# Grizzled Mantid (Gonatista grisea)



## yen_saw (Mar 1, 2007)

Traded this ooth last month, it is the signature mantis from Florida - Florida bark mantis  







About 30-40 nymphs hatched today!!  





















This is the first time i am keeping this species, lets hope some will make it to adulthood. Also appreciate if anyone here could share some info with this species.


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## OGIGA (Mar 1, 2007)

Wow, these are really small. Hmm, I think they should be pretty durable since the hatchrate isn't like 1,000/ooth.


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## yen_saw (Mar 1, 2007)

Actually i was amazed that many hatched out from this tiny ooth. The nymphs have huge eyes!


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## Ian (Mar 1, 2007)

Congrats Yen! Good to see this species popup in culture in slighlty larger numbers. Let us know how you get on with them.


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## Christian (Mar 1, 2007)

Hi.

Bark mantids are usually difficult. Try _Thermobium_ as food and avoid _Drosophila_ as much as possible. Use some thicker (arm-thick) perpendicular branches with smooth bark. That's the kind of wood barkies prefer. I suggest keeping them at ca. 30° by day and 20° by night. Despite of this: Good Luck! :? You will need it. Liturgusids are really problematic. And let us know how it worked.

Best wishes,

Christian


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## wuwu (Mar 1, 2007)

christian, do you know why they don't do well on fruitflies?


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## Christian (Mar 1, 2007)

Hi.

I'm not sure about _Gonatista_ itself, but about several other bark and desert species (_Tarachodes, Eremiaphila, Tarachodula_ etc.), which do not well when exclusively fed on _Drosophila. Drosophila_ are good as additional food, but the larvae died often when fed exclusively with them. The reasons are not clear, we suppose they contain too much water and are "over-wetting" the intestinal tract. In nature, those species feed mostly on a variety of harder food like ants and beetles and may not be adapted to a food item like _Drosophila_. This may be pure speculation, but the mentioned species did better after the diet switch. _Thermobium_ can be regarded as the best mantid food ever, at least for larvae and smaller species. Most difficult species over here were simply just bred because of _Thermobium_.

Greets,

Christian


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## Sheldon Johnson (Mar 1, 2007)

I had a tiny ootheca of this species about 12 months ago, 9 hatched as i was leaving for work and when i got back only 1 was left, which was annoying to say the least.

Anyway, the last nymph was just incredibly strong and spent his younger days munching on dros. and grew very rapidly. He continued to go from strength to strength and would gladly each roaches, crix and anything i could throw at him; he was insane. Its a real shame that i only had the one as i would have loved to have bred it if i could have found a mate, but i ended up giving him away due to my move to university.

Anyway, I'm really glad you got such a good hatch rate and wish you the best of luck Yen. Make sure you get this lovely little species cultured ASAP please!


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## Jodokohajjio (Mar 1, 2007)

> Bark mantids are usually difficult. Try Thermobium as food and avoid Drosophila as much as possible.


Christian, I did a google search and couldn't find anything on these guys. Do you mean Thermobia domestica? Here is a website with pictures of Thermobia domestica:

http://www.uaf.edu/museum/ento/Insect_Omni.../domestica.html


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## ABbuggin (Mar 1, 2007)

I was wondering (eventhough I am pretty shure they are not) are the guys communual?

AB


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## Christian (Mar 1, 2007)

Hi.

Yes, I meant firebrats. I'm not sure which name is correct, _Thermobi*um*_ or _Thermobi*a*_, it means the same, just a different grammatical gender.

Regards,

Christian


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## Orin (Mar 1, 2007)

> The reasons are not clear...Christian


Fruit flies are deficient in amino acids so it's surprising most mantids survive on them. You can't feed tiny scorpions, centipedes, tarantulas, etc. exclusively on fruit flies.


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## Peekaboo (Mar 1, 2007)

I guess I'll be the first one to say it .... they're so cute! Good luck with raising and breeding them Yen.


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## OGIGA (Mar 1, 2007)

> Hi.Yes, I meant firebrats. I'm not sure which name is correct, _Thermobi*um*_ or _Thermobi*a*_, it means the same, just a different grammatical gender.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Christian


Like bacterium and bacteria, I bet it's just that one is singular and the other is plural. Is that what you meant my grammatical gender?


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## yen_saw (Mar 1, 2007)

Thanks all for the feedback... much appreciated.



> Good Luck! :? You will need it


Yes, i need all your luck Christian :wink:



> Thermobium can be regarded as the best mantid food ever, at least for larvae and smaller species


Yes, i have a culture of them and they seems to producing well until i made a terrible mistake by increasing the humidty, and fish flake gets moldy almost instantly. and my culture firebrate number decrease greatly. Now i am keeping them close to my desert pebble mantis, high temperature, with a cup of soak towel inside, it is taking forever to multiply!! grrrr....








> was wondering (eventhough I am pretty shure they are not) are the guys communual? AB


Yes i have the same question too AB, i am sure at certain stage they will eat each other. I am keeping a different group right now with different diet. One on fruit flies and one on firebrates or any wild caught insects. and after they turn L3/L4, i will keep a few individually. They are nocturnal according to a professor in Florida Uni that studied them, so i might miss a chance seeing them eating each other at night. WIll be interesting to find out.


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## Christian (Mar 2, 2007)

Hi.

This is a good way, Yen, if it does not function now, I don't know...

Let us know how it works!  

Regarding firebrats: they need a certain amount of humidity (I have a smaller box filled with water in the breeding box), but not too much. The fish flocks should not become moldy before they are eaten. Another point: start with more firebrats, they do better if you have already a certain amount in the box. If your culture lost many, maybe a new batch added to the remaining could shorten the time until you can use them.

Best wishes,

Christian


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## Ian (Mar 2, 2007)

Where are these Thermobium available from? I have never seen these as suggestions for feeders before...


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## Christian (Mar 2, 2007)

Hi.

They are available from breeders or professional pet food suppliers. We use them for several years with great success, particularly since most of us abandoned crickets.

Greetings,

Christian


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