# Orchid Mantids



## Jwonni (Nov 17, 2005)

I got 3 small nymphs a week ago they all shed within a day

i have been feeding them on FF's and when i clean them out/re water them i take em out and they sit nicely on my hand while the other hand is doing the work

when i have seen stray FF running along i have put it on my hand and they go after it and then sit happilly chewing away

they move alot and are lots of fun to watch

today i decided to see their reaction to a curly wing fly the same size as them (roughly) i was not sure if they would see it as food or shy away with it being so big but i put one in and my little mantis was watching as the fly ran round the top of the jar and as soon as the fly went to the floor (where mantis was chilling) she grabbed it and their was no struggle which i thought their may have been simply due to size

So i gave my second mantis one this stayed high for longer and the little mantis watched and slowly walked up the twigs but then the fly went to ground so the mantis watched for a few minutes and as the fly went below mantis branch she thrust her arms out and grabbed it, but the fly grabbed the tissue ball and tried to pull on it except my little mantis had a plan and started reversing up the twig taking the fly away from any thing it could grab

The third mantis is on the material mesh that is the lid so i will wait for it to move down a bit before introducing one there

I'm lovin it


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## hortus (Nov 17, 2005)

haha awsome . sounds like ill have to add some orchids to my collection later on in life.


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## Jwonni (Nov 24, 2005)

Update:

They all refused to eat yesterday morning-dinner time so i took the flies out and when i got back from college in the evening one had shed then by morning today another had shed so now i'm just wainting on the last one


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## dakota (Nov 24, 2005)

who did u get them from?


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## Jackson (Nov 24, 2005)

I was looking at some earlier today on an auction. There was some for sale in the UK offered a £3 each for an L2...Sadly he had sold out


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## Samzo (Nov 24, 2005)

Shame, lovin the sig sign Jackson


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## Jwonni (Nov 24, 2005)

i got em from martin french www.bugzuk.com only accepts cheque's but i've used him a couple of times and nice healthy mantids

i got a pic or 2 at my mams i'll probably post if i remember but not that good coz i'm not a good photographer they are nearly off the page kinda like the way my nana cuts peoples heads of pictures


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## Jwonni (Dec 10, 2005)

not happy now coz i'm pretty sure i have 3 males


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## Samzo (Dec 10, 2005)

You sure? Pretty unlucky if you do though  wait untill next shed and see if any look a bit bigger. You may have 3 females also.


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## Jwonni (Dec 10, 2005)

they have all shed 3 times while i have had them












the one with the coin was after 2 sheds then the next after 3 i would have thought if female they'd be a bit bigger by now


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## Ian (Dec 11, 2005)

yeah, they do look pretty maleish size. The ones I had I thought they were L6/7, but they shed, and were adult! So is suprising how small they really are..

Cheers,

Ian


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