# Warning to Those with Flying Adult Mantises



## Krissim Klaw (Apr 5, 2013)

I just had a scare with my boy Voodoo. I was cleaning his cage and he decided he wanted to have some fun flying around my room, which is normally not a problem. He however decided to fly up and do a tailspin landing right up in my ceiling light fixture. I immediately turned the light off and got him down but even with the energy efficient bulbs it uses it still gets pretty hot. I've never had this happen before and I felt I would share the warning to anyone handling their flighted boys. If you have a light in the room that gets hot I would suggest turning it off when they are out. You can never tell where their wings will take them. :nuke:


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## aychen222 (Apr 5, 2013)

I had something similar happen to creo male. Flew right into a desk lamp and I burned my hand unscrewing the bulb to get to him. He had to be put in the freezer after a week because of self amputation and infection.


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## Digger (Apr 5, 2013)

Something like this happened to me a week ago Kriss. Twitch, my L5 T. sinensis decided to climb up my desk lamp (fairly tall fixture). Of course they love to climb to higher spots and they all are instinctively drawn to concentrated light sources (called "positive phototaxis"). I returned to the desk and couldn't find him. I looked inside the lampshade and there he was - a very hot location indeed (tungsten bulb, which I prefer, since it's less of an environmental hazard than the pigtail bulbs). But he was perfectly fine, and told me he wanted a tan for the Spring to attract the girls. But it's dangerous for sure.


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## Krissim Klaw (Apr 5, 2013)

aychen222 said:


> I had something similar happen to creo male. Flew right into a desk lamp and I burned my hand unscrewing the bulb to get to him. He had to be put in the freezer after a week because of self amputation and infection.


Poor boy, I'm sorry for your loss. Voodoo is a creo boy also. Pesky boys always getting into trouble. Thankfully I got him pretty quick and it doesn't look like he was sitting on the actual bulb, but I'll still be watching him very closely.



Digger said:


> Something like this happened to me a week ago Kriss. Twitch, my L5 T. sinensis decided to climb up my desk lamp (fairly tall fixture). Of course they love to climb to higher spots and they all are instinctively drawn to concentrated light sources (called "positive phototaxis"). I returned to the desk and couldn't find him. I looked inside the lampshade and there he was - a very hot location indeed (tungsten bulb, which I prefer, since it's less of an environmental hazard than the pigtail bulbs). But he was perfectly fine, and told me he wanted a tan for the Spring to attract the girls. But it's dangerous for sure.


I've always been super careful when it comes to my lower lights but I figured my ceiling one would be pretty safe. I'm not as used to some of these smaller species with the boys that are super nimble in the air and can easily gain altitude. I'm glad your boy was alright.


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## D_Hemptress (Apr 5, 2013)

did he get hurt tho? or is just a nice warning


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## Bug Trader (Apr 5, 2013)

Ive had one or two fly up and meet the ceiling fan, didnt end well for either.......


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## D_Hemptress (Apr 5, 2013)

Bug Trader said:


> Ive had one or two fly up and meet the ceiling fan, didnt end well for either.......


o jeeze, that i do always make sure to turn off!


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## Krissim Klaw (Apr 5, 2013)

D_Hemptress said:


> did he get hurt tho? or is just a nice warning


Claws crossed he is fine. He is acting perfectly normal and I can see no damage but that doesn't rule out damage to the tips of his feet that might show over the next few days. I'm hoping though he managed to escape unscathed.


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## MandellaMandy123 (Apr 5, 2013)

I don't have any adults right now, but I've had a few close calls in the past, mostly with adult males and ceiling fans. Thanks for the reminder.


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## angelofdeathzz (Apr 5, 2013)

Had a male Idolo fly all the way into the other room once, it was hard to find him as he landed in a shoe of all places, my son and I laughed like crazy once we found him peering out of it with a look on his face like "did you see what I just did!".


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## hibiscusmile (Apr 5, 2013)

You think that is bad, try removing one from a fly strip!


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## agent A (Apr 5, 2013)

i had an odonto male fly into a heat lamp with a huge bulb  

he fell out a few seconds later, unharmed much to my surprise


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## hibiscusmile (Apr 5, 2013)

ha! he was using sun screen!


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## sally (Apr 5, 2013)

I searched along time for my ghost male... He decided under the window sill was a wonderful hiding spot :S


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## Krissim Klaw (Apr 6, 2013)

hibiscusmile said:


> You think that is bad, try removing one from a fly strip!


Yikes! Generally my males are busy finding any of the places in my room there is any dust. I can't count how many times I fished one out of a spot covered in dust.


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## glock34girl (Apr 6, 2013)

My ceiling fan is actually completely disconnected in The Anisect Room because my sugar gliders use it as a gliding spot. When they were joeys just learning to glide Capone smacked the light and was burned quite badly on his hands. When I was changing The Fifty (adult C. pictipennis) into his new enclosure he took off flying and went straight to the ceiling fan so I was quite glad the precaution is taken to just disconnect it and use a lamp but I think I will try to screen the bottom of the shade so no one climbs in there to sunbathe!


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## sinensispsyched (Apr 6, 2013)

All my runaway mantids make a beeline up my curtains, until they are at the rod at the top. After my first runaway, I usually just check the curtains and skip the drama.


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## agent A (Apr 6, 2013)

sinensispsyched said:


> All my runaway mantids make a beeline up my curtains, until they are at the rod at the top. After my first runaway, I usually just check the curtains and skip the drama.


Omg remember the washing machine mantis? I blame the curtains for that one!!


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## sinensispsyched (Apr 6, 2013)

OK, I'm sure you do....Where were you when that was happening.....  ?


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## hibiscusmile (Apr 6, 2013)

KK, u mean dust webs!


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## agent A (Apr 6, 2013)

sinensispsyched said:


> OK, I'm sure you do....Where were you when that was happening.....  ?


I didnt know she was on the curtain and neithet did my sisI was outside when my sis threw in the load &lt;_&lt;


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## sinensispsyched (Apr 6, 2013)

agent A said:


> I didnt know she was on the curtain and neithet did my sis
> 
> I was outside when my sis threw in the load &lt;_&lt;


Bones reference- Brennan: By the broken tarses, splattered abdomen, and total destruction, we can infer that she was crushed.

Hodgens: I found trace compositions of cotton on her, such as that used commercially in clothing.

Booth: So what, she went through the rinse cycle?

Brennan: Exactly....(cue dramatic music)

LATER...

Brennan: THE SISTER WAS THE KILLER! (sister runs away)

Booth: (3 gunshots heard) I got her!

Sorry for off topic, anyway, are there types of lights that are more harmful than others?


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## Crazy4mantis (Apr 6, 2013)

once my creo male tried to make a break for it out the window. lucky it was closed. :lol: but not fun getting him out of the blinds trailing dust and cobwebs.


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## Krissim Klaw (Apr 7, 2013)

Crazy4mantis said:


> once my creo male tried to make a break for it out the window. lucky it was closed. :lol: but not fun getting him out of the blinds trailing dust and cobwebs.


If there is dust they will go to it. If I stick a microfiber skirt on the boys do you think I can sell them as self cleaning dusters?


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## glock34girl (Apr 7, 2013)

Krissim Klaw said:


> If there is dust they will go to it. If I stick a microfiber skirt on the boys do you think I can sell them as self cleaning dusters?


Haha! Swifter Wet Mantis!


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## brancsikia339 (Apr 7, 2013)

One time my male wahli decided he wanted to take off so he flies at housefly speed all over my cluttered basement and lands on a mirror. He was okay though. It happened multiple times with my parymenopus males and once with my hymenopus when i was distracted for a second


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## ScienceGirl (Apr 7, 2013)

Hope that he stays okay!!!

Flight is a beautiful thing, but indoors there are fans, lamps, and air vents to think about. Not to mention the occasional franatic crash landings. :donatello:


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## sinensispsyched (Apr 8, 2013)

ScienceGirl said:


> Hope that he stays okay!!!
> 
> Flight is a beautiful thing, but indoors there are fans, lamps, and air vents to think about. Not to mention the occasional franatic crash landings. :donatello:


Yes, but outside....

I once had a male religiosa fly off into the woods around my house, which is about 40-50 feet away. He then landed in a tree, 20 feet off the ground.


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## Krissim Klaw (Apr 8, 2013)

ScienceGirl said:


> Hope that he stays okay!!!
> 
> Flight is a beautiful thing, but indoors there are fans, lamps, and air vents to think about. Not to mention the occasional franatic crash landings. :donatello:


I figure at this point he is pretty safe. If he suffered damage from the heat I think I would have seen signs of it by now. As for the crash landings, I'm convinced the mantis version of landing is just to fly until you slam into something.  



sinensispsyched said:


> Yes, but outside....
> 
> I once had a male religiosa fly off into the woods around my house, which is about 40-50 feet away. He then landed in a tree, 20 feet off the ground.


Aww that stinks. I once saw a little male of some sort of species on the corner of my house but before I could get to it with a net it flew off. U__U


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## glock34girl (Apr 9, 2013)

I was actually just putting my parrot to sleep for the night and I started to wonder if its healthy for the mantis to free flight in the house. I mean I know we are discussing the horrors of what could happen but say there was a safe room for the mantis.... Is it something that should be done for the adults? Do they go stir crazy not flying? All my adults go into mesh cubes but they certainly don't fly in them.


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## lancaster1313 (Apr 9, 2013)

I would follow the same rules as one does with a parrot, minus the clipping of wings.

Fans off, window blinds closed, no stoves on, cover mirrors, etc. I even worry about the a/c vents because I had a mantis land on one and he could have easily gone inside and been hard to retrieve.

Also, a parrot may not take kindly to the mantis if they come into contact.

I have definitely noticed that mantids make excellent dust collectors.

They always seem to find great hiding places. I wonder how they know that those places are hard for us to get to? :shifty: I have had some "fun" times trying to get mantids out of tight places with long thin objects. They just watch the stick coming and hunker down, not even budging when touched with it. l get worried that their feet will get damaged when they grip like that. Sometimes I even give up for a while to see if they feel like letting go at another time.


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## sally (Apr 9, 2013)

good idea about the vents... never considered that.



likebugs said:


> I would follow the same rules as one does with a parrot, minus the clipping of wings.
> 
> Fans off, window blinds closed, no stoves on, cover mirrors, etc. I even worry about the a/c vents because I had a mantis land on one and he could have easily gone inside and been hard to retrieve.
> 
> ...


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## glock34girl (Apr 9, 2013)

My parrot is the only one NOT allowed in the Anisect room for obvious reasons. One being the sugar gliders would live to eat him. And he would live to eat little mantids. Lol even the dog is allowed in the Anisect room and that sets the parrot off. He doesn't like being alone. Lol he's actually bein adopted so should have fun mating with the ladies. So you guys do free flight your mantids huh. Cool. Oh also, parrots wings never got clipped. Train them up from a hatchling and they stick close provided the door is closed lol


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## Krissim Klaw (Apr 9, 2013)

likebugs said:


> I would follow the same rules as one does with a parrot, minus the clipping of wings.
> 
> Fans off, window blinds closed, no stoves on, cover mirrors, etc. I even worry about the a/c vents because I had a mantis land on one and he could have easily gone inside and been hard to retrieve.
> 
> ...


I had one boy who loved the TV. He was always fluttering over near it so he could get a close seat to watch it. One time he decided to climb over my lower one (I have two TV's in my room) so he could stare up at the one that was on. I warned him not to climb over there because he would slip. A few seconds later I look over and he is gone. I checked as best as I could behind the entertainment system but didn't see anything so thought he had flew somewhere else. I spent an hour looking before I finally checked again in the crack between the wall and entertainment center, this time with a flash light. I look down and at the very bottom underneath the huge shock protector power cord that was about an inch off the ground, I saw the back end of his bum sticking out. He was on his back, legs crumpled. It looked like the massive shock protector was crushing him.

You see I have multiple TV's, game stations, and so on all hooked up there so it is wire city in that tiny enclosed area. I couldn't even reach him and if I moved the entertainment center the tension on the shock protector would undo and it could very likely shift and flatten him. Since he was just out of arms reach I got one of my chopsticks and lowered it to the bit of him I could see, still not even certain if he was alive. I moved it between his tiny mantis feet and he grabbed on and I was able to carefully pull him out and up. It was like he was just laying down there waiting for me to come rescue him. It took a good half hour to get all the dust off of him.



glock34girl said:


> My parrot is the only one NOT allowed in the Anisect room for obvious reasons. One being the sugar gliders would live to eat him. And he would live to eat little mantids. Lol even the dog is allowed in the Anisect room and that sets the parrot off. He doesn't like being alone. Lol he's actually bein adopted so should have fun mating with the ladies. So you guys do free flight your mantids huh. Cool. Oh also, parrots wings never got clipped. Train them up from a hatchling and they stick close provided the door is closed lol


Sometimes I stand with someone and let my boys fly back and forth. They do seem to enjoy spreading their wings every once and a while.


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## ScienceGirl (Apr 9, 2013)

sinensispsyched said:


> Yes, but outside....
> 
> I once had a male religiosa fly off into the woods around my house, which is about 40-50 feet away. He then landed in a tree, 20 feet off the ground.


Oh no!!! Did you get him back? Is that species illegal to release in your region? And... How, pray tell, did he get outside?


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## sinensispsyched (Apr 10, 2013)

ScienceGirl said:


> Oh no!!! Did you get him back? Is that species illegal to release in your region? And... How, pray tell, did he get outside?


I didn't get him back. Thankfully, he's adventive, so he's been introduced to the area in the 1800's. I was mating him and my female m. religiosa on an open porch inside a kritter keeper. While removing him from the enclosure, he flew off.


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## agent A (Apr 10, 2013)

sinensispsyched said:


> I didn't get him back. Thankfully, he's adventive, so he's been introduced to the area in the 1800's. I was mating him and my female m. religiosa on an open porch inside a kritter keeper. While removing him from the enclosure, he flew off.


that's why u let him exercise BEFORE mating so he doesnt feel the need to afterwards :lol: 

i bred my majs that way last year, the male got an hour to roam on plants, a nice fly meal, then he tapped the female for a day and was just fine B)


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## sinensispsyched (Apr 10, 2013)

agent A said:


> that's why u let him exercise BEFORE mating so he doesnt feel the need to afterwards :lol:
> 
> i bred my majs that way last year, the male got an hour to roam on plants, a nice fly meal, then he tapped the female for a day and was just fine B)


Makes sense...


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## JoeCapricorn (Apr 22, 2013)

Dust won't hurt a mantis, will it?

This is just my over protective self asking ... since my Orchid mantis female Sakura surprised me with the ability to fly across my room. She landed right in a dusty area and got absolutely covered in dust. I took several minutes to get the dust off of her - her front paws, each one of her legs, her wings, etc. I even lifted her up to take a final look and give her a "shower" with the mist bottle.


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