# Something good came outta that trip!



## Mantida (Nov 8, 2007)

I left for several days to go on a school trip... to sleep in cabins out next to a lake with some trees for four days. I didn't want to go and leave my mantids in the care of my mom but I did, and the first day out there when we hiked we played a sort of hide and seek game. Luckily I chose a grassy area behind a cactus, and looking around, you can guess what I found.  







Looks to me like Gonatista grisea. Correct me if I'm wrong. I smuggled this mantis in my hoodie pocket until we could return to our cabins. I didn't have any plastic bottles or containers so I settled for a plastic bag and a leaf. Little bugger didn't seem to mind at all.

I also found an old female Stagmomantis carolina, who, unfortunately, is dying as I type. Poor girl, I hope she cast out the next generation before I got her. I found her the next day and smuggled her out as well. :lol: She lived freely in my suitcase for three days.


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## hibiscusmile (Nov 8, 2007)

A face only a mantid lover could love :lol: and so I do!


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## acerbity (Nov 8, 2007)

Need a picture of his back... doubtful its Gonatista but could be another Grisea I'm not familiar with ^_^


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## Sparky (Nov 8, 2007)

HAHAHA! It makes me laugh because it looks like it has eyelids.


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## Mantida (Nov 9, 2007)

acerbity said:


> Need a picture of his back... doubtful its Gonatista but could be another Grisea I'm not familiar with ^_^


I didn't really pay attention to the backside, I compared the face shape/look to that of the grisea and it looks pretty similar. Let me get a pic uploaded.


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## Mantida (Nov 9, 2007)




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## acerbity (Nov 9, 2007)

These are of my Gonatista Grisea





A bit different than what you have!

These can vary between greenish and brownish but usually are speckled.


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## Mantida (Nov 9, 2007)

Wow, it doesn't look like grisea at all.

Maybe some kind of ground mantis?


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## Mantida (Nov 9, 2007)

I'm looking on herper.com's U.S. mantis guide and looked up a picture on bugguide.net and I think I found a match to what I have.






The face kind of looks like the face of my mantis in the first picture.

Oligonicella scudderi, Scudder's mantis.

Can anyone confirm?


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## joossa (Nov 9, 2007)

Nice find!


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## Plits (Nov 9, 2007)

That's a nice little one Mantida B)


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## Mantida (Nov 9, 2007)

Thanks Joossa and Jean.  

I hope I can find a mate for my mantis because this mantis is really interesting to watch and I want to breed 'em. I haven't seen any Scudder's mantis in culture before though.


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## yen_saw (Nov 10, 2007)

Great find!! Looks like scudder mantis, you must have eagle sharp eyes cos they are tough to locate on the ground. looks like a female too. Male of this species is attracted to light, you may get lucky finding a male using any light source at night like flourescent light (or vapor light), or even car head light on the ground in a park. Good luck.


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## Mantida (Nov 10, 2007)

yen_saw said:


> Great find!! Looks like scudder mantis, you must have eagle sharp eyes cos they are tough to locate on the ground. looks like a female too. Male of this species is attracted to light, you may get lucky finding a male using any light source at night like flourescent light (or vapor light), or even car head light on the ground in a park. Good luck.


I'm really surprised I found it. 'Twas in a huge bramble of grasses going everywhere. I saw the back of the head eating a little leafhopper first and I breathed out, 'IT'S A MANTIS!'  It's funny how you find 'em when you aren't looking for them.


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## Mantida (Nov 11, 2007)

WHAT THE HECK?

I walked up today to check on my O. scudderi....

and she is laying an ooth?!

I thought she was an L4 or L5. O___o :blink: 

... Don't O. scudderi's get larger than what size she is now?

I took several videos of her laying her ootheca and will post them once they finish processing on youtube.

Now I don't think she is an O. scudderi but at the same time I do. On bugguide.net, the face, legs, and forearm of the O. scudderi looks like mine, but the picture is of an adult female and she has wings. Mine doesn't...


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## Orin (Nov 11, 2007)

mantida said:


> Now I don't think she is an O. scudderi but at the same time I do. On bugguide.net, the face, legs, and forearm of the O. scudderi looks like mine, but the picture is of an adult female and she has wings. Mine doesn't...


Females don't have wings and that looks like the right size though I'd need a better picture of the pronotum to see if you've got the right species name, O. mexicana is similar but the pronotum dimensions are different. What state and area of the state did you find it?

The oothecae of wild-caught adult females are always fertile.


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## Mantida (Nov 11, 2007)

She is done laying the ooth!

It kind of makes sense. She didn't eat the previous two days and I was wondering why she wouldn't take any food today.

I took some photos since the youtube videos didn't process yet. I'll post those as well once they finish.











This is kind of exciting. :lol: :mellow:


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## Mantida (Nov 11, 2007)

Orin said:


> Females don't have wings and that looks like the right size though I'd need a better picture of the pronotum to see if you've got the right species name, O. mexicana is similar but the pronotum dimensions are different. What state and area of the state did you find it? The oothecae of wild-caught adult females are always fertile.


Texas, and a little north of Austin.

I'll take a better picture of her pronotum area.


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## Mantida (Nov 11, 2007)

Any closer and my camera wouldn't focus right. Can you tell from this picture?


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## Mantida (Nov 11, 2007)

The youtube videos finished processing. There's a closeup, but the quality was screwed up in the upload.


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## asdsdf (Nov 11, 2007)

Wow, congrats. It's probably fertile too, so you'll be introducing this species here!


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## Orin (Nov 12, 2007)

mantida said:


> Any closer and my camera wouldn't focus right. Can you tell from this picture?


A picture of the pronotum (large segment behind the head), not abdomen. The front half is about the same length as the back half on scudderi.

It's an easy to keep genus (some husbandry details are in the* Praying Mantids Keeping Aliens *book). Your female will likely make another dozen oothecae.


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## Mantida (Nov 12, 2007)

Orin said:


> A picture of the pronotum (large segment behind the head), not abdomen. The front half is about the same length as the back half on scudderi. It's an easy to keep genus (some husbandry details are in the* Praying Mantids Keeping Aliens *book). Your female will likely make another dozen oothecae.


Oh. Oops. ^_^  

Alright, I have that book so I can look in to it. The front half is about the same length as the back half also.


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