# Alexander's Mantids: 2012 - Present



## MantidBro

2012:

First got into mantids. Bought 2 Stagmomantis limbata at http://www.livemantis.com

Majesty was at L5 and made it to adulthood.

S.I.R. (Silvia Irwin Reynolds) was at L4 and died as a pre-sub.

Majesty when I first received her:







Majesty as an adult:






I estimated that Majesty was around 8 - 10 months when she died. I'd bought a Tenodera sinensis ootheca from http://www.backwaterreptiles.com and it hatched before she died.


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## MantidBro

It was September of 2012 Tenodera sinensis ootheca hatched.

I only got about 16 nymphs - at the time I didn't realize it, but I'd over-misted and didn't provide enough oxygen.

I separated all nymphs; I sold some and kept two for myself, a male and a female, which I'd named Keek and Dakon.

Keek made it to adulthood, but Dakon died at L4 of sickness (puking).

Ootheca hatching:






Keek at L1:






Keek as an adult:






(I'd made an animation of her cleaning her foot... forever.  )


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## MantidBro

Before Keek died, I was offered Phyllocrania paradoxa by a user here, named Chivalry. She only asked for $7; she said she had too many nymphs and said she'd give them to me since Majesty died. I got 2 - a male and a female, as I'd requested. I named the female Kent-Lok ("Royalty") and the male Mostro ("Monster").

Kent-Lok made it to adulthood - she lived 11 months. Mostro made it to sub-adult. He died of sickness (puking).

Kent-Lok when I got her:






Kent-Lok as an adult:


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## MantidBro

Before Kent-Lok died, I bought 2 Tenodera angustipennis oothecae off eBay. About 60 hatched, all of which I'd separated. I sold most and kept 3; 2 females and a male. The females were Gor-Tok ("gorging") and Hol-Drauk and the male was Morta ("endearing").

Nymphs after just hatching:






All separated:






(There were some on the shelf above too; the 3 I'd kept.)

Gor-Tok from L1-adult:


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## MantidBro

Before all my Tenodera died, I'd gotten 2 Idolomantis diabolica from a user here, named AngelofDeathzz. Unfortunately, one was puking when it arrived and didnt last long. And the other died about five days later, of the same sickness. Neither made it past L2.

Magnifico:





Lennot:


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## MantidBro

Still while owning the Tenodera angustipennis and Phyllocrania paradoxa, Peter Clausen and I did a trade. I sent him multiple insects and in return he sent me 9 L1 and L2 Parasphendale agrionina, 2 Popa spurca and 2 Blepharopsis mendica.

The two Popa spurca were females. One at L6, who I named Rekka (blend). And one at L1, who I named Tork (curve). Rekka lived a year, Tork lived 8 months.

Rekka at L6:





Tork at L1:





Both as adults:





(These two seemed to have turned the color that surrounded them during their last molt. Tork (left) molted from an orange lid while Rekka molted from a black lid.)


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## CosbyArt

Great photos. Just sorry to hear about the Idolos - I know you have been wanting them for awhile.

The way your Popa Rekka is holding out her arms, I find my two Deadleaf mantises will do that pose quite often too


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## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Great photos. Just sorry to hear about the Idolos - I know you have been wanting them for awhile.
> 
> The way your Popa Rekka is holding out her arms, I find my two Deadleaf mantises will do that pose quite often too


Thanks! Yeah I was quite upset when they'd died. I tried again later, purchased five, but only one made the trip, and was puking upon arrival. I have had horrible luck with them. I got an ooth this time -- shipping seems to really not be good for them.

Haha my Deadleafs will do that too sometimes -- I love when mantids make their poses.


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## LAME

Lol my deadleaf nymphs do the "super-man-tis" pose too  its even greater when they have their raptorial claws fully extended to go along with it. ^_^


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## MantidBro

The 2 Blepharopsis I got were at L3 when I got them (Bugsincyberspace.com). I'd named one Kek-Tor (beastly) and one Nortem (spikes).

Nortem unfortunately mismolted during his first molt with me. I was able to bring him to the next molt, but due to his previous mismolt, his deformities caused him to mismolt again. And this time, he wasn't savable.

Nortem:





Kek-Tor at L3:





Kek-Tor at L6:





Unfortunately, Kek-Tor mismolted, one his last molt. He'd lost two feet somehow which turned out to be detrimental to him during the molt. I'd been at a party at the time -- I was quite upset. This is a species I need to try again, as I didn't successfully bring one to adulthood.


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## MantidBro

LAME said:


> Lol my deadleaf nymphs do the "super-man-tis" pose too  its even greater when they have their raptorial claws fully extended to go along with it. ^_^


Haha agreed!  

I like the one where they put one claw out and one claw bent in half, making a sort of "Y" shape! Looks just like branches.


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## MantidBro

Parasphendale agrionina:

I'd had four males and five females.

Maulon-Et (Number One), was a female and died at L7 of some sickness.









Admirabilis (Admirable), was a female and died at adulthood, after having been mated with and having laid some oothecae.










Monstrum (Monster), was male and died at adulthood. He was my best-mating male! He was eaten after having mated a few times with Vegrandis.














Bud was also male, and was unfortunately eaten after mating with Admirabilis and Vegrandis.















TBC (Can't post anymore photos on this post, so have to do this one in two separate posts)


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## Mantids4fun

Amazing! It must be great to keep all those mantids!


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## dmina

Wow you have had quite a journey with your mantids... great pics... thanks for sharing!


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## MantidBro

Mantids4fun said:


> Amazing! It must be great to keep all those mantids!


Thanks! and yes, its been a lot of fun, and continues to be! my goal is to own as many species as possible!


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## MantidBro

dmina said:


> Wow you have had quite a journey with your mantids... great pics... thanks for sharing!


Yes! quite a journey indeed. Thank you! and youre welcome, glad you enjoy!


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## LAME

Vegrandis was the mother of my 2 boys Chronos &amp; Tiberius. My first purchase and first exotics in the hobby... So I'm assuming that monstrum was the fathering male?


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## MantidBro

LAME said:


> Vegrandis was the mother of my 2 boys Chronos &amp; Tiberius. My first purchase and first exotics in the hobby... So I'm assuming that monstrum was the fathering male?


Oh, no -- you actually just reminded me. Bud mated with Admirabilis AND Vegrandis. So the father was either Bud or Monstrum.


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## MantidBro

Parasphendale agrionina continued...

Galla-Tor (hyper), was male and never successfully mated despite my best efforts. He had held onto Vegrandis for three days without penetration before he was eaten.











Vegrandis (Tiny), was female, and my longest living mantid up to date. She lived just shy of 13 months. She laid many oothecae. She was my favorite of the bunch.


























Hexadic (six) was also female. She didn't live as long, and she was extremely defensive. I didn't even try breeding her. She struck me and flared her wings quite often. It just goes to show how different individuals, even of the same species and gender, can be.






Creatura (Creature), was male, and was eaten before he'd been able to mate.






And last there was Youngling, a female, who mismolted on her very last molt as she tried molting from the side of the container (I figured this is what happened because I knew she was close to molting, and she was against the side of the container. I was thinking she would move if she was ready to molt. But when I woke up, she was lying on the floor, half way stuck in her exoskeleton. Since this incident, if I know my mantids are ready to molt, and are in a bad spot, I will move them to the lid).


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## MantidBro

While I owned the B. mendica, the P. agrionina and the P. spurca, I tried again at buying Idolomantis diabolica. I purchsed them from Bartek. I ordered 5, but due to the extremely long shipment, and the fact that they were shipped in only 2 separate containers, only one made the trip, and was puking when I received it and died two days later. I'd named him/her Lucky, but it turned out not to be very lucky at all.


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## MantidBro

Being extremely disappointed about my situation with the Idolos, I purchased some Deroplatys lobata at L2 from a user here named Aryia. I'd purchased 2, but she sent me an extra for free! I'd named them Lobataton, Platysil and Derotor. All related to the species name as you can see.

Lobataton died very unexpectedly at L4. I'd had her in the window with all my other mantids and an hour later found her dead in her container. I assume that the heat was too much for her. It struck me as odd because my other D. lobata were in the same window and all housed in the same type of container with a net lid.


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## MantidBro

I seem to have forgotten some mantids. On my 20th birthday, we went to Cape Cod (MA), where I'd found a fertile Tenodera sinensis ootheca (nice birthday gift huh?). It hatched about three weeks later, and I kept two of the nymphs. One I'd let my father name; he decided on "Curious George", LOL. She turned out to be female so I called her "Curious". Her full name became "Curious Georgina". The other one I kept I named Zeep, and he turned out to be male. Curious fell on her last molt and the damage was so horrible, she couldn't even hold herself up. I often saw her with her face in the dirt. It was quite horrible. Call me cruel, but I froze her. Zeep made it to adulthood.

Curious:
















Zeep:


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## MantidBro

Around the time I purchased my D. lobata, I also found a lot of Tenodera sinensis oothecae by my home (we moved). I'd spotted 20, and kept 10. I sold some, and hatched the rest. I released a lot of nymphs as well. I kept some for myself from 2 of the oothecae. Ferdinand, Paully, Cheech, Chong, Saunder and Mori.

Ferdinand was male and made it to adulthood. I'd tried mating him with Cheech but with no success (I was later informed by LAME that he'd read that related sinensis aren't usually interested in each other! And none of the males were that I'd had. Until I found a wild caught male, who mated with all my females plus LAME's all-popular female, Echo).






Paully was also male and made it to adulthood:






Cheech was female and made it to adulthood, and was never mated with, as the males refused:






Chong was male, and was the only one to actually penetrate Cheech. But only for about five second; he ended up jumping off quite quickly. I tried again a couple weeks later and Cheech had bitten through his thorax, and I was unable to save him after that:






Saunder was female and died at L6, the day after I fed her a cricket (puking, diarrhea). I'm not sure what it is, but I've had horrible luck after feeding my mantids crickets. I avoid them at this point.






I wasn't sure of Mori's sex but he/she died at L4, unexpectedly. No puking or anything. I just woke up and he/she was dead. I'd fed him/her a wild-caught cockroach the night before, maybe that had something to do with it? I took a photo of a black spot on her abdomen, wondering if that was related. And how it got there, and what it is.






(I'm sorry for posting such a sad photo of a deceased mantid but I'm hoping one of you may be able to give me an idea as to what that black spot is.)


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## MantidBro

There were also a bunch of wild Tenodera sinensis that I caught. Arkon, Tenosa, Pleakley, Lord Ess, Mantella, Goliath, Emerald, Dracula and Fitz.

Arkon was male and died at L6 of unknown causes:






Tenosa was female and I released her back into the wild once she was older:






Pleakley was also female and I released her back into the wild once she was older as well:






Lord Ess I thought was female at first because he was so big compared to my other mantids. But he turned out just to be a large male! He's the one that mated with me and LAME's females.






Mating with Goliath.






(I'd fed them pinheads crickets which for some reason were never detrimental, unlike the adults.)





Mating with LAME's Echo.

Mantella was female and mismolted at L6:






Goliath was my favorite. She was the biggest mantid I've ever owned to this day. She was just under 4" (going from head to anus. Counting her legs, more like 5"). Lord Ess mated with her and I'm currently incubating her ootheca.





Adult.

Emerald was a female that I found as an adult. I was out looking for feeders and saw her in a mist of bumble bees. She was staring at me and sticking her arms out, trying to be a stick. She was a reactive/defensive one!





TBC


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## PlayingMantis

It's fun reading about Lord Ess - it is pretty amazing how large some male T. sinensis can be!

Last summer, I had a CB adult female T. sinensis, which was barely more than 3 inches long for some odd reason. While taking a walk in a local park, I kept an eye out for any males. To my surprise, I found a huge male T. sinensis in a grassy area, larger than any Chinese mantis I had ever seen. My first thought was that he would probably cannibalize my poor female, given his size. And I wasn't able to catch him anyways, since he flew away quickly and landed in some branches high above.


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## MantidBro

PlayingMantis said:


> It's fun reading about Lord Ess - it is pretty amazing how large some male T. sinensis can be!
> 
> Last summer, I had a CB adult female T. sinensis, which was barely more than 3 inches long for some odd reason. While taking a walk in a local park, I kept an eye out for any males. To my surprise, I found a huge male T. sinensis in a grassy area, larger than any Chinese mantis I had ever seen. My first thought was that he would probably cannibalize my poor female, given his size. And I wasn't able to catch him anyways, since he flew away quickly and landed in some branches high above.


Yeah my CB female, Cheech, was 3". One wild female I caught was 3 1/2" and the other was just under 4"! Lord Ess was a bit bigger than Cheech. I didnt risk breeding them lol.. He was too big for her!


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## LAME

I just went back and looked at the photos I have of Echo &amp; Lord Ess mating. Seriously, he was a big male.. I'd say nearly 3/4 Echo's size and she was 4 inches on the dot. (measured her when she was adult...)


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## MantidBro

LAME said:


> I just went back and looked at the photos I have of Echo &amp; Lord Ess mating. Seriously, he was a big male.. I'd say nearly 3/4 Echo's size and she was 4 inches on the dot. (measured her when she was adult...)


Yeah he was my biggest male sinensis ever lol! i didnt even check his reproductive organs when i captured him, i immediately thought he was female cause he was even bigger than my captive raised female.


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## dmina

Wow... what a great read... amazing how time flies... great pics... thanks for sharing...


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## MantidBro

dmina said:


> Wow... what a great read... amazing how time flies... great pics... thanks for sharing...


Thanks! and yeah, sure does fly! Thanks again, and Ive got a bit more to go lol


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## MantidBro

Continued...

Dracula was a female I also found as an adult. Or, to be specific, that my mom spotted. We were in the car and she said, "there's a mantis crossing the road!" and indeed there was! She backed up and I took her. She had beautiful green eyes. I let my sister name her.





And lastly for the Tenodera, there was Fitz. He was an adult male that I found quite late. There had been quite a few cold days. I was surprised to have found him. He was in my driveway. I named him Fitz... He died two days later.


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## MantidBro

While my Deroplatys lobata were younger (Derotor and Platysil) I also bought a Texas Unicorn Mantis (Phyllovates chlorophaea) from Peter at Bugsincyberspace.com. I named her Vates. She is still living. She is about 9 months old.





















Around this stage, I'd fed her an adult cricket. She started puking and I was thinking she wouldn't make it. But she did! For the first few days, she couldn't keep even honey or water down. I kept her away from the heat lamps, so as not to over stimulate her, or dehydrate her even further. Eventually she started taking water and honey. And LAME suugested I put honey on a prey item, which I did. She ended up eating it! And after that she was all better. Amazing.








She got scared by a mealworm!


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## PlayingMantis

The Texas unicorn is so beautiful!


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## dmina

PlayingMantis said:


> The Texas unicorn is so beautiful!


Yes, it is... I am surprised there are not more around...I would love to have some...


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## baskmantids

Thank you for sharing I love to read threads like these it always interesting to see others experiences with mantis breeding and the species I hope to keed and raise to abult hood. Hope to see more as you continue to grow and learn in this hobby


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## LAME

Vates is definitely one of the favorite species of mine that you've owned thus far... She's a beautiful little thing. Really wish we could get you a mate to keep her going for generations, id love to have one of her offspring.


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## MantidBro

PlayingMantis said:


> The Texas unicorn is so beautiful!


She certainly is! shes my second favorite.


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## MantidBro

dmina said:


> Yes, it is... I am surprised there are not more around...I would love to have some...


Ikr?? They're so hard to find. I'm glad I got her from Peter while he had them! I wish I had a male badly, Id love to breed her.


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## MantidBro

baskmantids said:


> Thank you for sharing I love to read threads like these it always interesting to see others experiences with mantis breeding and the species I hope to keed and raise to abult hood. Hope to see more as you continue to grow and learn in this hobby


Youre welcome! Haha I am loving making this thread. Ive been wanting to get it going for a while now. LAME helped me out by telling me how to post photos using the photobucket method! Im glad you enjoy! thanks!


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## MantidBro

LAME said:


> Vates is definitely one of the favorite species of mine that you've owned thus far... She's a beautiful little thing. Really wish we could get you a mate to keep her going for generations, id love to have one of her offspring.


Yeah?? she IS pretty awesome! haha. I wish too, they seem to be impossible to come by! And heck you know id have given you an entire ooth, forget one xD


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## Denny1st

Cool thread bro! I wish I could find Chinese mantids like you, I've found only 6 in my whole life, and didnt keep all of them but a couple laid ooths that were fertile, one was infertile and she died afterwards.


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## PlayingMantis

dmina said:


> Yes, it is... I am surprised there are not more around...I would love to have some...


It seems like you rarely see them in culture? I heard they're a challenge to breed. And I assume, not very easy to find in the wild either.


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## MantidBro

Denny1st said:


> Cool thread bro! I wish I could find Chinese mantids like you, I've found only 6 in my whole life, and didnt keep all of them but a couple laid ooths that were fertile, one was infertile and she died afterwards.


Thanks! I found theyre mostly found in areas in view of the sun. Mantids are drawn to the sun so lay their ooths in it. I find mine on the outskirts of woods, right in the sun. I used to live in the city so when I moved, they were the first wild ones I'd ever seen! thats cool that you got some fertile ooths! sorry about the death of the infertile one though.


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## MantidBro

PlayingMantis said:


> It seems like you rarely see them in culture? I heard they're a challenge to breed. And I assume, not very easy to find in the wild either.


Ikr? Id kill for a male but theyre impossible to find. Nobody has them anywhere.  I wish I could take on that breeding challenge... I can imagine theyre not easy to find in the wild. So, we've got, "Texas"... Lol Texas is huge. X)


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## MantidBro

Next was Kaz, my Stagmomantis carolina! He was a gift from LAME. I was quite shocked... He sent Kaz to me for free, when we only just started talking! I appreciated that generosity.

Kaz molted once in Nate's presence.





Here is Kaz when LAME first found him.





Here is Kaz after his first molt with LAME, bringing him to sub-adulthood. He took on the color and design of the stick!





Here's when I first received Kaz! I fed him a spider.





Kaz cleaning. I kept Kaz surrounded by blue, to see if he'd take on the colors. By the end of it, it indeed seemed that he did!





Kaz being awesome.





Kaz eating a moth.





Kaz as an adult. He was so small!





Adult, looking head on.





And Kaz with blue! I did reduce the whiteness so it'd be easier to see.


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## dmina

He is quite small.. but really cute!


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## MantidBro

dmina said:


> He is quite small.. but really cute!


Agreed! He is now deceased. He died within a few days of LAME's.


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## Vespertino

If the Texas unicorn is hard to find, maybe I should do some ooth hunting. I live in North Texas. From that I've seen in pictures the Texas Unicorn ooth is really small, I wonder how many nymphs one can expect from the ooths. Is it possible that they're not very prolific?


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## MantidBro

Vespertino said:


> If the Texas unicorn is hard to find, maybe I should do some ooth hunting. I live in North Texas. From that I've seen in pictures the Texas Unicorn ooth is really small, I wonder how many nymphs one can expect from the ooths. Is it possible that they're not very prolific?


Thatd be cool if ya looked around! and im not sure if theyre not very prolific.


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## MantidBro

Having bred my two Deroplatys lobata, Platysil and Dertor, Platysil ended up of course laying an ootheca. It hatched in 37 days.









There were 44 nymphs -- I sold most, and kept the mismolted. 3 of the 6 mismolties lived; Rezz, who is now at L6. Lil B, who just molted to L6 a few days ago. And Brexta, who is very slow, and is still at L4! They've all got male reproductive organs.

Rezz had funky claws which fixed once he molted to L3. One of the three that died, died because he got stuck in the exuvia, because his claws wouldnt straighten out. The exuvia got caught up on them, preventing him from being able to pull his arms and head out of the exuvia. I did remove the exuvia ever so carefully (which was especially hard to do at his mouth area). But hed lost a couple legs and fell, and unfortunately didn't survive. Brexta and Lil B had hardened claws too, and I was afraid that theyd meet the same fate. I snipped their claws off, and they made no reaction -- it seemed the claws were dead (most likely due to lack of circulation). Both their claws grew back with the next molt. Lil B had his second molt since the incident and his claws are fully grown now and fully functional. Brexta's claws are still a bit small but are useable. Brexta is also growing back a leg.

Rezz:

L3:





L6:





Lil B:

L2:





L5:





Brexta:

L2:





L4:





Platysil's 2nd ootheca I sent to LAME. It hatched in 41 days.





Platysil's 3rd ooth Ive been incubating and is being sent to bobericc for some Heterochaeta sp. And a bonus!


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## LAME

Wow man, I had no idea you were a surgeon. ^_^


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## MantidBro

LAME said:


> Wow man, I had no idea you were a surgeon. ^_^


Ive liked too much tonight, cant like this post youve made haha, but yeah! im a surgeon fo sho loool


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## Sticky

You go Platysil! Let's see more of her. I love the pics of her with her babies.


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## dmina

Sticky said:


> You go Platysil! Let's see more of her. I love the pics of her with her babies.


I agree she has been such a good momma... a gentle giant...


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## MantidBro

Sticky said:


> You go Platysil! Let's see more of her. I love the pics of her with her babies.


Platysil's awesome.  She's a sweetheart.


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## MantidBro

dmina said:


> I agree she has been such a good momma... a gentle giant...


Yes &lt;3


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## MantidBro

April 21st 2015

I received 10 Heterochaeta sp. plus a Heterochaeta ootheca from bobericc, a member here! They're at L1 currently.

Here's one cleaning:





Here's the home (hand-made, using a bin and screen I bought off eBay. Some fake plants and baked soil and sticks and leaves.):





And here's a video... I've immediately realized that this is a very sensitive species, they scare easily, and as you can see here, the nymph is trying to flatten out against my finger. Against a stick, this would be very effective in camoflauging the mantid. They are an awesome species! I can't wait to watch them grow.


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## MantidBro

and here is Lil B (male Deroplatys lobata nymph) at L6:





The mealworm was molting while he was eating it lol.


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## dmina

love the pics and video... in the video it looks like he/she is giving you a hug...LOL


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## MantidBro

dmina said:


> love the pics and video... in the video it looks like he/she is giving you a hug...LOL


Thanks! And lol yeah it does


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## MantidBro

April 23rd 2015

Brexta molted to L5! The claws are bigger, still not 100% though. The walking hairs (hooks) still need to regenerate. That will help a lot. And he also grew his leg back! One more molt and this guy will be a perfect specimen once again.  





Walking appendages on raptors still not 100%.





Regeneration of the missing leg (top right).





Just bein' a cute little Deroplatys.

Now for the upsetting update...

I checked on Platysil tonight (11 month old, fertile, adult female D. lobata. Mother of my current Deroplatys) and noticed that her wing was sticking to her abdomen in an odd way. I took her out for further examination and after pulling her wing off her side, I quickly realized that she'd injured herself... Some of her guts were visible, and that's what her wing was sticking to.  She must have fallen in her cage and being so fat, she "popped".

I figured, drying up the wound and closing it would be the best idea. I put her abdomen in luke warm salt water first. Then dabbed honey onto the wound. And once her abdomen dried up, I put glue on the wound and covered it with a small piece of toilet paper. I've moved her to a container for now, rather than let her stay in the big "wild" cage.

A popular member here had used glue to close the same type of wound on a Tenodera sinensis who had fallen and ruptured. The mantid lived a long while afterward and even continued to lay oothecae. I'm hoping that Platysil will be just as lucky.









She will have to stick to small meals from here on out.


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## Sticky

Another member I have talked with uses Liquid Skin. I think she said it worked great. I have not tried it myself.


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## LAME

Sticky said:


> Another member I have talked with uses Liquid Skin. I think she said it worked great. I have not tried it myself.


That's a great idea.

Sorry about momma Alex, I hope she recovers


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## MantidBro

Sticky said:


> Another member I have talked with uses Liquid Skin. I think she said it worked great. I have not tried it myself.


I unfortunately dont have that.. But maybe i could find some at the dollar store, its worth a look


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## MantidBro

LAME said:


> That's a great idea.
> 
> Sorry about momma Alex, I hope she recovers


Thanks buddy, i hope so too!


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## MantidBro

April 24th

Platysil was still alive... I took her out a while ago though and realized she was really weak. She was hardly moving. She couldn't even stand or hold her head up. Not like her at all. And she kept gently pinching my finger... I've seen this before with previous mantids. I think when in pain, they pinch things.

I couldn't put her in the freezer. Usually that's what I do but I couldn't with her. I tried but it made me feel so bad... I thought to squish her too, but couldn't bring myself to do that either. So I took her into the woods and put her next to a tree. Maybe her last moments being outside will be nice... It's quite cold tonight. It's probably no different than being in a freezer. But I am glad I don't have to see. I was really attached to her. I clipped a wing, just one so as not to disturb her too much. She was disturbed enough.

She died 11 months old. RIP my poor girl...  

I took some photos of her before I took her outside. She was staring so sightlessly. I'm sure she was already shutting down.


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## Sticky

Sweet lady, Im so glad I have afew of your beautiful children!


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## CosbyArt

Sticky said:


> Sweet lady, Im so glad I have afew of your beautiful children!


Same here, I have two as well  

Sorry Alex it ended the way it did. I too hate the idea of the freezer but have done it, and also let one let nature take it's course (as it appeared she was not in pain). Either way has disadvantages that must be taken to heart.


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## dmina

Sorry for your loss Alex... she was a good little momma.. You did good by her... She is flying free over Rainbow bridge!


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## MantidBro

Sticky said:


> Sweet lady, Im so glad I have afew of your beautiful children!


So am I! I'm glad to know she's living on through her nymphs. I've got 3 males myself. I was hoping I'd get a female. Maybe in the future I'd find someone to do a trade, someone who needs males. Contact me if so people!


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Same here, I have two as well
> 
> Sorry Alex it ended the way it did. I too hate the idea of the freezer but have done it, and also let one let nature take it's course (as it appeared she was not in pain). Either way has disadvantages that must be taken to heart.


Yes indeed!

Thanks Thomas. It's never fun to put them down. But sometimes it's necessary... Even if you don't want to do it, sometimes you have to, to cease their suffering.


----------



## MantidBro

dmina said:


> Sorry for your loss Alex... she was a good little momma.. You did good by her... She is flying free over Rainbow bridge!


Thank you Dmina. She was great. An amazing pet. Yes! Eating all the bugs she can.


----------



## MantidBro

April 25th

Man, Brexta's (male Deroplatys lobata's) regenerated leg, broke off again. x_x I checked on him later and it was gone. Damn. Either way he's having a muuuuch easier time getting around than he was before. He's still got a couple molts left to go, it'll probably grow back again before he's an adult.

Oh, and I took some photos of another Chaeta today... He/she was working it for the camera!





He put his head all the way upside down haha!


----------



## Jay

The Chaeta's eyes are fantastic! (=

I wish you the best with this species!


----------



## LAME

Judging by the photo you'd emailed me, id put money on saying that chaeta's a little male.


----------



## MantidBro

Jay said:


> The Chaeta's eyes are fantastic! (=
> 
> I wish you the best with this species!


Agreed!

And thanks!


----------



## MantidBro

LAME said:


> Judging by the photo you'd emailed me, id put money on saying that chaeta's a little male.


 TWO DOLLAR BETLol jk youre prolly right x) in time we will know for sure!


----------



## MantidBro

April 28th

1 Heterochaeta died of unknown causes (found him dead at the bottom of his container, poor thing).

1 Heterochaeta mismolted (the night before, I saw him against the side of the lid, I wasn't expecting him to molt, and especially not from the side. I found him on the floor half way in the skin this morning. I sprayed him and pulled the skin off. He is still alive. And despite being quite mangled, is still able to get around and eat and drink and is still quite alert. I must say this species seems resilient.

2 Heterochaeta molted perfectly.

I'm now waiting on the rest! I hope they stay on the molting screen as I sleep!

Here is a video of one molting to L2:


----------



## MantidBro

2 Heterochaeta got stuck in their skin... I hadn't meant to fall asleep. I fell asleep with all my animals' lights on, without having fed them, or misted them. It got too dry...

And I found 1 Heterochaeta dead at the bottom of the container again. This is the second unexplained death.

So I've lost four, but the other six have molted to L2. One had mismolted by falling during the molt because he tried doing it against the side. But is alive and getting around and with my help should make it to his next molt.

MAY 2nd

Rezz reached adulthood! He looks just like his pop, Derotor.  









He's been moved into the "big wild cage"... I'll get photos later.


----------



## dmina

Wow really nice... I would love to see your enclosures.. You make your own right?


----------



## mantiseater

The dead leaf detail on their legs and "shield" are amazing


----------



## MantidBro

dmina said:


> Wow really nice... I would love to see your enclosures.. You make your own right?


Some were made myself, some are regular cages, ill show ya sometime!


----------



## MantidBro

mantiseater said:


> The dead leaf detail on their legs and "shield" are amazing


Ikr? Just like dead leaves!


----------



## MantidBro

L2 Heterochaeta sp. cleaning

(sound is unnecessary... Parents were watching SOA, lol.)


----------



## MantidBro

May 10th

Lil B made it to adulthood!









And here he is with Rezz (Rezz lost his leg for some reason but he's okay):





Lil B is darker than Rezz. Rezz looks more like Derotor than he does. But Rezz is HIGHLY defensive. Where as Lil B is not. Derotor was not at all defensive so while Rezz looks almost exactly like him, Lil B reminds me of him more.

May 12th

And the first Heterochaeta molted to L3! I can't believe how big!! I did measurements of each instar.

L1:





L2:





L3:





Mantids are hard to measure lol. Especially when young like this! They are so hyper!

I usually would have named them by now. I suppose I was waiting until they were a bit older. I'll choose names now.

May 13th

Another Chaeta successfully molted to L3 last night!


----------



## MantidBro

We were waiting to bring this up but... LAME and I went in halves on an Idolomantis diabolica ootheca. We decided that I'd incubate it and then ship him half the nymphs that hatched. The ootheca arrived April 15th and hatched exactly three weeks later on May 6th. Only 3 emerged. May 7th another emerged and one more on May 8th. Only five nymphs hatched total which was a bit of a disappointment but I was still happy that it even hatched at all!

LAME, being the generous guy that he is, said I could keep the extra nymph. LAME and I put our shipping skills together and made magic - both of his Idolos made it to him alive!

But at last... They are being introduced!

Ootheca:





Hatchling:





L1:

















Even though only a few hatched, considering I only paid $37 for 3, it's quite a deal! Plus you can't have a healthier mantid than one that hatches from your very own ooth! To not see them puking within a couple days is really a pleasure! I feel like I actually have a chance this time. Wish me luck!!


----------



## LAME

^_^ 

I thought it was a neat little plan months back when we had first just kinda thrown out the idea of going half's on the ooth. Lol... Honestly I didn't think we would ever follow through with it... But I'm very glad we did! Even with the extremely small hatch, pfft... " I'm happier than a tornado in a trailer park..." ( yes, a reference taken from Pixar's "CARS" movie  )

Enjoy your new friends Alex.  

I sure wish this LAME fella would go buy me a megamantis!

.... So I can feed my girlfriend's cat to it. ^_^


----------



## MantidBro

LAME said:


> ^_^
> 
> I thought it was a neat little plan months back when we had first just kinda thrown out the idea of going half's on the ooth. Lol... Honestly I didn't think we would ever follow through with it... But I'm very glad we did! Even with the extremely small hatch, pfft... " I'm happier than a tornado in a trailer park..." ( yes, a reference taken from Pixar's "CARS" movie  )
> 
> Enjoy your new friends Alex.
> 
> I sure wish this LAME fella would go buy me a megamantis!
> 
> .... So I can feed my girlfriend's cat to it. ^_^


Lol I know right? It's cool to actually go through with plans as awesome as this one was haha. Hopefully we can get a male and female to adulthood! Or do a trade if we can/must.

Haha I just recently mentioned Cars, that's funny.

I'm enjoying them for sure, you enjoy yours as well!

Hahaha!! Eeaaat iiiiitttt


----------



## dmina

Congrats you two.. I am so glad it worked out for you... I wish your hatch would have been better.. but at least you get to watch them grow!

Great pictures... thanks for sharing!


----------



## MantidBro

dmina said:


> Congrats you two.. I am so glad it worked out for you... I wish your hatch would have been better.. but at least you get to watch them grow!
> 
> Great pictures... thanks for sharing!


Thank you! And yes we are glad that at least it hatched at all!!


----------



## MantidBro

May 18th

Brexta (third male Deroplatys lobata)) fell during his molt unfortunately. Once again I think he must have tried molting from the side rather than the netted top. I'm aligning each container with screen/netting now.

A 3rd Heterochaeta made it to L3!

aaaw, i gotta resize the images

Idolos (L1, should be molting very soon):
































(My best bud LAME edited this one for me... awesome!)

Heterochaeta (L3):


----------



## dmina

I love those eyes! Great pics.. Thanks for sharing...keep us updated on those cuties!


----------



## MantidBro

dmina said:


> I love those eyes! Great pics.. Thanks for sharing...keep us updated on those cuties!


me too, they're awesome! Thanks for viewing, and will do!


----------



## MantidBro

May 20th

Woke up this morning, one of the three Idolos molted! And successfully! I'm very pleased. I hot glued shoe laces across the top of a netted lid. Shoe laces are underrated! The exuvia was stuck to it, and when I tried removing it, a leg broke off on the lace. That means it is quite effective indeed! I've had other mantids molt from laces before as well, and to adulthood no less. Popa spurca, Parasphendale agrionina, Tenodera sinensis. They get a good grip on those thousands of strands of thread that make up the shoe lace.





















Here's a hand-made container. I made it out of insulation (it's bubble wrap covered in a silver film... used by Rebecca for the spikes), a plastic container, metal screen, netting. Put it all together with hot glue. I have my newly molted Idolo in here. It's nice and ventilated and since he just molted, he won't molt again for a while. When I see the signs I will move him back into his other container which holds more humidity.


----------



## MantidBro

My other Idolos molted! One May 23rd and one May 24th.





















Size difference between L1 and L2:






I do think the males have that additional protrusion whereas the females don't. If I'm right, I should have 2 females and 1 male.






And on May 25th, the Heterochaeta ootheca Bobericc sent me hatched! I've got about 20. Awesome! Here's one eating...






May 27th, one of my previous chaeta reached L4! I am shocked every time they molt, freakin' big!

May 28th, another chaeta reaches L4.






Oh and I've got some names btw. Amico, which is Italian for "friend". Kamakiri, which is Japanese for "mantis". And Zeltor, which is a word from my original alien language and means "giant".


----------



## dmina

Great pics... congrats on the hatch... Love the container... such an airy room... really cool... thanks for sharing... Looking forward to seeing your pics!


----------



## MantidBro

dmina said:


> Great pics... congrats on the hatch... Love the container... such an airy room... really cool... thanks for sharing... Looking forward to seeing your pics!


Thank you!


----------



## MantidBro

May 30th

My poor girl, Vates, my Phyllovates chlorophaea, has passed... She was 10 months old. May she rest in peace!!


----------



## MantidBro

June 1st

One of my Idolos reached L3! Photos soon!


----------



## dmina

Sorry for your loss... congrats on the molt... can't wait for the pics... We love pics!


----------



## MantidBro

dmina said:


> Sorry for your loss... congrats on the molt... can't wait for the pics... We love pics!


Thank you, twice, and haha yes, i do too!!


----------



## MantidBro

June 5th

My second Idolo reached L3! The other one I suspect is female.

Not the best video, but still. Lol.

I received 2 Tenodera sinensis and 1 Pnigomantis medioconstricta from LAME! The Pnigomantis is actually GriM! You can find photos of her on his thread... though I of course have already photographed her as well! She's a beauty. And she will keep the name GriM! It is suitable after all, considering the state she was in when LAME first received her.












June 6th

The last Idolo reached L3! Definitely looks male.











L4 Heterochaeta (Kamakiri):






Look at those awesome colors!


----------



## bobericc

So great alexander!

Im glad the ooth hatched i feel like more chaetas shouldve hatched though, did any more pop out in the following days after the first twenty. Hope your chaeta army gets as big as mine lol


----------



## MantidBro

bobericc said:


> So great alexander!
> 
> Im glad the ooth hatched i feel like more chaetas shouldve hatched though, did any more pop out in the following days after the first twenty. Hope your chaeta army gets as big as mine lol


No i continue to incubate it even now, but im quite sure its finished, its been a while, but thats okay, i dont mind, twenty is a good amount! thanks again man! haha id definitely enjoy a chaeta army x)


----------



## LAME

Heeeeyyy....ugh Alex, we're still awaiting these said "photos"  lol


----------



## MantidBro

LAME said:


> Heeeeyyy....ugh Alex, we're still awaiting these said "photos"  lol


Loool soon enough bud! i gotta transfer em to the pc then upload them then post em


----------



## MantidBro

photos have been added!


----------



## LAME

Wow... Woooooow!!!.... Look at GriM! ^_^ 

Lol. Well, I see you've been playing with that new camera alot more.  

Wicked photos Alex.


----------



## MantidBro

LAME said:


> Wow... Woooooow!!!.... Look at GriM! ^_^
> 
> Lol. Well, I see you've been playing with that new camera alot more.
> 
> Wicked photos Alex.


Shes amazing! Haha ^_^ 

Yes i just learned about new stuff i never saw before loool

Thanks a lot!!


----------



## MantidBro

June 10th

One of my previous Heterochaeta (Zeltor) reached L5! All the new chaeta are just starting to molt to L2.





(Zeltor)

And here are some shots of my Idolos... I'm pretty positive at this point that I have two females and a male. The first female to molt I have named Baline, which is Latin for "strength and health". The second female I've named Tacca, after the Devil's Flower (came to the realization that the species is named after a flower. I always thought it was Devil's FLOWER MANTIS but its DEVIL'S FLOWER mantis). Tacca is the name of thr genus of the plant. And then the male I named Lawless... I was looking at others terms for "devil" and that came up. I like it!

One thing I noticed; the male has already become more of a tan color while the females still have more of those L2 colors (purple, white, tan, green, etc). I think the males become tanner sooner because they have one less molt than females, so they are equivalent to an L4 female.

Lawless (L3 male):





Tacca (L3 female):






Baline (L3 female):





All three Idolos at L3:



June 11:

Kamakiri (older chaeta) reached L5!

June 12:

GriM reached L6! She is so beautiful. She has such a personality. Her double shields are even more visible now!






And here are some shots I took that LAME edited for me! They look RAD!!
















And here is Supermantis (Tenodera sinensis LAME sent me) at L2 eating a meal worm:


----------



## LAME

Impressive photo of GriM, you'll have to show me the others!  

Also, congratulations on Super, I hope sent a pair... If not, atleast you'll have a back-up incase of any issues.


----------



## MantidBro

LAME said:


> Impressive photo of GriM, you'll have to show me the others!
> 
> Also, congratulations on Super, I hope sent a pair... If not, atleast you'll have a back-up incase of any issues.


Okey dokes! I just gotta upload em to the pc  

Thanks! The first died unfortunately, im not sure of what! But ive got good feelings about Super!


----------



## MantidBro

June 13th:

Supermantis (Tenodera) reached L3!

Baline (the female Idolo who is always first to molt) has successfully molted to L4! Here is the footage:

(I had a major grain mite infestation in like my entire room, coming from my meal worm bin, I ended up having to dispose of a lot of meal worms and eggs. Had to clean everyone's containers, wipe my room down. Aw man. I hate grain mites. Problem has been taken care of now fortunately. But you can see the grain mites in this video. Horrible! I hadn't even noticed at this time.)

She is completely brown now. Here is a photo showing the differences in size (and color) between a female at L3 and L4.





Here is Baline after hardening up:






Proof of sex. The slit/"V" makes it clear that she's female.


----------



## bobericc

Already l5! Chaeta only has three molts left to go!!

Growing up fast this year


----------



## MantidBro

bobericc said:


> Already l5! Chaeta only has three molts left to go!!
> 
> Growing up fast this year


Oh awesome!! man i cant wait to see the adult form lol


----------



## dmina

Wow some really great pics... They all look so healthy... good job...Thanks for sharing!


----------



## MantidBro

dmina said:


> Wow some really great pics... They all look so healthy... good job...Thanks for sharing!


Thank you!


----------



## MantidBro

June 16th

My second female Idolo (Tacca) reached L4! A day ahead of schedule!  





















Sold some chaeta, I'm keeping the rest! Waiting on just two from the ooth to reach L2, all my original chaeta are now at L5  

Here's Amico eating a mayfly!






June 18th

My third Idolo (male, Lawless) reached L4!











June 24th

Zeltor (the Heterochaeta who is always first to molt) reached L6! I am never there when they molt, they're sneaky molters! lol. I even checked for pulsing before bed, nothin! She seems to be female, has a slit/V, no prongs.






I sold Lil B (adult male Deroplatys lobata) to Sally because she has a female and I don't, and Lil B has been wanting to mate. And I certainly can't let Platysil's blood line end so soon! Lil B made it to Sally alive and well today.






I'd say this is the best shot I ever got of the little guy!


----------



## dmina

They are all looking good... Keep it up!


----------



## MantidBro

dmina said:


> They are all looking good... Keep it up!


Thanks, will do!


----------



## CosbyArt

Some impressive photos Alex, and great looking mantids - congrats. How many mantids are you up to now?


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Some impressive photos Alex, and great looking mantids - congrats. How many mantids are you up to now?


Thanks! I have 13 now! How about you??


----------



## CosbyArt

MantidBro said:


> Thanks! I have 13 now! How about you??


Down to an even 15 at the moment, but may have another soon lol


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Down to an even 15 at the moment, but may have another soon lol


Haha nice, which species?


----------



## CosbyArt

MantidBro said:


> Haha nice, which species?



x2 Acromantis japonica
x1 Creobroter pictipennis
x2 Deroplatys lobata
x3 Miomantis paykullii
x2 Phyllocrania paradoxa
x2 Pnigomantis medioconstricta
x2 Polyspilota griffinii
x1 Parasphendale affinis
Definitely much fewer than I had awhile back, but still plenty lol.


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> x2 Acromantis japonica
> x1 Creobroter pictipennis
> x2 Deroplatys lobata
> x3 Miomantis paykullii
> x2 Phyllocrania paradoxa
> x2 Pnigomantis medioconstricta
> x2 Polyspilota griffinii
> x1 Parasphendale affinis
> Definitely much fewer than I had awhile back, but still plenty lol.


Lol definitely plenty! Thats awesome! Quite a few species indeed! At the moment Ive got

1 Deroplatys lobata

7 Heterochaeta sp.

3 Idolomantis diabolica

1 Pnigomantis medioconstricta

1 Tenodera sinensis


----------



## CosbyArt

MantidBro said:


> Lol definitely plenty! Thats awesome! Quite a few species indeed! At the moment Ive got
> 
> 1 Deroplatys lobata
> 
> 7 Heterochaeta sp.
> 
> 3 Idolomantis diabolica
> 
> 1 Pnigomantis medioconstricta
> 
> 1 Tenodera sinensis


Thanks, at my high point I had just shy of 50 pets, and a couple ooths too that just hatched lol. I'm thinking around a dozen is a good amount without getting overwhelmed.  It was taking about 3 hours at a time to feed and water all the cups, keep tabs on molts, etc.

Nice list yourself, awesome to see you have a Chaeta


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Thanks, at my high point I had just shy of 50 pets, and a couple ooths too that just hatched lol. I'm thinking around a dozen is a good amount without getting overwhelmed.  It was taking about 3 hours at a time to feed and water all the cups, keep tabs on molts, etc.
> 
> Nice list yourself, awesome to see you have a Chaeta


Ive been there! The most I ever had was around 60, due to an ooth, and it took me hours to feed them too. Heck, even when i had 40 hatch it took me 3-4 hours since i didnt have fruit flies and had to hand feed them all lol. Yes a dozen, or around there, is a good amount!

Yeah the chaeta are awesome! My favorite species of the bunch would be the Idolos though!


----------



## MantidBro

June 25th

Supermantis (Tenodera sinensis) reached L4! Seems he is male!











June 27th

Baline (female Idolomantis) reached L5!






And Kamakiri (Heterochaeta) reached L6  






June 29th

GriM reached L7!
















A couple of the new Heterochaeta reached L3!


----------



## MantidBro

June 30th

Amico (original Heterochaeta) reached L6!






Tacca (second female Idolo) reached L5!






As far as Idolos go, just waiting on the male now to reach L5! He's close. He is my only male and so is very important. I need to keep a major eye on him. I think he will be molting tomorrow. I may have to stay home until he's finished, despite the fact that we are celebrating July 4th at the beach tomorrow! The things I do for mah babehs.


----------



## bobericc

l6 heterochaeta already? I cant believe there are already presubs around. That is great!!


----------



## MantidBro

bobericc said:


> l6 heterochaeta already? I cant believe there are already presubs around. That is great!!


Yup!  and Zeltor, my girl who always molts first, looks like she will be molting again soon! they are so cool, i love the colors


----------



## LAME

Wow bud, nice updated photos! GriM's looking great!


----------



## MantidBro

LAME said:


> Wow bud, nice updated photos! GriM's looking great!


Thanks man!  Finally I can see the beads in her eyes!! I never got to see the beads like that before, like in your photos, I am pleased! lol


----------



## dmina

Great update!..you got some great pics.. Thanks for sharing!


----------



## MantidBro

dmina said:


> Great update!..you got some great pics.. Thanks for sharing!


Thank you! And you're welcome haha


----------



## MantidBro

July 5th

Lawless (male Idolomantis) molted to L5 and is now caught up with the girls! So L4-L5 takes about 15 days on average. Lawless, since he is male, will only have 3 more molts and the females will have 4. Now it's getting serious. Lol.











Darn credits... I dont remember putting those! Lol


----------



## CosbyArt

Awesome, glad to see they are still working out for you


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Awesome, glad to see they are still working out for you


Thanks!


----------



## MantidBro

July 10th

Zeltor reached L7 last night! I'm not sure if s/he's male or female. I see a slit, but also four prongs, so it's tough! At L7, Zeltor is 2 1/2 inches so maybe male?

















Tacca (2nd female):






Baline (1st female):






Baline is a fatty, she looks like she will be having a molt soon!

Thanks for looking!


----------



## Sticky

I hope they will be great mantids for you for a long time. I love the Xaenensis. They have nice personality and are different colors sometimes. My avatar is Xaenensis, Ghost. Her sister was a stronger green.


----------



## MantidBro

Sticky said:


> I hope they will be great mantids for you for a long time. I love the Xaenensis. They have nice personality and are different colors sometimes. My avatar is Xaenensis, Ghost. Her sister was a stronger green.


Already theyre awesome, adorable lil ones! Love the color. I cant wait to watch em grow!  Ghost is beautiful!! That's cool that they can be different colors!


----------



## Danny.

Is the Idolo and chatea eating a grasshopper? Mine are total wimps and won't eat them.


----------



## MantidBro

Danny. said:


> Is the Idolo and chatea eating a grasshopper? Mine are total wimps and won't eat them.


Yep! Mine are skittish too, but will eat bits and pieces at a time. They got scared of the hopper when alive and... Well, not severed, lol. They really don't seem to be courageous enough to eat anything too big!


----------



## Sticky

Be careful with the big ones. Best if you take the hopper's head off before serving. I gave a big one to one of my bigger ladies and it bit the tarsi off of her raptor. I wont let that happen again!


----------



## MantidBro

Sticky said:


> Be careful with the big ones. Best if you take the hopper's head off before serving. I gave a big one to one of my bigger ladies and it bit the tarsi off of her raptor. I wont let that happen again!


They're afraid of grasshoppers anyways haha, but I did... well, it may sound cruel... but I snipped the hopper's mandibles off before letting it into their cages. For the mantid's safety, you know? But they got scared so I just feed them bits and pieces at a time. Leg, thorax, head. But a beetle hurt one of my mantids before, and a cricket bit off my ghost's leg once! So I do get cautious


----------



## LAME

Lol.. You're welcome bud, sweet idolo photos too!


----------



## MantidBro

July 11th 2015

The Tenodera sinensis that Sticky sent me as an addition to the Hierodula LAME got me from her molted to L3! I haven't picked a name yet, hmmm...






One of the Heterochaeta from the ootheca Bobericc sent me molted to L4, the first one!






July 15th

Kamakiri molted to L7 and joined her sister, Zeltor! LAME helped me sex them, we are quite positive they are female.






Baline, my female Idolomantis diabolica, reached L6!

Here she was some hours before, still at L5... saying "leave me alone, I'm ready for a molt!"






I am very cautious with my Idolos, I watch them like a hawk. I had her on my bed stand and kept the light on so I could see her lol. She was literally only a foot from my face as I slept. Each time I woke up, I checked on her. One of those times I woke, I saw she had molted, and was hanging there from her exuvia. I fell back to sleep, woke back up, and she was hanging upside down perfectly. She is missing a bit of her antenna but she is okay, it is growing back. She molted in this enclosure, this is the first time I let an Idolo molt in there.

Here she is at L6 (only 3 more molts to go!):











Here is the enclosure she molted in. It took a while to make! Around 5 hours. I took a large cardboard box, cut windows in it, made doors. I taped the entire box with packing tape, it's very strong and resilient, and waterproof. After taping the box, which took quite a whole, I then taped an image as a background. Hot glued netting over the image and over one of the windows as well as the doors. Then I hot glued sticks over the netting on the back and the window. Hot glued drawer liner over one window, as well as the area around the doors, so they'd close better. I also hot glued tacs to the doors and hot glued an elastic band to one of the tacs so I can wrap it around the other tac to shut the doors. Then I hot glued a temp/humidity gauge to the back. And hung strips of drawer liner from the top, to be used as a sort of safety net (like Precarious has used for his Idolos in later instars, to help them flip for the inflation of the wings). The bottom is made of two plastic bags, some bubble wrap insulation, paper towel, and moss placed over all of it. The plastic bags are to keep the water from soaking through the box, just in case, and the bubble wrap insulation is to keep warmth in (for when I place a heating mat under the enclosure, which works well, and keeps the humidity up). What also keeps the humidity up, are the pillow cases that I pinned over the windows, to keep too much moisture from escaping (the doors seem to be enough). Oh and the lid -- It's made of gauze bandage, which has been working like a charm from L2-L6. And I hot glued sticks along the gauze.
















And just something cool... I caught a mantidfly today!


----------



## MantidBro

LAME said:


> Lol.. You're welcome bud, sweet idolo photos too!


Thanks!


----------



## Danny.

Trip out on the cardboard enclosure. Lol. Nice to see somebody else doing good with Idolos.


----------



## MantidBro

Danny. said:


> Trip out on the cardboard enclosure. Lol. Nice to see somebody else doing good with Idolos.


Lol. Thanks


----------



## mantisman 230

My Heterochaetas hunted crickets on their own lol, good sized ones to boot.


----------



## CosbyArt

Lol sounds like a great enclosure even if a bit uncommon parts.  Great to see everything is going smooth for you though. I really like the mantidfly, congrats on finding one!


----------



## MantidBro

mantisman 230 said:


> My Heterochaetas hunted crickets on their own lol, good sized ones to boot.


Lol nice.


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Lol sounds like a great enclosure even if a bit uncommon parts.  Great to see everything is going smooth for you though. I really like the mantidfly, congrats on finding one!


Lol uncommon no doubt! But free xD Thank you twice!


----------



## MantidBro

I forgot... Here is a photo of the size difference between L5 (right) and L6 Idolos.





July 17th

Amico (Heterochaeta) molted to L7!






July 18th

Tacca (2nd female Idolo) reached L6! She molted from drawer liner, definitely gonna be using that from now on. The exuvia still hangs from it. That's always a good sign.


----------



## MantidBro

*July 19th 2015*

One of the two *Hierodula xishaensis* reached *L3*!











*July 20th*

*GriM* (*Pnigomantis medioconstricta* that* LAME* gave me) molted to *sub-adulthood*! *LAME* and I think he sent her over at L5, and so in that case she'd be at *L8*.






 [Look at those shields! Awesome!  Her head is currently the size of an adult female Tenodera sinensis'.]

*July 21st*

As of today, all my *Heterochaeta* *hatchlings* have reached *L4*! So the *originals* are at *L7* and the *hatchlings* are at *L4*.

And just checked on the critters -- *Supermantis* (*Tenodera sinensis* that *LAME* gave me) just molted *L6 *and is hardening up while hanging from the exuvia!

_(Photo coming soon)_

And bad news, I suppose it should be included... the *Tenodera sinensis* *Sticky* included with the *Hierodula* *LAME *bought for me ended up passing away. Poor thing was puking for some reason. I can't tell what the cause was -- all my little guys are fed the same fruit flies and live in similar conditions. I guess this sort of thing just happens sometimes.


----------



## mantisman 230

Female Pnigomantis have 9 instars, this is the only hard part to deal with, they take FOREVER.


----------



## MantidBro

mantisman 230 said:


> Female Pnigomantis have 9 instars, this is the only hard part to deal with, they take FOREVER.


Ah so she WAS indeed at L5 when LAME shipped her over. Good to know! Haha I've only ever had one species that took that long, Parasphendale agrionina! The females at least.


----------



## LAME

Sweet updates man, love GriM's new photo!

Also glad to see I had the right age on her ^_^ 

Sorry to hear about the Chinese nymph though.


----------



## MantidBro

LAME said:


> Sweet updates man, love GriM's new photo!
> 
> Also glad to see I had the right age on her ^_^
> 
> Sorry to hear about the Chinese nymph though.


Thanks! She was posin for me haha  good goin with the age!

Yeah me too, one of the easiest species but they keep dyin on me. Well at least Supermantis is goin strong!


----------



## Sticky

Mantidbro, Im so sorry the sinensis died!


----------



## MantidBro

Sticky said:


> Mantidbro, Im so sorry the sinensis died!


Me too, thank you


----------



## Sticky

Would you like a replacement?


----------



## MantidBro

Sticky said:


> Would you like a replacement?


For how much?


----------



## dmina

Great updates.. sorry about your loss... I can't seem to raise a Chinese to adulthood for the life of me?? Pics are great.. keep us updated... thanks for sharing!


----------



## MantidBro

dmina said:


> Great updates.. sorry about your loss... I can't seem to raise a Chinese to adulthood for the life of me?? Pics are great.. keep us updated... thanks for sharing!


Thanks x2 and wow why are they so difficult lol, theyre supposed to be easy! Ill definitely keep everyone updated.  you do the same! Youre welcome


----------



## Sticky

Just priority shipping.


----------



## CosbyArt

Nice updates, I agree the Pnigomantis take a long time (I have one at L8 now) but so do the lobota - my girl took till L9 to get her wings  

Sorry to hear your nymph didn't make it, I have had that problem too many times recently (6 actually...). Seems the high death rates catch up at times, a downside of the hobby to be sure.


----------



## LAME

The Chinese get heavy like idolos ... Unfortunately. T sin is still my most favorite species


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Nice updates, I agree the Pnigomantis take a long time (I have one at L8 now) but so do the lobota - my girl took till L9 to get her wings
> 
> Sorry to hear your nymph didn't make it, I have had that problem too many times recently (6 actually...). Seems the high death rates catch up at times, a downside of the hobby to be sure.


Yeah my lobata females did too, lol. The males had one less molt though.

Sorry for your losses. Yeah I guess so! It's unfortunate but not every mantid you a person owns is going to make it, just somethin' a mantid owner's gotta get used to. But that's why we get multiple at a time! lol.


----------



## MantidBro

LAME said:


> The Chinese get heavy like idolos ... Unfortunately. T sin is still my most favorite species


They certainly do, I remember I was wicked anxious about Goliath for her last molt! She turned out beautifully though, always a pleasure to see a newly molted adult, being a perfect specimen! LolLol yeah? Mine are Idolos, I'm obsessed with em, haha. Although Tenodera sinensis are a favorite too.


----------



## MantidBro

I lost the dates for these, I'd written the info on a piece of paper instead of my calendar like a doof and now I can't find the paper, darn it. Lol.

I'll start with names, because I named all the little guys (with my sister's help).

*1st Hierodula xishaensis*: *Brahma* (which means "prayer") 







_Seems she is female according to the photo below: _






*2nd Hierodula*: *Chip*






_My sister named this one. Chip molted to L3 as well. He/she started puking soon after unfortunately, I'm not sure why my little guys started puking. The Tenodera Sticky sent me died because of it. I blame the fruit flies I've been using. So I disposed of them and started hand-feeding them meal worms. It's been two nights now since Chip has puked. I think the little one will be okay! Aside from stopping feeding Chip the fruit flies, I also cleaned out the container and lid with anti-bacterial soap each time he puked and also fed Chip lots of honey and water._

*1st molting Heterochaeta*: *Galactica*






_My sister named this one as well, haha. Galactica is the first of the Heterochaeta hatchlings to reach L5. The "hatchlings" are the ones that hatched from the ootheca Bobericc sent me and the "originals" are the ones he sent me as L1 nymphs (those are all at L7 currently)._

*2nd Heterochaeta*: *Silver*






_Silver is still at L4. The little one's got a messed up eye. That's where the name "Silver" came from... I named him/her after Long John Silver. Of course I imagine the character from the movie "Treasure Planet" rather than "Treasure Island"!  But both characters have some damage... missing eye, missing leg, etc. I skipped out on the "Long John" part in case he turns out to be female. _

*3rd Heterochaeta*: *Neptune*






_L4. My sister wanted "Pluto" but I thought it sounded unoriginal, what with Mickey Mouse's dog having the same name, so I named him/her after another planet._

And those are the names!

Oh I never got a shot of *Supermantis*, who molted to L6... so here he is!






_I think *LAME* may have given him to me at L1 after all, he seems small to be at L6! He looks to me like he's at L5. But maybe not, I guess we'll see! _


----------



## dmina

Great update! pictures were really nice too! 





Thanks


----------



## MantidBro

dmina said:


> Great update! pictures were really nice too!
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks


Thanks! and youre welcome


----------



## bobericc

Lol i like galactica silver and neptune!

Glad to hear the hatchlings are growing nice and easy for you too! Silvers round eye, her mother or aunt has the same little defect. One rounded eye


----------



## MantidBro

bobericc said:


> Lol i like galactica silver and neptune!
> 
> Glad to hear the hatchlings are growing nice and easy for you too! Silvers round eye, her mother or aunt has the same little defect. One rounded eye


lol thanks, i like em too! no i love em actually haha

Thanks! oh really?? interesting! i wonder if she passed it on??


----------



## CosbyArt

Great to see nearly all are doing great. I wonder if Chip simply caught a cold "bug" or such - likely some sort of bacterial change in their system. Seems some of mine have done some puking in the past randomly too, but are doing fine since.


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Great to see nearly all are doing great. I wonder if Chip simply caught a cold "bug" or such - likely some sort of bacterial change in their system. Seems some of mine have done some puking in the past randomly too, but are doing fine since.


Thanks! Possibly! He hasnt puked for about six days now so id say hes in the clear! Man i hate when they puke, its nerve wracking!


----------



## MantidBro

*July 29th *

Lawless (male Idolo) finally molted to L6, it took him 25 days. Once again drawer liner has proven to work like a charm. This is the first molt of theirs that I didn't get on video, they all did it when I was either asleep or in a different room, aww...












Unfortunately Lawless didn't have a perfect molt. All but his two front feet are perfect... he lost the walking hairs of those two feet. I couldn't figure it out at first, I didn't understand why he would molt perfectly aside from two of his walking hairs, and came to the realization that it was probably because of the heat lamp. He molted directly underneath it, with those two front legs just under the bulb. I think the walking hairs got too dry because of the heat lamp and so got stuck in the exuvia. You learn something new all the time with mantids... next time there's a molt, I'm not placing a heat lamp on top of the lid, I'll shine it into the cage from the side.

Those hooks are extremely important for molting so I'm a bit nervous now about his next molt. I'm probably going to have to use unnatural methods to get him to molt properly. Idolos are prone to falling with all four legs working properly, never mind having just two. And he is my only male so if he doesn't make it, I can't breed them, which has been my dream for years. But I think that as long as I am there for his next molt that he will be okay and will grow the walking hairs back. Crossing my fingers.

He is at least doing a lot better than I thought he would. I didn't think he'd be able to walk or hang upside down properly at all, but he's doing both. He hasn't fallen once, though has slipped, but his other walking appendages saved him. He can catch prey, etc. So the main concern is just the next molt.






*July 31st*

Zeltor (the first molting original Heterochaeta) molted to L8! She's amazing, I love to see how big she's getting. She looks to be a presub, how many molts do these guys HAVE?! Wow. Lol. But she grew an entire inch from L7-L8, and is almost 3 1/2". So considering that, by adulthood she will indeed be 6-something inches. Awesome.





















That's all folks! For now...


----------



## CosbyArt

MantidBro said:


> ...
> That's all folks! For now...


Shame about Lawless, hopefully you can get him to molt successfully on his next. Nice to see Zeltor is doing great - interesting species.

I thought I was one of the few to keep their exuviae.  While it is great to keep track by putting them together like that, I tend to put them all in one container. At the moment it is somewhere short of 100 exuviae skins in there. I figure I'll eventually take some photos of them, maybe for a desktop background or something


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Shame about Lawless, hopefully you can get him to molt successfully on his next. Nice to see Zeltor is doing great - interesting species.
> 
> I thought I was one of the few to keep their exuviae.  While it is great to keep track by putting them together like that, I tend to put them all in one container. At the moment it is somewhere short of 100 exuviae skins in there. I figure I'll eventually take some photos of them, maybe for a desktop background or something


I hope so too, hes my only male, if he doesnt make it, the females cant breed... I at least have saved some using the tape method before so if im around during his molt he SHOULD be okay. Its one of those things where, if i see hes showing signs, i cant sleep or go anywhere xD unfortunately once showing signs it can take up to 2-3 days! Thats what happened on his previous molt.

Yeah theyre cool! they get really big which is why i wanted them in the first place. plus... They have pointy eyes! really neat.

Hah you keep their exuviae too?? awesome! ive taped them to paper since the beginning, my very first mantids exuvia. i cant remember why, probably because i thought molting was amazing LOL. Now i do it more so to have their memory and also have proof of how many times they molt. I used to collect them in pill bottles and tape them up later on... But then one day i took them out and they broken so easily because they were dried up so i started taping them up right away instead. Woah 100?! Omg lol thats a lot! a desktop background would be cool!


----------



## Sticky

I love the picture of the exuvia! Flattened the way they are, they make me think of fossils pressed perfectly like leaves on fine sandstone.


----------



## MantidBro

Sticky said:


> I love the picture of the exuvia! Flattened the way they are, they make me think of fossils pressed perfectly like leaves on fine sandstone.


Thanks! I want to post all of the exuviae I've collected some time. Id like to show off my entire wall too, with all the photos and oothecae and wings I've got. Hah they do look like fossils doesnt they??


----------



## MantidBro

*August 1st*

*Brahma* (female Hierodula xishaensis) molted to *L4*!






*August 2nd*

*Kamakiri* (original Heterochaeta, the 2nd to molt) joined Zeltor and reached* L8*!






I sexed my little guys!

*Brahma* is *female*, as is shown on the previous post.

*Chip* is *male*:






*Galactica* is *male*:






*Silver* is *male*:






and *Neptune* is *male*:


----------



## CosbyArt

Nice to know what sex they for yourself.  I am curious though did you find out about Kamakiri as you didn't list it.


----------



## dmina

Great updates... They all look good... Keep up the good work..hehe


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Nice to know what sex they for yourself.  I am curious though did you find out about Kamakiri as you didn't list it.


Oh woops, Kamakiri is female.  So is Amico. All the originals are female and the hatchlings are male.


----------



## MantidBro

dmina said:


> Great updates... They all look good... Keep up the good work..hehe


Thanks!


----------



## MantidBro

*August 4th*

*Silver* and *Neptune* molted to *L5* (male Heterochaeta).

*Silver:*






*Neptune: *






*August 5th*

*Supermantis* molted to what appears to be *L6* (so I was a step ahead all this time, I'm gonna go back and edit those later lol).






And *Amico* (original female Heterochaeta) reached* L8*.






Oh and by the way, *Chip* (the Hierodula who was puking) is doing just fine. He pulled through and hasn't puked in at least a week now. Very pleased about that!


----------



## Sticky

Oh good! Im glad Chip is better.


----------



## MantidBro

Sticky said:


> Oh good! Im glad Chip is better.


Me too! phew!


----------



## MantidBro

August 7th

I received two Phyllocrania paradoxa from LAME! A male at L4 and a female at L3. I'm excited to have this species again! And especially excited that LAME picked such a green female! Awesome! He never does me wrong! Lol.  





The male I've named "Blaar" which in the Afrikaans language means "leaf"

And the female I've named "Groen" which in the Afrikaans language means "green"

It's only right that I give them names using the language of their species' place of origin!


----------



## CosbyArt

Nice, can't go wrong with Ghosts. Really lovely green on the girl


----------



## dmina

They look great.. glad you finally got them... Great picture


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Nice, can't go wrong with Ghosts. Really lovely green on the girl


You really cant! I have a soft spot for them, after Kent-Lok, a female ghost I had. I dont think id ever owned such a tame, sweet mantid!


----------



## MantidBro

dmina said:


> They look great.. glad you finally got them... Great picture


Yes, very healthy! Theyre great! thanks


----------



## bobericc

Looks like a great ghost pair you got from LAME, bro! Looks like a green female and a brown male


----------



## LAME

I'm glad yall like the green female, I thought it was a nice pick before I ever removed her from the community project. The male may turn green as well like Cyprus and Nymbit did (Cyprus's genetics), but that was way closer to the last couple molts.

I wish you the best on the ghost pair, hopefully with a little luck you can achieve a new generation and keep things rolling.


----------



## MantidBro

bobericc said:


> Looks like a great ghost pair you got from LAME, bro! Looks like a green female and a brown male


Definitely a great pair! Yes the female is green and the male is brown


----------



## MantidBro

LAME said:


> I'm glad yall like the green female, I thought it was a nice pick before I ever removed her from the community project. The male may turn green as well like Cyprus and Nymbit did (Cyprus's genetics), but that was way closer to the last couple molts.
> 
> I wish you the best on the ghost pair, hopefully with a little luck you can achieve a new generation and keep things rolling.


Thatd be awesome! ill love em either way though haha  

Thanks man! i hope so too!


----------



## MantidBro

*August 9th*

*Baline* (female Idolomantis) molted to *L7*! Here's a video:

*I figured I'd add in some tips, for those who have Idolos and are worried about molts at later stages:*

*.* Drawer liner works very well.

*.* 70-80% humidity.

*.* Don't shine the light in from the top, but instead, from the side. There's a risk that the feet will dry up if directly under the lamp and it will cause them to get stuck in the exuvia. During molts, heat lamps don't matter so much, and in fact may reduce the humidity. I used a simple UV lamp which only reaches about 60F itself (though my room is warm enough and it was about 75F in the cage). This was just so I could see the mantis; it wasn't being used to provide any heat.

*.* Once the mantis is hanging from the exuvia, you want the container to start drying up rather than remain humid. There's a risk that the exuvia will become too moist/soggy and easily tear, or fall, as the heavy mantis hangs from it. So once she was hanging I did the opposite of what I'd done for the actual molt. I switched the heat lamp to an 80watt, and placed it over the top of the cage, because now I wanted the feet of the exuvia to become dry so it's more sturdy. I also removed the towel I had placed over the top of the cage to keep humidity in. (I don't have absolute proof that this is the right thing to do but the way my brain works made it seem like it was something I should do.)

*. *A safety net should be provided for L6-L7 and up (my female had a hard time getting her feet to hang from the top once she was ready). 

Also, *Galactica* (original male Heterochaeta) reached* L6*! I'll get photos later.

*August 10th*

I went walking at a place I rarely go to. There was a huge field that I walked through, looking for feeders and of course hoping I might spot a mantid or ootheca, I was thinking Tenodera. But much to my surprise, I spotted an adult male Mantis religiosa! I honestly didn't know they were introduced to the USA so I was shocked and thrilled. Now I've got another species to add to my list of "species owned"! Well, I planned at that moment to go looking for an adult female. If there's one, I knew there'd be more, and I wanted a shot at breeding them so I could get the real experience owning the species. No more than five inches from where I found the male, I saw a sub-adult female! I literally didn't even move from where I stood as I caught the male. I found that interesting! It was as if he was waiting for the female to become an adult. 

The male is only 2"! And the female seems she won't be much bigger. She will be molting soon, her wing buds are swollen and she's been pulsing.

Adult male:







Sub-adult female:


----------



## CosbyArt

Your doing something right for sure, keep it up  How mant more molts at left for *Baline* as she is L7? One more?

I like the blue shelf/drawer liner you have - I had a choice between that or a light tan almost flesh color. I figured the tan would not stand out so bad in my vivarium/terrarium build.


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Your doing something right for sure, keep it up  How mant more molts at left for *Baline* as she is L7? One more?
> 
> I like the blue shelf/drawer liner you have - I had a choice between that or a light tan almost flesh color. I figured the tan would not stand out so bad in my vivarium/terrarium build.


Thanks! She has two more molts, shes a presub.

Thanks again. Tan is a good color, it will certainly match well. I picked blue, hoping that on her last molt, she will pick up some of that blue color!


----------



## Sticky

He is very handsome! She will be beautiful too. I love the stars on the inside of her arm. I knew about the eye spot, but not the stars.


----------



## MantidBro

Sticky said:


> He is very handsome! She will be beautiful too. I love the stars on the inside of her arm. I knew about the eye spot, but not the stars.


He certainly is! She was too; unfortunately she mismolted last night. Though I found replacements. I'll update and fill you in on all the details then! x)

I like their inner arm designs, I didn't know about the stars either.


----------



## Danny.

Bro, nice going with the Idolo. I would replace the drawer liner with thin branches for her last two moults.


----------



## MantidBro

Danny. said:


> Bro, nice going with the Idolo. I would replace the drawer liner with thin branches for her last two moults.


Thank you.  

Yeah? I might hot glue thin branches along the drawer liner. Though I've seen a video on youtube where someone used drawer liner for the adult molt and the Idolo did just fine.

I DO NOT OWN THIS VIDEO. Lol gotta throw that in there just in case.


----------



## MantidBro

*Tacca*, the second Idolo female, molted to *L7*!











_I freaking LOVE this species. I can't wait til one of them, or hopefully ALL of them, reach adulthood!_

I went back to the field where I caught the *Mantis religiosa*... an adult male and a subadult female. The subadult female mismolted unfortunately, I'm not sure why. She fell, even when molting from drawer liner, which struck me as odd. Her arms got stuck. I quickly squished her to put her out of her misery, poor gal. The male is still well though, my sister gave me the idea to name him after the actor *Marlon Brando* from "The Wild One". Cause he is a wild mantid! Haha. Anyways, when I went back to that field, I saw 10 males and 4 females! I only kept two more males, so I now have three. I have two green ones and a dark green one that looks more brown. And I kept a green female and a brown female. At the field, the second female I captured, flew away! And quite far, like 100 feet and up into a huge tree. I was surprised, I'd never seen a female fly before, and especially not 100 feet. But they are small and they have wings that are the same size as the males so it makes sense. Both males and females are only 2 inches, only females are wider.

Well here's the second brown female I caught, and kept:






Here's the green female I kept:






And *Blaar*, the *L4* male just lookin' around:






And another thing. I wanted to show how *LA**ME* ships nymphs, he does very well:











Til next time my friends!


----------



## Danny.

MantidBro said:


> Thank you.
> 
> Yeah? I might hot glue thin branches along the drawer liner. Though I've seen a video on youtube where someone used drawer liner for the adult molt and the Idolo did just fine.


Do whatever works for you. But if the M. religiosa fell and your female "had a hard time getting her feet to hang from the top once she was ready)" I wouldn't risk it using drawer liner...


----------



## MantidBro

Danny. said:


> Do whatever works for you. But if the M. religiosa fell and your female "had a hard time getting her feet to hang from the top once she was ready)" I wouldn't risk it using drawer liner...


Well the religiosa had gotten her arms stuck and all her legs were out, its possible that she tried hanging on with her damaged legs and fell because they couldnt hold, what with the damage to them, and what with the absence of the walking hairs on her raptors. And i didnt mean the idolo had a hard time holding onto the drawer liner, i meant she had a hard time transitioning from hanging from the exuvia to hanging from the top. Once she got ahold of it she was good, i really think its the way to go. Though i understand why youre concerned and i appreciate it. I may end up adding sticks, i guess it depends on how things go. I get nervous to use sticks because i worry theyre not going to be good enough for gripping. Its hard to know which sticks to use.


----------



## dmina

Great update... You mantis are getting so big... Good job!


----------



## MantidBro

dmina said:


> Great update... You mantis are getting so big... Good job!


Thank you! Yes they are, it's great! And thank you again!


----------



## MantidBro

*August 14th *

*Brahma* (female *Hierodula xishaensis*) molted to *L5*:






_I love this shot of her!_

*August 15th*

*Groen* (female *Phyllocrania paradoxa*) reached *L4*:






_She's a bit darker but still has patches of green, she looks awesome! _

*August 16th*

*GriM* (female *Pnigomantis medioconstricta*) reached *adulthood*:











_(My favorite shot EVER.)_






_I'm so proud of her, she is fantastic, I couldn't be happier about how she turned out._

*Chip* (male *Hierodula xishaensis*) reached *L5*:






*August 17th*

*Kamakiri* (original female *Heterochaeta sp*.) reached *L9*:
















_Already 4", and she's got 2 molts left! Man they've got a lot of molts! _

*TBC...*


----------



## Sticky

Chip and Brahma are looking great! Both are so cute. I can tell they like you.


----------



## bobericc

Hmmm ive never officially counted molts on heterochaeta always assumed about 8 molts to adulthood, 11 though, is a lot!


----------



## LAME

Wow, check out GriM's close up! Nice one!


----------



## MantidBro

Sticky said:


> Chip and Brahma are looking great! Both are so cute. I can tell they like you.


Thanks! Yes they are very cute haha. I think they like me too!


----------



## MantidBro

bobericc said:


> Hmmm ive never officially counted molts on heterochaeta always assumed about 8 molts to adulthood, 11 though, is a lot!


10 molts, but 11 stages! crazy huh?? the most i ever seen was 9 (budwing females) and i thought that was outrageous!


----------



## MantidBro

LAME said:


> Wow, check out GriM's close up! Nice one!


Right?! Im glad she and my camera worked so well together lol. Thanks! ^_^


----------



## MantidBro

*August 19th*

*Neptune* (hatchling male *Heterochaeta*) joined* Galactica* and reached *L6*!







_Poor guy hurt his eye, not sure how._

*August 20th*

Update on the *Mantis religiosa* I collected. The three males I originally caught ALL died, poor souls. x_x The first one I caught, *Marlon Brando*, was eaten by the brown female. The second one I'd named "*Ricky Retardo*" after "Ricky Ricardo" from "I Love Lucy". I've never actually seen the show but it was referenced in a movie I like, "Cable Guy". I'd switched the "Ricardo" with "Retardo" because he really was doing horribly trying to mate!!! A down-right fool. The female got ahold of him a few times, I kept separating them, but it was too late because he was dead at the bottom of the cage the next morning. She must have pierced something internally. And the third one was also eaten unfortunately.

I went out and collected three more. One for me, one for a member here, and one other just cause. The third one was a sub-adult male and he reached adulthood here. He was missing half his claw, and it didn't grow back unfortunately, but he's healthy. Looked like it was chewed off, I'm thinking by a female. He's lucky to have survived!

Well anyways. One of the males I put with a female, and he didn't do well. She got ahold of him, but I separated them and he's okay, even three days later, so it seems he won't pass. I tried the second male, and boom. He obviously knew what he was doing. She didn't react aggressively toward him and he snuck up on her very slowly. He just jumped on her backwards, then righted himself, and inserted. And so I named him "*Ricky The Smart-o*".

*LAME* had told me before that he read related *Tenodera sinensis* sometimes refuse to mate, which I believe is true because my *Tenodera* siblings never mated, it seemed impossible, and I had multiple males. Then I found a new *Tenodera* at a different spot and they mated easily. It did seem very similar to the situation with the *religiosa*. I wonder though if it'd be possible for any *religiosa* in that field to NOT be related?

Anyways, he mated with the green female for 4 to 4 1/2 hours and then jumped off.






*August 21st*

And this morning, *Zeltor* (original female *Heterochaeta*) reached *L9*.


----------



## CosbyArt

Seems persistence paid off, too bad so many males met their doom in the process though - maybe she was just reaching her fill before the last one made it, ie. she finally gave up.  

Your Heterochaeta are doing great. They are a interesting species and seem to be a cross of what happens if a mantid could mate with a phasmid (walking stick).


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Seems persistence paid off, too bad so many males met their doom in the process though - maybe she was just reaching her fill before the last one made it, ie. she finally gave up.
> 
> Your Heterochaeta are doing great. They are a interesting species and seem to be a cross of what happens if a mantid could mate with a phasmid (walking stick).


I found it odd because two of the new males I caught, I tried to breed her with. The first one she reacted very aggressively towards, but didnt't even MOVE when the second male jumped on her and inserted. It was within the span of 24 hours, tops. Maybe you're right that she was feeling hungry, but she ate after mating but didn't try eating him. It's hard to tell why she reacted so positively with that male as opposed to the others. I just fed her a moment ago and she was quite aggressive with me too, flaring her wings and striking me as I tried to hand-feed her.

They certainly are, thank you! I find them interesting too, and I thought that same thing! Lol.


----------



## CosbyArt

MantidBro said:


> I found it odd because two of the new males I caught, I tried to breed her with. The first one she reacted very aggressively towards, but didnt't even MOVE when the second male jumped on her and inserted. It was within the span of 24 hours, tops. Maybe you're right that she was feeling hungry, but she ate after mating but didn't try eating him. It's hard to tell why she reacted so positively with that male as opposed to the others. I just fed her a moment ago and she was quite aggressive with me too, flaring her wings and striking me as I tried to hand-feed her.
> 
> They certainly are, thank you! I find them interesting too, and I thought that same thing! Lol.


Perhaps the 2nd male was simply a mantid stud





If you flared at you too maybe she is just having a bad day. Although my adult females all tend to be more aggressive, especially compared to their previous instar stages. Have your other females been more aggressive too when compared to their previous instar stages?


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Perhaps the 2nd male was simply a mantid stud
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If you flared at you too maybe she is just having a bad day. Although my adult females all tend to be more aggressive, especially compared to their previous instar stages. Have your other females been more aggressive too when compared to their previous instar stages?


Haha! He did seem to really know what he was doing!

I think she acts this way mostly because she was a wild adult, so is more alert/reactive/defensive.

I have noticed that with some species. I think as they get bigger, they realize that their main defense can't be hiding anymore, because they're easier to spot. So I think they have to start trying to be scary.

Nate and I also noticed that females that are ready to lay an ooth get angry easily.


----------



## MantidBro

*August 23rd*

Silver reached what I think is L6, but for some reason, he is so much smaller than my other two? I checked and the bigger ones are indeed male. It's odd. I may have miscounted the molts on this guy.






*August 24th*

Supermantis reached adulthood! Ain't he special?






*August 27th*

Brahma (female Hierodula xishaensis) reached L6!






How come some of my mantids have scars on their eyes??

*August 28th*

Chip (male Hierodula xishaensis) reached L6 as well!






*August 29th*

Lawless (male Idolo)... aw boy... well, those of you who have viewed my thread know that he lost the walking hairs on two of his feet the last molt. Well, for this molt, as he was getting ready, he kept falling. So I used nail glue to glue his feet to the top. He molted, but lost a leg, due to the positioning of one of his legs. I must not have glued it in a very good spot. And on top of losing a leg (one of the two that had walking hairs), the walking hairs on his other feet didn't grow back. So he had one working leg. I tried helping him by gluing hooks to the end of his feet which worked for a moment. But then he fell and his claw bent, and his legs bent, and he could not stand or hang. So with much difficulty I froze him. Rest in peace Lawless.

Same day, Amico reached L9.


----------



## CosbyArt

Sorry Lawless didn't make, it sounds like you tried everything possible though. It is odd about their eyes getting damaged, perhaps it has something to do with the mesh material you use (or something else in all their habitats).

Your boy Chip is still doing great, and looks to be a big camera ham still.


----------



## LAME

The eye issue is probably caused by them rubbing their face against their enclosures walls... I had a few Carolina females do that... Usually its the wild ones though.


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Sorry Lawless didn't make, it sounds like you tried everything possible though. It is odd about their eyes getting damaged, perhaps it has something to do with the mesh material you use (or something else in all their habitats).
> 
> Your boy Chip is still doing great, and looks to be a big camera ham still.


I literally didnt leave the house for a week, waiting for him and makin sure id be there to help. Still didnt help, its really disappointing. Workin on getting a replacement.

Yeah it may be the screen i glued to the sides


----------



## MantidBro

LAME said:


> The eye issue is probably caused by them rubbing their face against their enclosures walls... I had a few Carolina females do that... Usually its the wild ones though.


What are they doin that for! Lol, crazies


----------



## CosbyArt

MantidBro said:


> What are they doin that for! Lol, crazies


I know several of my wild caught mantids seem to do the "let me out" digging/thrashing for the first 2-6 hours especially, but most never do it again after 24 hours. Going from running loose to a habitat is a shell shock for them, and the smaller nymphs seem to adapt better too.

I figured though with your species in the photos they weren't wild caught though.


----------



## bobericc

Lol whenever i see eye scars i just know its a nosey mantis in a plastic or glass enclosure.


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> I know several of my wild caught mantids seem to do the "let me out" digging/thrashing for the first 2-6 hours especially, but most never do it again after 24 hours. Going from running loose to a habitat is a shell shock for them, and the smaller nymphs seem to adapt better too.
> 
> I figured though with your species in the photos they weren't wild caught though.


Yeah i got those guys from here, mantidforum. Its weird. Maybe they are ready for bigger homes! imma set em up


----------



## MantidBro

bobericc said:


> Lol whenever i see eye scars i just know its a nosey mantis in a plastic or glass enclosure.


Lol


----------



## MantidBro

*September 12th *

*Blaar *(male ghost) molted to *L5*!






*Kamakiri* (female Heterochaeta sp.) reached *L10*! Wow! And oddly... her wings STILL don't look like they belong to a sub? Well, we will find out with her next molt. But she is now almost 4 1/2 inches!






*Brahma* (female Hierodula xishaensis) reached *L7*:






*Galactica* (male Heterochaeta sp) reached* L7*:






*September 14th*

*Neptune* (male Heterochaeta) reached *L6*...? I think? I messed up on the amount of molts for him.






And I bought more Idolos, some from Exo. They were supposed to be at L3 but they are at L1, but it's okay. He sent me two extras which is awesome. He did send me one L3 but it mis-molted during transit. But he may make it, he just has a hunch and half his shield is curled downward. He can still hold and eat on his own and can hang upside down and stand.

Here is the little "oddity", as LAME referred to him. He is going to be shipped to LAME Wednesday:






And here is one of the L1s, which LAME and I think is female.






Til next time!


----------



## Danny.

Bro, nice update. I'm loving the Heterochaeta! Make me want to keep them again.

What happened to Baline?


----------



## MantidBro

Danny. said:


> Bro, nice update. I'm loving the Heterochaeta! Make me want to keep them again.
> 
> What happened to Baline?


Thanks! yeah the chaeta are awesome! im enjoyin em.

Baline hasnt molted to L8 yet so no updates for her, should be soon though!


----------



## LAME

I've already got a name chosen for my newest oddity, fitting enough for his current state.  

Can't wait to see the little guy though... You know he'll be overly watched and well pampered.


----------



## MantidBro

LAME said:


> I've already got a name chosen for my newest oddity, fitting enough for his current state.
> 
> Can't wait to see the little guy though... You know he'll be overly watched and well pampered.


Yeah?? whatcha gonna name him??

I do know that, good luck man, hope he arrives alive and well for ya!


----------



## LAME

I was thinking: Quasimodo, or just Quasi for short.


----------



## MantidBro

LAME said:


> I was thinking: Quasimodo, or just Quasi for short.


Lol i was thinking that too!! its just perfect, cause of his little hunch x)


----------



## dmina

Great update.. everyone is doing so well... good job..and thanks for sharing!


----------



## MantidBro

dmina said:


> Great update.. everyone is doing so well... good job..and thanks for sharing!


Thanks! Yes theyre all doing well! Aside from Lawless, RIP!! youre welcome for sharing


----------



## MantidBro

September 16th

I received Lawless' replacement from MikhailsDinos! He is currently at L5. I named him after Lawless... "Heterodox". It has the same meaning as "Lawless".












And he also sent me free L1 Griffins! Here is one:






17th

Chip (male Hierodula xishaensis) molted to L7! He posed perfectly for me for this photo:






18th

Baline (female Idolomantis diabolica) reached L8 at last! She is now a sub-adult. She took 39 days this time!

I used that net-like material that's in some swim shorts. I had an old pair that I was going to throw out, and I thought... Hmm, that looks good for molting. GriM (female Pnigomantis medioconstricta) molted to adulthood from it and now Baline molted to sub-adulthood from it. I at first was worried about what I should do for Baline, so tried a few different things out, which is why the top has things on it. I had some green styro-foam type material in there at first, which seemed to be working, but I became paranoid and removed it. Then I had sticks in there, but I noticed, she could hang from the netting better than she could hang from the sticks. On the sticks, I noticed a foot would slip now and again, and that's no good. So I removed those as well. She got a great grip on that net-like material. Here's a photo:





She actually used her own exuvia to hang from as she hardened, and it didn't fall. All four feet were still in place. And if you look closely, you can see that one of her front feet is actually holding onto a bit of the green styro-foam that got stuck there.

Here is a photo showing the size difference between a female at L7 and at L8:





Tacca actually looks small compared to Baline!

And here are some other shots, just to show her off:











She is beautiful!

That's it for now. Enjoy!


----------



## MantidBro

*September 19th*

Silver (male Heterochaeta) molted! Looks to be at L5, I really can't tell, I miscounted. Woops!






*September 20th*

Heterodox (the L5 male Idolomantis I got from Mikhail) reached L6! I love how it looks like he was splashed with dirt, his markings are cool.











*September 22nd*

The L1 Idolos I got from Exo eatin' grasshopper bits:

Finally gave my adult female Mantis religiosa a name... Joy! My sister said I had to name her after a certain song cause it looked like she was dancing lol.






And here is Baline... just showing her off. She is beautiful.


----------



## CosbyArt

Awesome purple on their heads and abdomens, and the texture on Heterodox is wicked  

I like Joy, she is pretty. If you ever breed her and want to exchange a ooth for a Carolina ooth or something I'd be happy to. I haven't had a chance to try that native species yet.


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Awesome purple on their heads and abdomens, and the texture on Heterodox is wicked
> 
> I like Joy, she is pretty. If you ever breed her and want to exchange a ooth for a Carolina ooth or something I'd be happy to. I haven't had a chance to try that native species yet.


Ikr? and yeah, he is!

I actually did breed her, but its been like a month since and she hasnt laid an ootheca yet. Its odd. They mated for 4 1/2 hours and he jumped off on his own so im thinking he HAD to have released his seed?? i did find some ooths at the spot i collected the religiosas, they gotta be fertile, im practically 100% that they are. So i guess we will see if joy lays one soon! then you can decide if you want one of hers or one of the field collected ones, if youd be willing to trade for one of those.


----------



## CosbyArt

MantidBro said:


> Ikr? and yeah, he is!
> 
> I actually did breed her, but its been like a month since and she hasnt laid an ootheca yet. Its odd. They mated for 4 1/2 hours and he jumped off on his own so im thinking he HAD to have released his seed?? i did find some ooths at the spot i collected the religiosas, they gotta be fertile, im practically 100% that they are. So i guess we will see if joy lays one soon! then you can decide if you want one of hers or one of the field collected ones, if youd be willing to trade for one of those.


That is strange about Joy. Perhaps she isn't as old as you think or she already laid all her ooths for the season - hopefully she will lay a ooth soon though. Sure I'd be willing to trade for either type of ooth, with one from Joy being preferred though (as no chance of parasitic wasps that way).


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> That is strange about Joy. Perhaps she isn't as old as you think or she already laid all her ooths for the season - hopefully she will lay a ooth soon though. Sure I'd be willing to trade for either type of ooth, with one from Joy being preferred though (as no chance of parasitic wasps that way).


Ooths just started showing up at the field, maybe they just take a long time to lay? the time i collected her, there were still sub adults around, so i dont think she is very old, and i dont think she had been mated previously. I cant prove that but i just got a feeling. I do hope she will lay soon though. Haha that is true!


----------



## CosbyArt

MantidBro said:


> Ooths just started showing up at the field, maybe they just take a long time to lay? the time i collected her, there were still sub adults around, so i dont think she is very old, and i dont think she had been mated previously. I cant prove that but i just got a feeling. I do hope she will lay soon though. Haha that is true!


From any females I've raised that laid ooths (referring to my log file) it is about 30 to 40 days after they molt to adults on average. Or 16 to 26 days after 2 weeks to reach sexual maturity before the first ooth is laid. So it seems she is still in the average time frame, and who is to say she isn't a late starter?


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> From any females I've raised that laid ooths (referring to my log file) it is about 30 to 40 days after they molt to adults on average. Or 16 to 26 days after 2 weeks to reach sexual maturity before the first ooth is laid. So it seems she is still in the average time frame, and who is to say she isn't a late starter?


Yeah thats true, maybe shes just slow to lay


----------



## LAME

Aaaaahhh!!! Lookit' all those idolos! XD

Really sweet photos bro. =)


----------



## MantidBro

LAME said:


> Aaaaahhh!!! Lookit' all those idolos! XD
> 
> Really sweet photos bro. =)


Loool ikr?? now this is more like it! haha! Im lucky to have em.

Thanks man!


----------



## mantiseater

Wow this this thread is making me need to try idolos!


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## MantidBro

mantiseater said:


> Wow this this thread is making me need to try idolos!


Haha


----------



## MantidBro

*September 25th*

The *Griffin Mantis* reached *L2*! Not gonna name him/her til I am positive of the sex.






*26th*

The *Idolomantis* I refer to as "*1*" molted to *L2*.

*27th*

The *Idolomantis* I referred to as "*2*" *mismolted* when trying to molt from L1 to L2. It seemed to start molting some time after I misted. I am thinking a drop of water may have pulled him/her down as he/she was molting.

And *Tacca* joined *Baline* and molted to *L8* (subadulthood)! Whoo!
















Again I used the home-made container with the fabric from swimshorts as a molting surface. It works incredibly well!!

Here's a video of Tacca molting, sped up x2:


----------



## CosbyArt

MantidBro said:


> ..
> Again I used the home-made container with the fabric from swimshorts as a molting surface. It works incredibly well!!
> 
> ...


Looks like a good material, and a better reuse of old shorts.  

If you want to buy it by the yard it is sold at most fabric stores and is usually called "Polyester Dive Mesh" or "Polyester Cargo Mesh"; although, it can be a bit expensive at about $10 a yard - local stores likely have better prices. Here is one store with it online, never bought from them, just found it there.


----------



## Sticky

I found it on Amazon too.


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Looks like a good material, and a better reuse of old shorts.
> 
> If you want to buy it by the yard it is sold at most fabric stores and is usually called "Polyester Dive Mesh" or "Polyester Cargo Mesh"; although, it can be a bit expensive at about $10 a yard - local stores likely have better prices. Here is one store with it online, never bought from them, just found it there.


Haha! Yeah! And hey, guys... they are CLEAN! xD

Oh dude, that's cool! Thanks for that! I'm going to spread the word. We have to help the first time Idolo owners who are as anxious as me about molts!


----------



## MantidBro

Sticky said:


> I found it on Amazon too.


Nice!


----------



## MantidBro

*September 30th*

Brahma (female Hierodula xishaensis) reached L8:







Zeltor (original female Heterochaeta species) reached L10:






*October 2nd*

Chip (male Hierodula xishaensis) reached L8:






*October 3rd*

Idolomantis diabolica #3 reached L3:






She is female.

*October 7th*

The Polyspilota griffinii reached L3:






*October 8th*

Amico (original female Heterochaeta) reached L10:






*October 11th*

Idolomantis diabolica #5 reached L3:






She is female as well.

So I have 3 females and 1 male where the little Idolos are concerned.

I also collected some Mantis relgiosa oothecae over at the place I'd collected the relgiosa. I just collected 2, as I want to be sure there are more next year.






And here are Baline and Tacca. I put them together about 2 weeks ago. They no longer consider the other to be a threat. They just hang out together, like best pals.


----------



## MantidBro

October 11th

Another Idolo reached L3, #1:






Just waiting on the male now. I'm feeding him less so that he will reach adulthood around the same time as the females. Males have one less molt and it takes 1-2 months for females to reach adulthood when sub-adults. So I want him to be 1-2 molts behind the females. If I don't make sure of that, he will reach adulthood 1-2 months before they do, and he may not live long enough to mate with them. I was told that males do not live very longer once adults.

October 14th

Neptune (male Heterochaeta hatchling) molted. He looks to be at L6.






Joy (female Mantis religiosa) finally laid an ootheca. I did breed her so it should be fertile. She took quite a long time to lay it though! Wow.


----------



## CosbyArt

MantidBro said:


> ...Joy (female Mantis religiosa) finally laid an ootheca. I did breed her so it should be fertile. She took quite a long time to lay it though! Wow.
> 
> ...


She might be picky on choosing a place to lay her ooth. I know several of my Stagmomantis carolina females laid ooths much quicker if they have various sticks glued to their habitat lids - with most preferring to lay it between them on the lid.

Of course individual females vary in time between ooths, sticks or not. One female would lay one about every 8 days on average, and several of my most recent females are about 15 days. A thing of note though is once a female begins laying ooths they tend to take less time between progressive ooths.


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> She might be picky on choosing a place to lay her ooth. I know several of my Stagmomantis carolina females laid ooths much quicker if they have various sticks glued to their habitat lids - with most preferring to lay it between them on the lid.
> 
> Of course individual females vary in time between ooths, sticks or not. One female would lay one about every 8 days on average, and several of my most recent females are about 15 days. A thing of note though is once a female begins laying ooths they tend to take less time between progressive ooths.


She does have sticks in her enclosure, she still did lay it on the screen of her container lol, as close as she could get it to the heat lamp. Typical. She really took a long time to lay, I've never witnessed this sort of thing before. I read somewhere that male religiosa NEED to be beheaded for the mating to be successful. I was skeptical but now I'm wondering if that's true. Or if this species just takes longer than other to lay once having mated.


----------



## CosbyArt

MantidBro said:


> She does have sticks in her enclosure, she still did lay it on the screen of her container lol, as close as she could get it to the heat lamp. Typical. She really took a long time to lay, I've never witnessed this sort of thing before. I read somewhere that male religiosa NEED to be beheaded for the mating to be successful. I was skeptical but now I'm wondering if that's true. Or if this species just takes longer than other to lay once having mated.


Ha, that is very typical. I prefer they do lay on the mesh though, as it is easier to collect the ooths anyway. Time will tell for both though about the beheading/time required, if the ooths hatch.  I imagine though as with my females, after the first ooth they tend to get faster at the process of "building" then laying the ooths. Best of luck with her.


----------



## MantidBro

October 16th

Heterodox (male Idolo, Lawless' replacement, that I got from Mikhail) reached sub-adulthood (L7)! It was a very nerve-wracking moment for me, as Lawless had to be put down after mis-molting on this molt (due to the issues from his previous molt; the loss of the walking hairs because of my foolish idea to leave a heat lamp above him before he molted). So now Heterodox is a sub, and is at the same stage as the females. It's exciting that he is doing well. And now just one more molt. I'll feed him til he catches up the the size of the females (abdomen-wise) and then from there I'll feed them all the same amount until they reach adulthood. I want to be sure they all reach adulthood around the same time. Idolos are such a nerve-wracking species to own, haha.
















I love the thick antennae. I can't wait to see his adult form, with big and red, fluffy antennae.

Same day, Galactica (male Heterochaeta hatchling) reached what I think is L8. He's catching up! I'll be able to breed them soon. Seems that the females are subs after all, according the the look of their wing buds. I can't wait to see how big the adult female is! They are already the longest mantids I have ever owned. (4 1/2").






It's hard to get photos of the Heterochaeta, they're so hyper, lol. I need to feed them before photographing next time. The focus is kind of off on this photo.

October 17th

The #3 Idolo reached L4!






October 18th

#6 Idolo reached L3... the male:






And here are some photos of Tacca, the second sub-adult female:
















And here is one of the L3 females, getting some time in the wild cage:


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Ha, that is very typical. I prefer they do lay on the mesh though, as it is easier to collect the ooths anyway. Time will tell for both though about the beheading/time required, if the ooths hatch.  I imagine though as with my females, after the first ooth they tend to get faster at the process of "building" then laying the ooths. Best of luck with her.


I haven't removed it yet, but I hope it won't ruin the screen lol. I might have to replace it if there's some left over ooth on it. It is easier to collect though, when it comes to the ooth itself. Yes, soon we will find out. Or at least, eventually. I do hope it hatches! Oh that's interesting! And thank you. Best of luck with your mantids as well.


----------



## dmina

Great photos... They are all looking really good...you are doing a great job... Thanks for sharing..


----------



## Ghost_Keeper

dmina said:


> Great photos... They are all looking really good...you are doing a great job... Thanks for sharing..


quick and odd question dmina, why do you type.... like... this...?


----------



## dmina

Ghost_Keeper said:


> quick and odd question dmina, why do you type.... like... this...?


I don't know. I have done it for years on forums... I guess, it is just like pausing??? IDK just a habit, Sorry?


----------



## Ghost_Keeper

It's not like an issue, just I've always wondered. I always seem to end my sentences in exclamation points, idk why.


----------



## LAME

Lol... Don't worry D.

I tend to do it a lot myself...  

-Alex.

Loving the updates bro.. I love the photo of the female hierodula standing behind her exo, THAT.... is awesome!


----------



## MantidBro

dmina said:


> Great photos... They are all looking really good...you are doing a great job... Thanks for sharing..


Thank you, and youre welcome!


----------



## MantidBro

LAME said:


> Lol... Don't worry D.
> 
> I tend to do it a lot myself...
> 
> -Alex.
> 
> Loving the updates bro.. I love the photo of the female hierodula standing behind her exo, THAT.... is awesome!


Thanks bro!


----------



## MantidBro

October 19th

The Polyspilota griffinii reached L4! Still can't tell the sex, I need to feed him/her before taking a photo so the little one stays still enough for a good photo of the segments lol. According to the antennae I'm guessing male, but not positive yet so I don't wanna jump the gun.











October 20th

And Silver, one of the male Heterochaeta hatchlings, reaccched... Idk, L6 or L7. I've done a horrible job keeping track of their molts!! I miscounted at one point and now I'm lost.






Lil round eye!

Oh! And I wanted to show you guys this weird video I took of Heterodox (subadult male Idolo). He posed at Tacca, got scared, he's not used to being social lol. And the black spots under his arms pulsed in an odd manner! I wonder if it's a part of the pose, like it was done deliberately?

Interesting, eh??


----------



## MantidBro

The L4 Griffin is male after all! Counted 8 segments. So finally I can name him... Peter!! Hahaha... Peter Griffin! Had to. If I get a female, I wanna name her Lois!

And then sad news... Octber 24th, Zeltor passed away. I put the Heterochaeta together, and Amico got ahold of her abdomen. It hardened and there was dried blood coming out. I didn't see it happen but it's obvious that was the cause. Today her abdomen became soft instead of hard and it was leaking really badly. She was slow and weak too. So I put her down.  RIP Zeltor. Sad to lose her, I've had her for so long, and she only had one molt left. I separated them now, I won't be putting this species together again.


----------



## dmina

Sorry for your loss...

Peter... is a great Griffin name... LOL


----------



## MantidBro

dmina said:


> Sorry for your loss...
> 
> Peter... is a great Griffin name... LOL


Thanks  

And lol thanks!


----------



## LAME

Lmao you named him Peter. Hahaa


----------



## MantidBro

LAME said:


> Lmao you named him Peter. Hahaa


Haha yeah!


----------



## CosbyArt

MantidBro said:


> The L4 Griffin is male after all! Counted 8 segments. So finally I can name him... Peter!! Hahaha... Peter Griffin! Had to. If I get a female, I wanna name her Lois!
> 
> And then sad news... Octber 24th, Zeltor passed away. I put the Heterochaeta together, and Amico got ahold of her abdomen. It hardened and there was dried blood coming out. I didn't see it happen but it's obvious that was the cause. Today her abdomen became soft instead of hard and it was leaking really badly. She was slow and weak too. So I put her down.  RIP Zeltor. Sad to lose her, I've had her for so long, and she only had one molt left. I separated them now, I won't be putting this species together again.


Nice  I named my remaining Griffins Stewie and Brian lol.

Sorry to hear Zeltor got a fatal injury. Was you trying a communal setup as she was too young to mate still right?

Saw the video of Tacca strange the two little flaps moving - no idea. Seems almost like spiracles but not sure about them being that high up.


----------



## bobericc

Sorry to hear about zealtor bro!!

That mustve been tough, unfortunately if heterochaeta has been separated early on it seems to be hard to reintroduce them communually.. I myself gave too many away and am worried if ill have a sustainable group this year. there are about 20 l6s still. How many chaetas do you still have bro?


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Nice  I named my remaining Griffins Stewie and Brian lol.
> 
> Sorry to hear Zeltor got a fatal injury. Was you trying a communal setup as she was too young to mate still right?
> 
> Saw the video of Tacca strange the two little flaps moving - no idea. Seems almost like spiracles but not sure about them being that high up.


Lol nice

Yeah, I was trying to see how theyd react together, it was okay at first but then that happened.

That was Heterodox, but it is very strange eh??


----------



## MantidBro

bobericc said:


> Sorry to hear about zealtor bro!!
> 
> That mustve been tough, unfortunately if heterochaeta has been separated early on it seems to be hard to reintroduce them communually.. I myself gave too many away and am worried if ill have a sustainable group this year. there are about 20 l6s still. How many chaetas do you still have bro?


Thanks man

Oh really, you should keep them together from the beginning huh, that does make sense.

20 seems like a lot to me lol, i have 2 females and 3 males. My first female just reached adulthood, I'm stoked


----------



## MantidBro

October 25th

#5 Idolo reached L4:







October 28th

#1 Idolo reached L4:






October 29th

Brahma (female Hierodula xishaensis) reached adulthood:






October 31st

Chip (male Hierodula xishaensis) reached adulthood:






And Kamakiri (original female Heterochaeta species) also reached adulthood:


























She is exactly 5 inches. Awesome!

November 1st

#3 Idolo reached L5:


----------



## Ghost_Keeper

So are 'Chaetas one of the longest living species, based on how many instars there are?


----------



## MantidBro

Ghost_Keeper said:


> So are 'Chaetas one of the longest living species, based on how many instars there are?


Do you mean the longest species which is currently existing, or the longest living, as in, they live the longest?


----------



## dmina

Great pics Alex...


----------



## bobericc

yay! congrats on your journey with chaeta you should be proud bro!!

kamakiri is beautiful

i love the three green light sensitive eyes.


----------



## MantidBro

dmina said:


> Great pics Alex...


Thank you ^_^


----------



## MantidBro

bobericc said:


> yay! congrats on your journey with chaeta you should be proud bro!!
> 
> kamakiri is beautiful
> 
> i love the three green light sensitive eyes.


Thanks man! It's awesome to see her adult form! She is definitely beautiful, and yeah those are awesome! She's such an alien.


----------



## MantidBro

*November 4th*

Peter (male Polyspilota griffinii) reached L5!






*November 11th*

#6 (male Idolomantis) reached L4!






*November 16th*

Neptune (male Heterochaeta hatchling) reached what I believe is L6, based on his size!






_Burlap fabric works well for these guys!_

TBC


----------



## Ghost_Keeper

I mean like, do they live the longest out of any species? I had a ghost once almost reach 2.


----------



## MantidBro

Ghost_Keeper said:


> I mean like, do they live the longest out of any species? I had a ghost once almost reach 2.


Ghosts definitely can live a long time. I'm not sure how long Heterochaeta can live, this is my first time owning them. I'm guessing around a year, but I'm not positive.


----------



## MantidBro

*November 16th*

Peter, the male Polyspilota griffinii, reached L6. 






*November 17th*

Blaar, the male Phyllocrania paradoxa, also reached L6! The female is taking FOREVER.











_He looks AWESOME._

*November 20th*

#1 Idolomantis (female) is the second to reach L5.






I think it's time to name the little Idolos!

TBC


----------



## MantidBro

November 23rd

Baline (female Idolo) reached adulthood!This is the best day of my life! I'm seriously so happy that she made it. I've wanted to own an adult Idolomantis for years. She's amazing, a perfect specimen, I'm freakin' stoked. I used the polyester mesh fabric again and it worked like a charm. Her safety net was drawer liner which I moved towards her once she was ready to hold onto something on her own. I wasn't exactly sure where she would molt and she ended up being a bit too far away from the wall of the container so I manually held the drawer liner in front of her and once she got a good grip, I pinned it to my shelf. The rest she did on her own.

It took her 65 days to reach adulthood after molting to subadulthood!

For this molt the humidity was at 75-80%. Temp was around 75-80F.

And I really can't say it enough... POLYESTER MESH FABRIC!!!

Another tip, while you do need a tall container, it's better to have one that is narrow. And align the sides with drawer liner or polyester mesh fabric so they can grab on and flip. Even this tank was too wide for her, she couldn't reach the wall of the container, I had to help her or else she may have fallen.

I'm so proud of my girl!! We did a lot to get here, lol. And boy was it scary!!




































She is exactly 4 inches!

The male, Heterodox, has started pulsing and his wings are looking more swollen. So he will be next!


----------



## MantidLord

Congrats! I'm happy your Idolo female had a successful molt! Please keep us updated


----------



## MantidBro

MantidLord said:


> Congrats! I'm happy your Idolo female had a successful molt! Please keep us updated


Thank you! and will do


----------



## Sticky

Im always afraid to look as it may make the mantis fall! I worry intensely with every adult molt.


----------



## MantidBro

Sticky said:


> Im always afraid to look as it may make the mantis fall! I worry intensely with every adult molt.


Im afraid to look too! lol. But i feel like i gotta make sure they are okay! i worry intensely with every molt too


----------



## MantidBro

November 28th

Unfortunately, Brahma (adult female Hierodula xishaensis) killed Chip (the male) when I tried breeding them for the 9th time. They really weren't very good at breeding! The male had a really hard time focusing, I swear he had a severe case of ADHD. I'd know, I have it too LOL. But every time he actually jumped on and grabbed ahold of her, he'd try inserting but then while trying to insert, he'd go and take a bite of her wing! Like he forgot he was trying to mate and thought he was holding onto something just to eat it. RIP little dumb dumb...

And over night, my little female Phyllocrania paradoxa unexpected died. I found her at the bottom of her container! I have no idea what happened. I just know that she was odd with food, and was taking a really long time to molt. I didn't expect her to die though, she didn't seem to be THAT unhealthy...  RIP girl!! Now I just have a male. I've never had an adult male so it will be fun at least, even if I can't breed the species.

November 29th

The male Idolomantis diabolica molted to adulthood! I'm stoked. He made it! I used drawer liner instead of polyester mesh fabric for him because for some reason, his back feet kept slipping off that surface. So I used the drawer liner instead, which the feet didn't slip from. So now I have an adult male and an adult female and should be able to breed soon if all goes well!

















Big fluffy antennae! I can't wait to see him when his colors come in!

And here is Baline, her colors are almost 100% now!






And I had my sister name my little Idolos.

#1 (female) is now "Willow".

#3 (female) is now "Anastasia".

#5 (female) is now "Shiloh".

#6 (male) is now "Buddha".


----------



## Sticky

I am so sorry about chip!


----------



## MantidBro

Sticky said:


> I am so sorry about chip!


Thank you, im sorry too, he was a cute little fella!


----------



## Sticky

Yes he was. They really know how to get into your heart!


----------



## MantidBro

Sticky said:


> Yes he was. They really know how to get into your heart!


For sure! All my mantids do.


----------



## dmina

Great job Alex.. They are all looking so good! Sorry for your loss... there are those special ones that really tug at your heart strings...


----------



## MantidBro

dmina said:


> Great job Alex.. They are all looking so good! Sorry for your loss... there are those special ones that really tug at your heart strings...


Thank you!

Yes, theres always one out of the group thats #1 for me. I hate when any of my mantids die but those #1 babies are the worst! Right now my favorite is Baline. Shes a gentle giant! and a beautiful one at that.


----------



## MantidBro

December 3rd

Peter (male Griffin Mantis) reached L7!






December 4th

Silver (male Heterochaeta hatchling) reached what looks to be L7!






Shiloh (#5, female Idolomantis) reached L5... I think? I'm starting to think I'm really bad at counting molts! Lol... Might be L4.






Anastasia (#3, female Idolomantis) reached L6 I think. Another "I think". She looks to be at L5 so I'm confused! Either way, she molted, lol.






December 7th

And Galactica (male Heterochaeta hatchling) reached adulthood! Kamakiri, a female, reached adulthood about a month ago. So she is ready as soon as he is. That'd be awesome to be able to breed both Heterochaeta and Idolos!











Side note, I've been putting the Idolos together. The female (Baline) shows no aggression, the male (Heterodox) did pose at her once though. She has started calling a couple days ago, but he hasn't made any abdominal movements yet. I figure by 2 weeks into adulthood he will be ready, same as Baline.


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## bobericc

Big boy !! heck be ready for her in about two weeks! Great job bro


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## MantidBro

bobericc said:


> Big boy !! heck be ready for her in about two weeks! Great job bro


Awesome! thanks man!


----------



## Danny.

> Side note, I've been putting the Idolos together. The female (Baline) shows no aggression, the male (Heterodox) did pose at her once though. She has started calling a couple days ago, but he hasn't made any abdominal movements yet. I figure by 2 weeks into adulthood he will be ready, same as Baline.


Congrats on the Idolos bro! I'm sure they will breed for you.


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## MantidBro

Danny. said:


> Congrats on the Idolos bro! I'm sure they will breed for you.


Thanks dude, i hope so!


----------



## dmina

Good luck with breeding...so beautiful update pic also...


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## MantidBro

dmina said:


> Good luck with breeding...so beautiful update pic also...


Thanks Dmina!


----------



## MantidBro

December 9th

Joy (adult female Mantis relgiosa) passed away... RIP girl!

December 10th

Amico (original female Heterochaeta sp) reached adulthood! So now I have 2 adult females and an adult male. Amico didn't have a perfect molt. She chose a very bad spot to molt, she started having issues, so I removed her from the container and taped her to my shelf. She then was able to molt freely. Her only issue is that her wings are kinda funky looking, she was hanging completely upside down after the molt, which I realized causes the wings to inflate in that position (pointing straight down, rather than lying flat against the back, as they would have dried if she had been vertical). But she survived and is perfect otherwise!































December 16th

Buddha (#6 male Idolomantis) reached L5!











And my dad took a photo today... figured I'd share, haha.






And here's my Idolo's breeding cage. Wild, big, hot, humid. Waiting on the little guy to make his move! She's been calling and calling, once a day if not more. And he started doing movements with his abdomen, but I'm not sure if he's becoming interested, or if he's doing something else. When he usually does it, he either poops or squirts out some juice, but the times he does it for no apparent reason confuses me. Is he adjusting something, is he becoming interested in mating? He hasn't made a move yet so I don't know. Maybe he's just starting to warm up. I started separating them during the day and putting him in only at night, to sort of shock him when he sees her. I don't want him to be too used to seeing her, I'm not sure if that might desensitize him sort of, and make him not become excited by her.






Well that's all for now!


----------



## MantidBro

Hey guys! Well I never showed you guys my mantid wall, so I figured I would! It's gonna take a few separate posts, lots of photos, lol.

Here is the full wall:






Idolomantis diabolica exuviae, female on the left and the male's last molt on the right:






Kaz's wings, adult male Stagmomantis carolina:






LAME gave me this guy when he was about half way to adulthood.

GriM, female Pnigomantis medioconstricta, LAME also sent me her, at L5, for my birthday. She arrived to him frozen, and once he warmed her up, she came back to life! Which is why he named her GriM. It's a perfect name. She's still alive:






My first mantids ever! Stagmomantis limbata females, Majesty and S.I.R. I at first thought S.I.R. was male, but then found out she was female, so her name then stood for "Silvia Irwin Reynolds", lol.






Tenodera angustipennis:






TBC on a different post, too many photos.


----------



## MantidBro

Popa spurca females:






They both reached adulthood and laid infertile oothecae.






7 molts for females.






Close up of the ootheca.

The exuviae of my Parasphendale species. I always thought they were agrionina, but they may have been affinis. Not sure.






9 molts for females, males have 8 molts.






Vegranis' wings. She lived the longest of all my mantids to this date. Almost 13 months.






Male Parasphendale sp. wings. Different than the females'.






Kek-Tor, I wasn't able to bring him to adulthood unfortunately. He mismolted on his last molt while I was at a party. I need to try this species again!






My mantid calendar! All the info on it usually involves my mantids, naturally, lol.

TBC on the next post!


----------



## MantidBro

Tenodera sinensis... out of all species, I've owned these the most. My first one was Keek, she is the mantids in all the photos below lol. I need more photos.






My first Phyllocrania paradoxa... they were my second mantids:






The female's exuviae and wings. Kent-Lok! She was such a sweet mantid.






Deroplatys lobata:











Platysil was mated with and laid fertile oothecae. She was a sweet mantid.

Phyllovates chlorophaea, Vates:






She laid one infertile ootheca.






Her wings.

Mantis religiosa, Joy... she passed just recently. The under-wings are, like, see-through:






The exuviae of my female Heterochaeta sp... 10 molts! The most molts I'd ever seen a mantid have:






And that's all folks! I still need photos for the mantids I don't have photos of but this is what I have so far.


----------



## MantidBro

December 20th

Willow (female Idolo) reached L5. Turns out I've been counting wrong the whole time. No way my girls are at L6, they're too small, and look just like my older Idolos did at L5.






December 21st

Peter (Griffinii) molted again! He's either a pre-sub or a sub.











And Tacca (female Idolomantis) reached adulthood at last!

Unfortunately my male Idolo (Heterodox) is doing horribly at this whole mating business. He's tried only 4 times and every time, he either falls off her back when she thrashes about, or he lets go. It's really disappointing. I've worked so hard at raising them to adulthood, and I finally did it, have an adult male and adult female who molted at perfect times. But I can't mate them because he's a downright fool! He is a beautiful specimen, don't get me wrong. It's amazing just to own an adult male Idolomantis, but it's frustrating too. I honestly have lost hope, given up on them mating. She ended up attacking him and he lost two legs. If he can't even hold on when he's got all his legs, how will he hold on now? Sad... hoping I can somehow get another male before it's too late. Tacca just reached adulthood so I have time. Please let me know if you have a sub/adult male.


----------



## MantidBro

I hate to have to mention the deaths, but it's a part of the thread... Heterodox (adult male Idolo) unfortunately had to be put down after a couple attacks from Baline (adult female). She ended up damaging him so badly that he could no longer climb or hang. It was sad to see him at the bottom of the cage, sinking to the ground. He would try and try to climb up too which was hard to watch. He wasn't going to be able to mate either in this state. I ended up deciding I would put him down, which was difficult to do. I thought, since I was going to put him down anyways, that I should try to place him on her back after removing his head. I did try this, but it didn't end up working. He didn't even do the motions with his abdomen oddly. After trying for about a half hour, and nothing happening, I just ended up feeding him to all my babies. What a way to go... makes me feel bad that it didn't work out, I would have frozen him if I knew it wouldn't work. Ever since I've been trying very hard to find a replacement. I MAY have found one, but it's not certain yet, mostly because I don't know how long my girls will live. RIP Heterodox... He was a beautiful mantis, even if he was bad at mating.

January 10th 2016

Back to the good news, Neptune (male Heterochaeta hatchling) reached adulthood! I woke up and there he was, hangin'! I was able to get some good photos. I'd been waiting for him all day that day, but he held out til night time haha. The Chaeta usually do this to me. Scaredy molters!






















January 11th

Blaar (male Phyllocrania paradoxa) reached adulthood too! I'd owned this species before, it was actually my second species. I had a male and a female, Mostro and Kent-Lok. Mostro ended up dying as a subadult, was puking and such. Kent-Lok, the female, made it to adulthood. This time, it was the other way around. The female, Groen, suddenly died one day. She took a very long time to molt, and it was starting to weird me out, and then one day I woke up and she was at the bottom of her container. But now the male made it to adulthood. I'd never gotten to see an adult male with my own eyes so this is a treat for me. He's beautiful. It was odd, after the molt, he had bubbles on his wings. Like liquid pockets, in the same spot on all four wings. I popped them so they could drain. They're still a little swollen but it's much better. I'd never seen anything like that in all my time of owning mantids. Really strange! Because of the bubbles, his wings were spread out, so I put spots of liquid soap under each wing and stuck them together. I will rinse the soap off in a few days, when his wings have fully dried. Not sure if it'll have helped though, he still may not be able to fly in the end. Guess we will see!






Cute. It's funny to be handling him, then handling a chaeta haha. He makes the chaeta look even bigger, and the chaeta make him look even smaller.


----------



## MantidBro

January 12th

Anastasia (female Idolo) reached L6!












This is officially the molting enclosure lol. Who ever is getting ready to molt gets put in!


----------



## MantidBro

Shiloh (female Idolo) reached L5.











January 17th

Peter (male Polyspilota griffinii) reached adulthood.


----------



## bobericc

Nice looking griffin bro!

Peters got some nice lime in his face


----------



## MantidBro

bobericc said:


> Nice looking griffin bro!
> 
> Peters got some nice lime in his face


Thanks! Yeah right? He turned out great!


----------



## MantidBro

January 17th

My adult male Phyllocrania paradoxa, Blaar, died suddenly! He was only an adult for a week. Very disappointing. I have no idea what caused his death. RIP little guy... Hardly got to enjoy you.

January 20th

Willow (female Idolomantis) reached L6!






She got moved into a bigger home now.  Baline's old home.

January 21st

Buddha, (male Idolo) reached L5!






He is one molt behind the girls. I fed him a lot less than them to ensure this would happen!

January 25th

Neptune started trying to mate with Kamakiri (Heterochaeta). The other night, once I shut the lights off, I suddenly heard rustling, so quickly turned the light back on and saw Kamakiri was trying to eat Neptune! I was able to save him. I separated them for the night, then tried breeding them the next day. Neptune was very interested, and tried again and again but to no avail! Same as what happened with Galactica, who still hasn't mated with my girls either... He tried and tried for a few days and then eventually gave up and stopped trying. I got a video of Neptune trying, because I thought for sure it was going to happen and I wanted to get it on film, but my camera ended up not having enough room on it, plus they didn't mate anyways so I would have been recording forever.

But that night, I waited for them to mate, and accidentally fell asleep... and I woke up to her eating him. That's the last time I'm going to lie down thinking "I won't fall asleep" when waiting for mantids to mate, even if they are "communal". So hopefully either Galactica will try again, or my new sub male (Silver) will reach adulthood and mature before my girls pass away. They're getting up there in age; they've been adults for a while now.

I think Kamakiri's sudden aggression came about because she is going to lay an ootheca soon. She's been living with the others for months now and never tried to eat one til recently. She's trying to fatten up, instinctively trying to make it so she's got a big ol' fertile ooth with tons of babies in it... which actually won't be fertile at all because she ate her willing partner. x_X

Here is the beast:


----------



## MantidBro

January 30th

Silver (male Heterochaeta hatchling) reached adulthood! He's my last male so hopefully he will mate with the girls!











And here is Peter (adult male Polyspilota griffinii), he saw one of the cats the other day and posed!


----------



## LAME

Lol.... " do you like see-food?.."


----------



## MantidBro

loool


----------



## bobericc

Hey bro long time no update were you able to breed chaeta?


----------



## MantidBro

bobericc said:


> Hey bro long time no update were you able to breed chaeta?


Unfortunately my last female passed away, she was 11 months old. Aaagh... it's a pity. So I know only have a male, I'll most likely sell him to someone who needs a male for breeding.


----------



## bobericc

Aww that stinks bro, i have a few sub females that should be due soon, hopefully there as prolific as last year..


----------



## MantidBro

bobericc said:


> Aww that stinks bro, i have a few sub females that should be due soon, hopefully there as prolific as last year..


I hope so too!!


----------



## Sticky

I hope you get more and keep breeding. Maybe an ooth from who ever gets your male?


----------



## MantidBro

Sticky said:


> I hope you get more and keep breeding. Maybe an ooth from who ever gets your male?


perhaps!


----------



## MantidBro

February 5th

Amico (original female Heterochaeta) passed away. RIP girl.

February 17th

Received a new adult male Idolomantis from Mantis Kingdom. We named him Einstein.











He was a beautiful specimen. Unfortunately, he died March 2nd. He was a month and 3 days into adulthood, which is often how long male Idolos last after reaching adulthood. He unfortunately did not get the job done before passing.

February 22nd

Anastasia (female Idolo) reached L7 and is a presub.






March 3rd

One of my 3 female Idolos mismolted. RIP Shiloh.

March 8th

Buddha, the male Idolo, reached sub adulthood.






March 11th

Kamakiri, my last female Heterochaeta, passed away. She was 11 months old. RIP girl... I failed to breed this species and now only have an adult male remaining. He is for sale, if anyone's interested.

March 17th

Baline, my adult female Idolomantis diabolica, passed away at 10 months old. RIP baby... my first ever Idolo to reach adulthood. She was extremely special.






Here she was, eating her last meal. She passed away the next day. She did not age gracefully, as you can tell, what with all the black spots. I'm not sure where they came from. Tacca is not aging this way. Perhaps it was from when the males had crawled all over her.

March 23rd

LAME and I decided to trade male Idolos. I needed a younger one and he needed an older one. So I sent him Buddha, my sub male, and he sent me Quasimodo, his presub male. The trade worked out perfectly, both made it alive. I received Q March 26th, and Nate also threw in a Tenodera sinensis ooth.






Here's Q!

....

So as of late, I failed to breed Idolos and 'chaeta, but it is not yet over.

Also, GriM (adult female Pnigomantis medioconstricta) is now a year old.






I currently have:

1 adult male Heterochaeta species (for sale)

1 adult male Polyspilota griffinii (for sale)

1 adult female Pnigomantis medioconstricta

1 adult female Idolomantis diabolica

1 L6 (presub) male Idolomantis diabolica

1 L7 (presub) female Idolomantis diabolica

1 L6 female Idolomantis diabolica

Til next time!


----------



## CosbyArt

Some great photos, thanks for sharing.  

Sounds like you haven't had any luck with your Idolos either, but at least you have another shot with your presub's - so best of luck. Surely you or LAME are bound to make it happen.


----------



## LAME

Oh!... it's gonna happen my friend, one way or another. Lol


----------



## CosbyArt

LAME said:


> Oh!... it's gonna happen my friend, one way or another. Lol


Well it sounds like you have made up your mind to continue, so it's bound to happen. So the question is which of you will be the first?


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Some great photos, thanks for sharing.
> 
> Sounds like you haven't had any luck with your Idolos either, but at least you have another shot with your presub's - so best of luck. Surely you or LAME are bound to make it happen.


Thank you, and you're welcome! 

Yes, we will certainly make it happen, neither of us are giving up haha.


----------



## MantidBro

LAME said:


> Oh!... it's gonna happen my friend, one way or another. Lol


Heck yeah! Haha


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Well it sounds like you have made up your mind to continue, so it's bound to happen. So the question is which of you will be the first?


Heck, either way we will both benefit from it. As will members on this forum! ☺


----------



## CosbyArt

MantidBro said:


> Heck, either way we will both benefit from it. As will members on this forum! ☺


Indeed, well I hope to hear some good news about them later on then.  Ha, not so sure I would like having something like that staring at me


----------



## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Indeed, well I hope to hear some good news about them later on then.  Ha, not so sure I would like having something like that staring at me


Haha what would you not like staring at you?


----------



## CosbyArt

MantidBro said:


> Haha what would you not like staring at you?


Something like your Idolo Einstein (in the photos above).  I think that would be enough to scare my wife, making her rethink about her acceptance of my hobby.


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## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Something like your Idolo Einstein (in the photos above).  I think that would be enough to scare my wife, making her rethink about her acceptance of my hobby.


Haha oh no!


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## CosbyArt

MantidBro said:


> Haha oh no!


Yeah it would be funny though. I think I'll have to show her the photos later on and see what she says.


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## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Yeah it would be funny though. I think I'll have to show her the photos later on and see what she says.


Haha


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## MantidBro

Hey guys! Long time no update! How's everyones mantids doing??

Let's start with April!

*April 10th:*

Quasimodo reached sub adulthood!






*April 13th:*

My second female Idolomantis died. I have NO idea why. She stopped eating and seemed to be getting ready to molt for AGES. I kept trying to feed her because she wouldn't molt, but she refused to eat. Eventually she just passed away... I have no idea why this happened.

*April 15th:*

Tacca (adult female Idolo) laid an infertile ootheca! I am incubating it none-the-less, just because there's a 1% chance that it may hatch. xD What a messy ooth she laid... all the eggs are pokin' out, lol.






*April 30th:*

Oh! I had found some Tenodera sinensis oothecae near a small river at a park. I collected two. They started hatching on the 30th and stopped May 6th. I sent some to Dmina, released some, and am keeping some.











*May 7th:*

Tacca (Idolo above) turned 1 year old! Old Idolo granny!

*May 13th:*

Peter, my adult male Polyspilota griffinii, passed away. He was 8 months old. RIP!

*May 14th:*

Silver, my adult male Heterochaeta, passed away. He was days away from being a year old. RIP!

*Side notes:*

Turns out Anastasia, my younger female Idolo, is ACTUALLY a subadult! She is getting ready to molt soon, her wing buds swelled up. Quasi is also a sub so it's time I started fattening him up. He will molt just around the perfect time, 2(+?) weeks after Anastasia.

That's all for now. Til next time!


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## MantidBro

May 23rd

The Tenodera sinensis reached L2!






May 24th 

Anastasia reached adulthood!






May 30th

Tacca (adult female Idolo) passed away, she was almost 13 months old. RIP girl!

June 6th

One of the Tenodera sinensis reached L3. 






GriM (adult female Pnigomantis medioconstricta) is 14 months old now! Wow! 

Waiting on Q (adult male Idolo) now to reach adulthood! His wing buds are starting to swell now.


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## dmina

Nice update Alex... They are looking really good and the pics are great.. thanks for sharing

The pic of the nymph eating the leg is kinda creepy.. LOL


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## CosbyArt

Sorry to hear Tacca passed away, but sounds like she had a full life. Any luck on breeding yet? If not perhaps Anastasia will be the one.


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## Sticky

Do you need a male for Grim?


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## MantidBro

Sticky said:


> Do you need a male for Grim?


Oh, no thank you, Grim has been deceased for a while now. She was awesome though!


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## MantidBro

CosbyArt said:


> Sorry to hear Tacca passed away, but sounds like she had a full life. Any luck on breeding yet? If not perhaps Anastasia will be the one.


Yes she did. It's unfortunate that I hadn't succeeded in breeding. I hope to try again soon!


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## MantidBro

Sorry for the lack of updates guys! Haven't really had many mantids lately. Been hatching and releasing some Tenodera sinensis but that's about it! Hoping to get back into this hobby soon with some different species.


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## mantidmomma

MantidBro said:


> Sorry for the lack of updates guys! Haven't really had many mantids lately. Been hatching and releasing some Tenodera sinensis but that's about it! Hoping to get back into this hobby soon with some different species.


Thank you for sharing!  And we look forward to hearing about your future mantids!

We are also trying to see how many different species we can keep.


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## Synapze

I just found this thread and I'm enjoying all the photos. Impressive and awesome!


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## MantidBro

mantidmomma said:


> Thank you for sharing!  And we look forward to hearing about your future mantids!
> 
> We are also trying to see how many different species we can keep.


You're welcome! And thanks!

Yeah it's really fun to see how many different species you can acquire. And raise and breed! Idolos are my favorite.


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## MantidBro

Synapze said:


> I just found this thread and I'm enjoying all the photos. Impressive and awesome!


Thanks!


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