# Gipsy's Mantises



## katz640 (Aug 12, 2010)

But I think I get a lucky photo shot every now and then.  

Current mantises:







Spunker: Probably the only current mantis I've given a name to. Probably not a good idea to give them names... but she has a lot of spunk.  I _think_ that she is a Stagmomantis californica... not sure. Any ID help would be appreciated. I caught her in my parents' backyard which is located in Beaumont, CA.






My largest Chinese.






Smallest Chinese -- I kind of ticked it off. Oops.  






My Chinese who is neither the smallest nor the largest. Haha.






The same mantis as above molting -- virtually all of its back legs were crippled before the molt so I was afraid it wasn't going to make it, but it turned out okay and all off its legs are as good as new.






My largest Dead Leaf -- this guy wouldn't stay still! I have a ton of pictures of my hand because it would jump on my camera before it could take a picture.






Smaller Dead Leaf.

Past mantises:






Manty, my first mantis, laying a ooth -- I think she's the same species as Spunker.

I've had a bunch of other mantises that I caught from my backyard/front door, but I'm not sure where I put them all...

Other mantises (ones that I kept temporarily):






When I went to Indonesia, I asked my grandma if they had any praying mantises. The gardeners caught a couple for me... unfortunately, they put them in the same container. The two were in a deathlock with one another when I looked at them. Tried to separate the two... but only one mantis lost its grip... and it wasn't this one. I believe this is a Chinese mantis.






Same mantis as above.


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## LauraMG (Aug 12, 2010)

You have very beautiful collection of Chinese! And BTW, I'm a huge fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender



I see book 3 on the bottom of the last pic there


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## katz640 (Aug 12, 2010)

Thank you!

An Avatar fan? Cool! I was pretty stoked when I found all those Avatar DVDs for sale. Even neater was that they had Indonesian subtitles.

EDIT:






Found a picture of one of the bajillion Manty Jrs.


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## LauraMG (Aug 12, 2010)

Trainman Gipsy said:


> An Avatar fan? Cool! I was pretty stoked when I found all those Avatar DVDs for sale. Even neater was that they had Indonesian subtitles.


It is, quite possibly, the greatest cartoon ever created


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## Precarious (Aug 12, 2010)

Very cute mantids!


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## katz640 (Aug 12, 2010)

Haha, it probably is.  Hope the upcoming miniseries is just as good.

-

Thank you!


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## LauraMG (Aug 13, 2010)

Trainman Gipsy said:


> Haha, it probably is.  Hope the upcoming miniseries is just as good.


Nice word usage! And I hope so too because the final episodes of the Book of Fire bring me to tears and anything else is unacceptable!


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## MantidLord (Aug 13, 2010)

Hi, great photos. That past mantis that was laying the ooth is Iris oratoria, not the same as your Stagmomantis limbata(?).


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## katz640 (Aug 14, 2010)

Ah, really? Thank you. All these mantises I catch look all the same to me.


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## Ntsees (Aug 14, 2010)

I agree with Mantidlord on the _Iris oratoria_. I think that the first mantid is a Limbata (where's that black/reddish mark on the anterior abdominal end of the mantid?  ), but I guess we'll see when it reaches adulthood.


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## katz640 (Aug 21, 2010)

Hm... seems like I was totally off with Manty then.  Good thing I'm on this forum!

My dad caught two new praying mantises in the backyard:











I'm not sure if this mantis had that black spot on its eye when my dad caught it. :huh: Tried misting it with a bit of water to see if it would come off but no luck. Maybe on its next molt?


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## Ntsees (Aug 22, 2010)

Nice! Thanks for posting up the picture of this mantid because it can be compared to the 1st mantid picture you posted up (the one lacking that black thing on the abdomen). As for the black speck on the eye, it just means that it's eye was previously damaged. It will heal in the next molt.


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## katz640 (Aug 22, 2010)

Oh, okay. Good thing I didn't really mess with its eye then. Are they all most likely the same species? Being from the same backyard and all?

Anyway, Spunker (the first mantis posted) molted pretty recently and she developed some strange black markings:






Kind of looks like a mechanic that just pulled himself from under a car. :blink:


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