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There was the time that one of my cats was scared half to death by an inflatable rubber blimp. It was a stupid toy in a kids meal that was left on the couch. My tuxedo cat Xenith came walking slowly into the living room calm as can be, spots the stupid blimp lying motionless on the couch and...

Bleach is traditionally added to a relaxing jar to keep the jar from molding. A 1 part bleach to 4 parts water mixture is way more than you need for preventing mold in the jar and comes with the risks Phil mentions, including damage to skin/lungs/specimen. Phil's suggestion of a 1% solution is...

Empusids are pretty good about living together, which includes Idolomantis diabolica, Gongylus gongylodes, Empusa pennata, and others. Phyllocrania paradoxa, while not an empusid, is also pretty good in groups. Keep in mind that all mantids will show cannibalistic tendencies, even if they're...

Yeah, little dude's full. My ghost's hardly ever finish their crickets, but they're fat, plump and healthy. All it means is a little more clean-up work than if they always finished.

Update to add newly laid ooth.

I stand corrected. So basically, it doesn't matter how you actually go about pluralizing it because the scientific language of entomologists requires far more precision than general words like mantis or mantid can convey. Regarding the etymology of the words, both are recognized as correct...

Something that hasn't been mentioned yet in regards to preserving insects is that in addition to the feasibility of letting them die naturally is only part of it. In addition to actual physical study of a dead specimen, an important part of entomology involves the location and dates of...

Much closer to two. My biggest female is 2.2 inches from top of the crest to tip of the abdomen laying flat. The males are a little longer with their full wings, hitting closer to 2.5, but they're much skinnier so they end up using less space.

Do the folks here really not know the rule behind this? I guess it's obscure, but I didn't think it was. 'Mantis' as a term refers exclusively to species in the genus 'Mantis' (i.e. Mantis religiosa), while 'Mantid' refers to any species within the order 'Mantodea.' Thus, it goes along that...

Yeah, I wouldn't use that big cage unless you're keeping 60+ mantids together.

Haha, my wife and I say the same thing all the time. Nice looking cage, good to know your ferrets are trapped. ;)

I have some freshly-laid ooths for sale. I can't garauntee hatching, but the female was mated on 12/19 and started laying ooths within the week. 1st was laid on 12/23 (not for sale) 2nd was laid on 12/28 (not for sale) 3rd was laid on 1/6 (not for sale) 4th was laid on 1/11 (tentatively...

Don't let the haters get you down, Alex. This is a good topic worthy of further study. The fact that your presented evidence isn't perfect means that a firm conclusion cannot yet be reached, but this isn't a paper to be published for a scientific journal, is it? Further research may come up...

I agree with AB that you might want to go with a smaller tank until you have more ghosts. Before then and they might have trouble finding the food. A colony in full-swing would be at home in that size of a container. Temp-wise, Ghosts are pretty forgiving. The suggested temps are 75-85 F...

Sounds good, just make sure you there are plenty of perches for them. Ghosts are fairly communal, but will eat each other. The best way to minimize cannibalism is to make sure they all have plenty of places to hang from away from each other, and to feed them abundantly. Other than that, it...

The one I bought less than six months ago had the same flaw. It's got some duct tape holding the flaps down, and I just open the main door and snag 'em with forceps. Not the easiest job in the world, but I don't have many escapees (much to the dismay of my mighty huntress cats).

Mantids don't require UVA or UVB light, so a regular old bulb will do. They do need a light/dark cycle for hunting, so leaving them always dark/always lit isn't the best option. If you need the extra heat and need to keep the doors closed on the closet, get one light for day and one for night...

When I mentioned exposure, I wasn't referring to anything you were doing, just the reason for putting it in a bag in a sheltered area, as opposed to just anywhere where it might get snowed or rained on. Regarding the duration of diapause, Peter's guide to ooth care says that a diapause period...

The advice I've seen for diapausing ooths is to put the ooth in a paper bag and put the paper bag in a sheltered space outside, that way they can get good ventilation and moisture but aren't subject to direct exposure and are more likely to hatch out. It might not be terribly humid in Nevada...

You might have better luck finding males at night with a light trap. I can't speak specifically for long neck mantids, but it's common in a lot of other species for the males to be attracted to light at night.