# Thesprotia Graminis



## yen_saw (Nov 19, 2006)

Native to South Western of USA, this is one of the mantis species we can find in Texas. Almost invisible on a field full of grasses. Fantastic grass mimicking post.


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## Rick (Nov 20, 2006)

Those are really neat looking yen. Thanks for sharing.


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## Shelbycsx (Nov 20, 2006)

What I find to be interesting is the fact that this species raptorial arms are very small. What is their primary food? I could'nt find much information on the internet about them. How big do they get? Thanks for some great pics!!


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## yen_saw (Nov 20, 2006)

Thanks guys.

This species have very small tibia compare to most other mantis species, but i found out that they have no problem taking large prey, flies or crickets that looks too big for them. I have a few pics taken a while ago (some have seen this before). Female gets to 3" max and male is around 2.5 inches.

Adult female (wingless)






Adult male


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## robo mantis (Nov 20, 2006)

those are cool


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## wuwu (Nov 20, 2006)

have you bred them yet yen?


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## AFK (Nov 20, 2006)

i wanna see pics of one of these bad boys eating large prey!


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## yen_saw (Nov 21, 2006)

Wuwu, they are from wild caught adult female, right now i have nymphs from L1 all the way to L5, and some ootheca incubating. Female of this sepcies lays ootheca once or twice every week and it only takes 3 weeks for them to hatch. I hope to raise some to adulthood this year and breed them. Last year i had many wild caught female and all ootheca hatched out left and right till i ran out of space! Ootheca is very small and hatchling is very thin and small too, probably only 5 mm.


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## robo mantis (Nov 21, 2006)

oo they are cool


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## Jay (Nov 22, 2006)

Yen Saw,

Do you lose any nymphs due to the small hatchling size? Do they require food smaller than fruit flies at L1?

-Jay


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## yen_saw (Nov 25, 2006)

> Do you lose any nymphs due to the small hatchling size? Do they require food smaller than fruit flies at L1?


Few loses happen now and then usually not because of starvation but other reason. Grass mantis hatchling will go for fruit flies of D. Melanogaster but not D. Hydei. Smaller fruit flies (D. Melanogaster) from older culture is usually offered when available, and so far i have no problem feeding the smallest grass mantis.


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## Mister Michael (Nov 27, 2006)

My brother found one of those last night on our porch..a female....so im going to see if she decides to give me an ooth...their a fun looking mantis....3week incubation huh....guess i'll have to get some more containers..


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## yen_saw (Nov 29, 2006)

It is closer to winter now for us Southerner but still able to find some wild mantis coming near to the end of thier life. The grass mantis are fun to watch, amaze me on how they can handle food that seems way too large for them especially with their extremely small tibia which look deformed.



> so im going to see if she decides to give me an ooth...their a fun looking mantis....3week incubation huh....guess i'll have to get some more containers


 Prepare a culture fruit flies (D. Melanogaster) when you see an ooth, they will eat each other if food is not available.


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## Mister Michael (Nov 29, 2006)

yep....I split up an older one of my cultures into two containers and I can always go to my pet store and clear their shelf of cultures...so im set for nymphs.....any good reliable, cheap place to order some flies for my Grandis?....All the talk about crikets getting mantids sick have kinda made me not want to get any....bulk flies perferrably


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## yen_saw (Nov 29, 2006)

> any good reliable, cheap place to order some flies for my Grandis?


Try this for house flies pupa

http://gallery.bcentral.com/GID5117962P396...Houseflies.aspx

and you can get grubs of blue bottle flies from this site.

www.grubco.com

In both cases, let them pupate into flies and feed to your mantis. You can chose the size of your order/quantity which is great.


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## Mister Michael (Nov 29, 2006)

Wow...this is great thanx yen..I think I will order some now


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## wuwu (Dec 1, 2006)

are these communal? they look like a communal species.


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## yen_saw (Dec 1, 2006)

Unfortunately they are very cannibalistic and will not hesitate to make a meal out of thier siblings. So i have to separate them after L4/L5. They never fail to strike a post when disturb. Here is one of my subadult male playing one of his favorite "Tai-ji" move.


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