like Idolomorpha and Gongylus.


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## kamakiri (Sep 29, 2009)

1. Because I collect hobbies... When I was a kid it was because I wanted to be an entomologist. Now it's just for the fun of it. I like to study, observe and learn.

2. Aside from the prey catching ability, I like their ability to look over-the-shoulder, and how they turn their heads.

3. A few hundred at a time...currently have about 17 or 18 adult females of various species.

4. Currently _S. limbata_, ghosts are a close second.


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## Boxer_Bug (Sep 29, 2009)

1.why did you begin raising mantises?

fond a mantis on my house. I "saved" it froma spider.

(after some looking up i found i saved the spider. lol)

2. waht do you think is the most facinating thing about them?

there stedfast, can fight bigger pray,

3.how many mantises have you had added together

about 180 sofar. (i got ooths now so more soon)

4. waht was your favorite mantis

chinese mantis. Becuse there the biggest.


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## hibiscusmile (Sep 29, 2009)

king of elves said:


> okay just a random question(s)
> 
> 1.why did you begin raising mantises?
> 
> ...


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## PhilinYuma (Sep 29, 2009)

1: I caught a pregnant female Stagmomantis limbata, and she was so hungry that she took ants, and I thought, "Wow! Fun to keep and easy to feed!"

2. They are the only insect than can actually talk to you. ("Get me out of here!" "Feed me!" A little moisture would help," etc.)

3. A large bunch, but not nearly as large as some have kept.

4. Every one loves the first mantis that they ever kept and always remembers him/her, but so far, I have never kept a mantis that I didn't enjoy!


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## tonyi (Sep 30, 2009)

1. I had a complete tropical vivarium set up but since I didn't know if I would be able to keep it (I didn't know where I would end up after graduation at that point), I wanted a creature that was easy to manage. I read about many different creatures but when I saw a picture of an orchid mantis, I knew I had to look no further.

2. They look and act so different from any other insects I have ever known. The movements are graceful and at the same time they're extremely effective hunters. A remarkable combination.

3. Only a single one, and this may actually be the end of the line, at least for the time being.

4. Hymenopus coronatus obviously.


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## DonovanMD (Oct 26, 2009)

Well my first post here:

1. I'm not really raising mantis' yet, I'm from Canada and had never seen a Mantis in person in my life, not very common where I come from. I now live in Perth, Australia and am growing a strawberry patch and had a little green mantis show up a week ago. It fascinated me and my wife to no end, so I started looking up more info, found this place and have begun searching for more as I'm going to keep them in captivity as well.

2. How great they are at keeping my strawberries free from pests. I had trouble with a few pests and within a week of planting this little mantis showed up all on his own.

3. Just one, total newb here, looking to get started at this hobby


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## Katnapper (Oct 27, 2009)

1.why did you begin raising mantises?

I found an adult female _T. sinensis _at work, took her home (and everywhere else... to work everyday, hehe), and kept her until she passed. RIP Lily, the Chinese female who sparked my interest and love for mantids.

2. waht do you think is the most facinating thing about them?

The way they are so personable, cat-like, and human-like in some ways.

3.how many mantises have you had added together

Lots in a comparatively short time!

4. waht was your favorite mantis

I've had a special affinity for _P. chlorophaea _and _Rhombodera sp._ since I've had them. But _P. paradoxa _are also right up there. Then there are several new (to me) species that I'm really getting to like too...


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