# My Praying Mantis



## yeatzee (Sep 9, 2008)

Well here she is eating a katydid......Iv got about 8 more roaming and ruling my backyard  

Upon request I can see if I can't get the pics of it eating a lizard soon


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## Morpheus uk (Sep 9, 2008)

Nice orangy coloring


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## The_Asa (Sep 9, 2008)

Sweet.


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## idolomantis (Sep 9, 2008)

lovely when they rape something :wub:


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## Rick (Sep 9, 2008)

Don't post the lizard pic please. It won't go over well here.


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## yeatzee (Sep 9, 2008)

Thanks guys...I'll see if i can download some more pics



Rick said:


> Don't post the lizard pic please. It won't go over well here.


lol, why?


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## MantidLord (Sep 9, 2008)

Is that a budwing?

Because, alot of us love lizards. And most would rather feed excess mantids to lizards than vice versa.


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## yeatzee (Sep 9, 2008)

Stagmomantis California

I'm 14 and have been interested in entomology since I was a little kid, but mantids have always had my heart  

I find them every year in my backyard (live in the suburbs), but this year has been special (caught 8 or so adults, and found 4 nymphs (sp?)) But anyways, So yea im kinda a newbie lol. I have raised a couple from oothica's (sp?) before though, but nothing exotic. I was actually wondering if you need a permit to raise/buy exotic mantids. I know you can't let them go in the wild (i've raised exotic walking sticks before) but can anyone get them? Thanks and ill see if my friend can send me the pics i took of my current other mantid.

btw that seems kinda odd as this is a mantis only forum as farr as i know, and thats like saying at a lizard forum dont post pics of one eating ___ bug because id rather feed a lizard to it..... Plus he got it himself,the lizard had its fair chance...and i *did not* just put it infront of him

but whatever lol


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## Rick (Sep 10, 2008)

yeatzee said:


> Thanks guys...I'll see if i can download some more picslol, why?


Two reasons. One because I asked you not to and two it offends some people.


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## idolomantis (Sep 10, 2008)

you don't want to get the fish crew on your ######.


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## yeatzee (Sep 10, 2008)

Rick said:


> Two reasons. One because I asked you not to and two it offends some people.


 :blink: Wo no need to get mad, I was just wondering

Anyhoo  I caught two male mantids last night, and I want to see if i cant get an oothica or two out of my two females......could anyone identify the species...(Sorry about the ###### pictures i have to use my sis' digital)









^My females









^My males

First wild males i've seen in years

Is this even worth trying? Before i go exotic i thought it might be good to try it with common mantids....Anything I should know? Thanks


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## The_Asa (Sep 10, 2008)

Nearly everything is worth trying.


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## yeatzee (Sep 10, 2008)

Yea id just hate to lose both my males before they mated. So how about feeding the females than letting the males in?

BTW what species do i have


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## MantidLord (Sep 10, 2008)

Looks like a Stagomomantis sp. Probably carolina. Feed the males and put the female in the males enclosure. That way the males will see the females first. Make sure they have enough space though. Since they're common species, don't worry about messing up. You should definately try it though. Alot of these people have lizards as pets as well as mantids (the two go hand in hand for me as well). I wouldn't particulary care whether or not you posted it. But I wouldn't post it (not wise to make enemies). I'm 15 myself, and got my first succesfully breeded ooths a while back. Now I have about a dozen nymphs running around. Local species (Iris oratoria). The whole permit thing is a hot issue, and no one really knows for sure. I've gathered that buying exotic mantids within the states is ok, but importing or exporting exotic mantids (in or out of country respectively) is constantly debated. It also depends on where you live.

Anyway, good luck breeding them.


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## yeatzee (Sep 10, 2008)

All four are? I tried letting them roam free a little and both mails followed the female but didn't comit. The green male did try though but was almost eaten (I seperated them before he got hurt). I dont plan on exporting any so thats good i dont nned one...

As for the lizard pics if anyone wants to see them P.M. me. they are the same quality as the first 2 pics, and are truly awesome.


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## MantidLord (Sep 11, 2008)

I believe they are all the same species. Try stuffing the female with food before introducing her to the male. That way she will be less likely to eat the male.


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## yeatzee (Sep 11, 2008)

I just bought some crickets since i've only had fly's lately to feed them, and it would take like 4 flies to fill her so i'll try that tommorow. I just hope she doesn't try to eat him again.

Some more pics of my other female









my mantids like to pose  









One more thing  I have my 2 males in a very large lizard cage and i was just wondering if they will eat eachother like the females will. They've been in there for most of the day today and nothing happened other than the usual "wo man your kinda in my space." So will they be fine because i want to keep them there. Thanks


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## MantidLord (Sep 12, 2008)

yeatzee said:


> I just bought some crickets since i've only had fly's lately to feed them, and it would take like 4 flies to fill her so i'll try that tommorow. I just hope she doesn't try to eat him again.One more thing  I have my 2 males in a very large lizard cage and i was just wondering if they will eat eachother like the females will. They've been in there for most of the day today and nothing happened other than the usual "wo man your kinda in my space." So will they be fine because i want to keep them there. Thanks


Stuff her good. I've never had any male cannibalsism with adults, and I've kept three together for 2 weeks waiting for my females to molt. As long as you feed them (which they don't eat as much as the female) they will be cool. In fact, I've only saw the "space check" things a couple of times. But most of the time they were trying to mate with each other! :blink: That's mostly because they were in a container where previous adult females had been, and they were picking up the pheremones I guess. :lol: But don't house two females together, especially if one or both is pregnant. Let me know how it goes. Remember to put the female in the males container. Good luck.


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## yeatzee (Sep 16, 2008)

well mating failed, and i lost two males not due to canabalism but because they flew away :'(. For whatever reason my males just wont do it. Any help?

Also i caught a bee today so i put it with my two males and i came back with both eating it.....









but old pink eyes (the brown one) had to let go in fear of being eaten with the bee..





I personally have never seen this happen....is it normal?

Sorry for the ###### photos, i once again had to use my sis' point and shoot.


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## Morpheus uk (Sep 17, 2008)

That bee sharing photo is incredible!

It does sometimes happen, just when they both grab it at the same time i suppose. How have you tried to mate them so far?

What enclosures where the male and females in?


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## collinchang635 (Sep 17, 2008)

Wow! :lol: Never seen a mantid share food! :lol:


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## yeatzee (Sep 17, 2008)

Well i put one female in the males cage with only two males in it cause the rest r gone, and i woke up with 1 male mantid head on the ground under the female so i took her out and now im hoping the male mated her while being eaten....but once again pink eyes is alive and well


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## The_Asa (Sep 17, 2008)

Wow that's incredible :blink:


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## yeatzee (Sep 17, 2008)

cool huh, now if i only had my dslr at the time &lt;_&lt;


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## yeatzee (Sep 19, 2008)

Great news, I was getting desperate after losing 3 males in the course of a week so I decided to say my goodbyes to my favorite mantid ole pink eyes and let him out in my room with my huge female (the one that ate the two lizards) and after 1 failed attempt at eating him pink eyes was able to sweep the female of her feat and now they are mating!!!! Man im so excited i've never tryed breading before. Seems to me pink eyes is the perfect mantid, aggressive when he needs to be, gentle when handled, good with woman, and has pink eyes. What more could you ask for?


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## The_Asa (Sep 19, 2008)

pink eye...I keep thinking of the sickness


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## yeatzee (Sep 19, 2008)

Ha......well here some pics: Note he does have pink eyes you just can't tell cause of my sis' damn point and shoot









Now i was wondering how long he will stay on her for? The species is stagmomantis california i believe. Also how large of an oothica will she lay if it all works out?


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## The_Asa (Sep 20, 2008)

Couple hours to a couple of days...you never really know :lol:


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## collinchang635 (Sep 20, 2008)

Could be quite some time...


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## yeatzee (Sep 20, 2008)

well I just woke up and checked on them. Yeh! He's still all good! He has stopped mating but he's still hanging on, should i seperate them and if so what is the best way. Thanks!

Also when will she lay the ooth? How long will it take to hatch? thanks agin guys you've all been very helpful


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## yeatzee (Sep 22, 2008)

A little update for ya guys.......my female laid her ooth the other night and when I woke up 2 days ago i found my male dead (I seperated him from the female, and put him back in his cage). Im not reallysure why he died but what ever I'll soon have a bunch of little babies running around! But I just caught another really large female of the same species so I now have 3 large females and 1 nymph male with 1 claw arm useless so I don't think my other females will live to mate with male unless somehow I find another male. Just thought id tell ya guys how everything is doing....

I'll have more pics when I get my canon 40d and macro lens, so sorry for the ###### quality ones taken throughout this topic


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## idolomantis (Sep 22, 2008)

###### everyone seems to get a canon SLR here...

and i'm still doing it with a crappy 2 megapixel piece of rust.

enough complaining.

very nice pics man  

that bee sharing pic is abaolutely brilliant


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## MantidLord (Sep 23, 2008)

Congratulations dude. The male possibly died due to old age or used all its energy mating. It's normal. About the sharing food topic, I've had two adult male M. religiosa feed on a moth together (took a picture, but its crappy) a year ago. It's not normal, but not all that rare. Basically one mantis will catch a bug, and another mantis will still be after that bug without realizing it's been captured. Hope you can find another male, and keep us updated. GOOD LUCK.

P.S.If she just layed an ooth a short while after mating, she could have all been mated. Just a thought, but it never hurts to remate them.


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## yeatzee (Sep 23, 2008)

She laid the ooth like 2 or so days after being mated, and I'll def. keep you guys posted. im just trying to raise my subadult male before my females die or get to old lol.

Here's some pics of where im currently keeping my mantids.......once again terrible quality (getting enough money for a canon 40d and macro lens when your 14 and not spoiled is hard lol)





I know it all looks very bland but because it is a native species, and they dont like coming down from the top of their containers theres really no need to "pretty them up."

The middle cage is where i kept the 5 adult males together perfectly fine. The other 2 green ones are from petco, like 5 bucks only for the small one and like 8 for the large one. The tuperware looking things are where I keep my nymphs.


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## idolomantis (Sep 23, 2008)

LOL i don't think money is a problem.. more the 400+ manual i have to read first XD.

good caging there


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## yeatzee (Sep 23, 2008)

idolomantis said:


> LOL i don't think money is a problem.. more the 400+ manual i have to read first XD.good gaging there


Ha, Im fairly familiar with the camra so I dont think im gonna read the whole thing lol


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## yeatzee (Sep 26, 2008)

Another update.....Yeh! My nymph finally molted into a beatiful male stagmomantis. I'll post pictures after football practice


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## idolomantis (Sep 26, 2008)

Congratz! looking forward on the pictures


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## yeatzee (Sep 26, 2008)

I've got a bunch of stuff i got to do so I'll get the pics tommorow.....I was just wondering how long I have to wait until I can try mating my male with one of my females? i was guessing like 2 or so weeks but, im not really sure. Thanks


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## idolomantis (Sep 26, 2008)

Well teh basic rule is 3 weeks but i guess 2 is fine too. and you can always try again later eh  

take is easy mate B)


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## collinchang635 (Sep 26, 2008)

Check out Rick's thread. It's really informative.

http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=7112


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## After Effect (Sep 30, 2008)

Rick said:


> Two reasons. One because I asked you not to and two it offends some people.


Then go to the reptile forum, if you wanna blab about your house gekkos

Post the pic if you want, I would like to see it. This is an area of free speech and offending people is evreone's right.

I hope this offends you.

LONG LIVE THE MANTIS!!

I could care less about your lizards.


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## idolomantis (Sep 30, 2008)

Now that was jack### :mellow:


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## yeatzee (Sep 30, 2008)

If anyone wants to see them just PM me....


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## vafan13 (Oct 1, 2008)

yeatzee said:


> Ha......well here some pics: Note he does have pink eyes you just can't tell cause of my sis' damn point and shoot


Wow, that's one big b****! No wonder the females wear the pants in the mantid household. :lol:


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## yeatzee (Oct 1, 2008)

well my female guarded her ooth always when not feeding and wouldn't lay anymore so i seperated her and the ooth and got her a fresh stick. This morning I woke up to find her making another...YAY!

Yea she was my biggest female at the time......I was afraid to try it with her, but she was the most accepting lol


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## yeatzee (Oct 2, 2008)

Does anyone know how to share pictures from flickr. I just made a flickr account and I like it alot but I can't find how to share the new pictures I have.......Normally you just coppy and paste.


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## yeatzee (Oct 2, 2008)

Well flickr is being lame so i posted them with picture push.......these are some pics I took along time ago of the mantis on my first post in this topic......


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## Morpheus uk (Oct 2, 2008)

Go to all sizes then select the size u want then copy and paste the img code


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## idolomantis (Oct 2, 2008)

yeatzee said:


> Does anyone know how to share pictures from flickr. I just made a flickr account and I like it alot but I can't find how to share the new pictures I have.......Normally you just coppy and paste.


inall those tsuff above the quote window is a thingy called fronts, under fronts there are 5 buttons

1st is innsert link

2nd is insert image

pic the 2nd one

then copy and paste the pics URL in to the bar that appears


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## yeatzee (Oct 2, 2008)

this? &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/2907907714/" title="CIMG3921copy by yeatzee, on Flickr"&gt;&lt;img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3187/2907907714_433d28eb83_o.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="CIMG3921copy" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;

only the above and a url link show up







sweet it worked thanks guys


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## yeatzee (Oct 10, 2008)

My broken armed male just mated my female last night!

Here you can see his broken arm...still holden on!













Add a couple more ooths to the pile


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## yeatzee (Nov 1, 2008)

In memory of the first stagmomantis i caught this season that I just let go (the one in the first pic of this thread).....






She laid 5 ooths as a going away gift. I'll miss her


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## Anleoflippy (Dec 18, 2008)

Nice color of the Mantis, Is the mantis color brown or orange???

But anyways I like that Mantis Rip the prey...


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## yeatzee (Dec 18, 2008)

The color is brown......

good news, one of her ooths she laid a long time ago just hatched!


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## yeatzee (Jan 22, 2009)

here are a couple of nymphs that were laid by the above female..

(excuse the quality..... because I dont have a macro lens I had to resort to _ultra_ cropping.)


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## Anleoflippy (Jan 22, 2009)

They are so adorable...

Keep us updated again mate...


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## yeatzee (Jan 23, 2009)

Will do!


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## Kruszakus (Jan 24, 2009)

Eating a lizard? You are not one of those guys who go around the woods and capture whatever they can, protected or otherwise, to feed their mantids with?


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## yeatzee (Jan 24, 2009)

No, deffinently not. One it caught on its own (left the cage a little open outside.....lizard got in).

The second one I ran out of food, and I have an excess of them in my backyard. *IT was just another lizard that I see everyday on my wall*, nothing endangered or anything FORSURE. It kept my mantis full for an extremely long time, which was extremely helpful.


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## Anleoflippy (Jan 24, 2009)

Mantis eating a House Lizard eh, that is extremely helpful but only once in awhile because the more lizards the mantis eats, the less insects they will eat and will go for pure flesh, so maybe you can use lizards but only maybe once a month because when my Hierodula Trimaculuta devour the lizard alive, the lizard parts from my vicious H.Trimaculata looks UGLY :lol: 

I mean, you can see the Mantis eat the Brains, eyeballs of the Lizards (Talk about Gore)

And you can also see the Mantis Raptorial legs easily pierce the life of the Lizard...

And to all Lizard lovers, I only fed my Mantis a House Lizard once in my life, will not do again because it will break the heart of the lizard lovers, and besides it gross me out... :lol: 

Anyways, got any more pics of your adorable babies mates???


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## yeatzee (Jan 25, 2009)

I'll try to get some taken tommorow, but no garuntees since my "studio" setup has been removed.

I will for sure if a nymph makes it to L4! Two nymphs that molted to L4 both died recently from unknown causes.


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## Anleoflippy (Jan 25, 2009)

yeatzee said:


> I'll try to get some taken tommorow, but no garuntees since my "studio" setup has been removed. I will for sure if a nymph makes it to L4! Two nymphs that molted to L4 both died recently from unknown causes.


I see. Sorry for your 2 nymphs my friend, really I am...


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## yeatzee (Jan 29, 2009)

None have made it to L4 yet sadly......but i have three ooths still hatching  

Here are a few pics of my current favorite of the bunch.






















Male right?






Once again sorry for the quality, I had to ultra crop. I am getting my 100mm macro lens soon though!


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## Anleoflippy (Jan 30, 2009)

Cute little babies...


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## revmdn (Jan 30, 2009)

Yeah, I'm also a sucker for a young nymph.


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## yeatzee (Jan 31, 2009)

Thanks!

They are cute aren't they.... Well that is until they rip each other and fruit flies to pieces


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