# your pick?



## yen_saw

HOwdy! was chatting with few friends yesterday about which is the most over-rated and under-rated car, and was thinking what about mantis. I like any mantis species but would like to hear from anyone here what you think is the most over-rated and under-rated species. Right now i think BUdwing (P. Agrionina) is under-rated and GHost mantis (P. Paradoxa) is nice but over-rated.


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## Sheldon Johnson

Under Rated: Gongy - you havnt kept them until you've colonised them!

Over Rated: Basalis - awsome , dont get me wrong, but so sought after and theyre not _that_ different from a grandis really. (ok the hunting part is cool and the green colour is nicer, but they have a very similar build)


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## Mike

please state the common name too =|


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## Sheldon Johnson

gongy = violin

basalis = shield


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## nympho

the orchid mantis is so overrated ! I mean pink; its such a girly colour.

(nah love 'em really!) i'll get round to buying some one day. they will probably turn out to be all males though :roll:


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## Sheldon Johnson

Orhcids are totally under rated IMO.

When i first saw them i thought "wow they look cool" but always had this mental image of them being similar size to whalbergii.

That initial perception has been totally shattered by each new generation ive had, being bigger and more violent than those that came before them. Ive only ever experience 1 species with a more violent approach to food and that was a polyspilota, which ate a cricket 3 times its size at L2 - amazing!


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## Ian

Actually, I have to agree with nympho, and sheldon to some extent. The Hymenopus has had this definite fixation of being a very hard species to keep, and have been advised against keeping by many people. However, I found them SO easy to keep. I find them no different at all to keep, as something like a Phylocrania, or a Sybilla, which, IMO, are easy species to keep.

Appearance wise, I do think they are over rated. There really is nothing to them, they are white, and slightly pink. They are a wonderufl flower mimic, and the idea of that could be enforced slightly more...However, I personally think species such as the Pseudocreobotra, and even the Parasphendale, as adult, look somewhat more outstanding than the hymenopus.

One species I do feel is under-rated, is the Miomantis. I think these are truely fantastic species! They have such a great character, and have an appetite like a horse. They are not scared to tackle prey larger than themselves either! As adult, they are very tame, and the colour variations between specimens are truely amazing. I just generally think the Miomantis is a really cute species, that more people should be keeping  

Cheers,

Ian


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## Jay

Hey Ian,

I would have to agree with you about the Miomantises. I am sure enjoying mine. I thought that I would have more losses after L1 but I have probably lost only 4 since L2. They love to eat and as long as they have plenty of food they are good at being communial. Their growth rate is pretty easy to manipulate too.

I'm just waiting for a subadult male to turn adult so I can mate him.


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## Ian

Awsome, glad they are doing well!


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## specy

I think either the pseudocreobotra (spiny flower) is over-rated or the creobroter(indian/thai flower) is under-rated. While both look similar, the creobroter is a lot more fun to watch than pseudocreobotra, but the pseudocreobotra is a lot more popular because they got those spikes.

I also feel that p. spurca (twig) is under-rated: It is very easy to keep, nice behavior, reasonably sized and good looking. It should at least be as popular as the parasphedale. (budwing)


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## Jesse

"Overrated": Any mantid that costs $10+ USD for L1-L3.

Underrated: Can't decide between S. lineola or P. agrionina.


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## Obie

Overrated: B. mendica. Don't know what it is about them...but they don't impress me.

Underrated: O. peruviana and S. limbata. Not the biggest. But when it comes to behavior, those are at the top of my list. Plus S. limbata is by far the most bullet-proof mantis I've seen. Very adaptable and tough, plus I usually get about 10 different shades of color from 1 ooth.

Here's an S. limbata that just shed, they're not the best pics, but you can see some of the pink and orange in the wings:


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## Rib

I think that more people should own some of these babies


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## ibanez_freak

Over rated- gongylus!!!! What a bother to keep. they are so hard to feed and after keepeing a few found that they werent very exciting.

Under rated- The regular coloured style mantis (miomantis, hierodula etc) I find that these are just so great to keep because although they look simple compared to some crazy flower/leaf mantis but they have the coolest temprements and personalities.

But I have to say that any of the flower (orchid mantis, pseudo or creo) are awesome mantis too.

I dunno, but I guess I don't find the leaf mantis like deroplatys very exciting at all. Just aggressive stick insects :S.

Cheers for my rant  , Cameron.


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## leviatan

> I think these are truely fantastic species! They have such a great character, and have an appetite like a horse. They are not scared to tackle prey larger than themselves either!


When i read this, i think about Ceratomantis. See this:





This picture isn't my. I get it from www.modliszki.info

In Poland the under rated species are Sphodromantis gastricia &amp; viridis.

Over rated: Gongy, Pseudo i Creo.


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## Peloquin

Under-rated-- Popa spurca crassa (Twig mantis). I love 'em. They look cool and run after food like it's going out of fashion. You would expect anything with such good camoflauge to just sit and wait for food but they'll run after it.

Over-rated--coronatus (Orchid). Just cant get into them. They are good hunters and their look really doesn't relate to their attitude. They look puffy but are pretty hard. I just think the tend to be over priced and dont doo enough to warrent their "Ooh, must have one" status.


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## KennethJ78

Underrated: *Hierodula membranacea*. Allmost everybody has them; easy to keep, large, beautiful normal type mantis.

Over rated: Definately *Phyllocrania paradoxa*. One of the most beautifully shaped / camouflaged species.... yet the most dull species I've ever had.

The just sit in their enclosures.. not moving.. not doing anything.. If only it were a bit more active.. On the other hand.. activity would completely blow it's cover.. :roll:


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## Sheldon Johnson

Bah, you can call gongy over rated all you want, AFTER you have put them in a colony of 20. Thats the fun of it all.

Also feeding is a bother? Thats crazy, theyre the easiest mantids to feed. Just need to get in a cycle of buying 25p (50cents) worth of maggots every week.


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## ibanez_freak

I had troubles from the flies not hatching at right times etc. How can you control that at all? If you can tell me then they're off my over-rated list  . Also I would get a colony but just don't have the money.

Cheers, Cameron.


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## ellroy

I don't really feel that I've kept enough species to be picky but I was really impressed with Creobroter gemmatus. They hunt down their prey and make really interesting captives. I think they are often overlooked in favour of Pseudocreobroter

Cameron-

You can stagger the development of the maggots by keeping some of them chilled (perhaps in the fridge or outside if its cold). They will pupate within a day or 2 at room temp so depending on how many your need you can just warm some more up a few days after the first lot pupate and so on.....can be a bit time consuming but its worth it to keep some of the exotic species that will only eat flying prey. Post some pics when you start your colony :wink:

Alan


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## Sheldon Johnson

All i do for food, is go to the local tackel shop ever week and pick up £0.50 of maggots, i put some (the rest go for the other bugs) in a container at the bottom of a tank, then 10 days later they hatch. As long as i get them the sme time every week there is no problem.

Its far easier than feeding them crickets or roahces etc.


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## nympho

i only feed bluebottles to my mantids and they seem to really like them. (I cant be bothered to rear crickets). Its cool when they grab them as they fly past; i'm not sure if all mantids are quick enough as ive not kept many types but Gongys are well known for doing this. Idolomantis are pretty good at this too, ive seen mine grab a fly as it flew past behind it, not sure how it did it though!

btw who sells gongy ooths in uk, i don't fancy buying 20 mantids but a colony seems a good idea.


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## Exotic-Mantis

underrated: Sybilla sp. : I think they are extremely wild looking, sort of like gongylus G.

Overrated: Popa S. : They are neat looking, but not all that cryptic... (Almost like a stick insect)


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## Sheldon Johnson

ME!!!!

I have a rather large colony producing at the moment, but i am keeping all ooths at the moment for my next gen. (My tank can hold 40 adults)


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## nympho

> I have a rather large colony producing at the moment, but i am keeping all ooths at the moment for my next gen. (My tank can hold 40 adults).


hey thats a big future colony you got planned there, sheldon.

- if you can get, say 300 out of each ooth and each female lays 2 or 3 ooths! :shock: i think you gonna need a bigger cage :wink:


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## KennethJ78

*Nympho said*



> hey thats a big future colony you got planned there, sheldon. - if you can get, say 300 out of each ooth and each female lays 2 or 3 ooths! i think you gonna need a bigger cage


Do you seriously have any idea of what you're talking about ???

Gongylus females produce up to 10 ooths, all containing 10 - 35 nymphs..

So where exactly did you read about 300 nymphs per ooth ??? :lol: 

Or did I completely misread your topic :wink:


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## nympho

I stand corrected...

however, 10 x 35 = 350 young per female = still alot of mantids :wink:


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## KennethJ78

lol..

I agree :lol:


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## macro junkie

underrated - giant asian..i love these things

over rated - im not to sure. :lol: il tell u in a few months when i have keepted more mantis


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## Kruszakus

Over-rated: As I live in Poland - the answer is simple - every single type of Sphodromantis species.

And the uder-rated would be H. Coronatus - when I saw the adult feale, I was blown away - it really is a very beautiful mantis, plus - they are cute at all stages.


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## macro junkie

Kruszakus said:


> Over-rated: As I live in Poland - the answer is simple - every single type of Sphodromantis species.And the uder-rated would be H. Coronatus - when I saw the adult feale, I was blown away - it really is a very beautiful mantis, plus - they are cute at all stages.


u mean the orhid mantis..i have find a kind person willing to send me one..im going to try and get it a mate..but i cant wait to shoot it with my lens..i ben waiting to shoot these for along time now.


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## Kruszakus

I have a regular supply of these mantids nt so far away from my house - lucky me, hehe  

BTW - if you find certain species boring, due to lack of movement - check out if they are communal. Cause if I mate my P. Paradoxa - next time I'll keep them together with a horseload of food - otherwise, they don't do nothing.

Soon I should have Phyllovates species - I intend to keep ten of them in one contaier, the rest in separation. Let's see how it will work.


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## macro junkie

Kruszakus said:


> I have a regular supply of these mantids nt so far away from my house - lucky me, hehe  BTW - if you find certain species boring, due to lack of movement - check out if they are communal. Cause if I mate my P. Paradoxa - next time I'll keep them together with a horseload of food - otherwise, they don't do nothing.
> 
> Soon I should have Phyllovates species - I intend to keep ten of them in one contaier, the rest in separation. Let's see how it will work.


as long as they look good under a lens im happy.i dont mind if they do nothing..its easier for me that way.u have oots of orchids..lucky swine.


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## Kruszakus

Well, orchids are a bit sloppy - but they make up for the lack of action with their looks. Plus, you can impress chicks with them - most of them do not like unsects, but almost all of them love pink :lol: 

By the way... The next overrated mantis is D. Lobata - now that is a mantis that does nothing, and does not even look that cool.


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## randyardvark

over rated Hymenopus, they arnt actually that cool, and they seem to loose their beautiful pink tinge at adult for a dirty brown/cream, nice mimic and all that but pfft

underated... pseudoempusa pinnapavonis... these havnt really picked up at all, but they are savage, females are absolutely mental, and their threat display is nothing short of awsome, and its possible to get a deep red/purple morph from them, they are practicly bomb proof and love to back flip and will 'happily' jump into threat pose/ play dead for little or no reason. savage


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## macro junkie

randyardvark said:


> over rated Hymenopus, they arnt actually that cool, and they seem to loose their beautiful pink tinge at adult for a dirty brown/cream, nice mimic and all that but pfft underated... pseudoempusa pinnapavonis... these havnt really picked up at all, but they are savage, females are absolutely mental, and their threat display is nothing short of awsome, and its possible to get a deep red/purple morph from them, they are practicly bomb proof and love to back flip and will 'happily' jump into threat pose/ play dead for little or no reason. savage


thats good to know cause im breeding these..wopwopwopwop


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## idolomantis

macro junkie said:


> underrated - giant asian..i love these thingsover rated - im not to sure. :lol: il tell u in a few months when i have keepted more mantis


giand asiansare defenitly under-rated cuz no1 realize how cute and funny they can be!!!! i love them to   :lol: 

over rated hmmm i don,t know hmmmm my little nevue is but thats not a mantis  (bud somtimes he act like that then he jumpes on me and bites then  )


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