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Some species can change color based on environmental conditions or genetics. My Stagmomantis sp. molt into a brown morph when the background is brown and the humidity is low.

Does look like a Chinese mantis to me! You can also tell because they have distinct vertical lines on their faces.

Sorry for your loss, @MantisGirl13. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to be the of the first people to try raising a relatively undocumented species, especially when it comes to bugs. It’s a shame we can take our insects to the vet!

Is it a wild caught mantis? If so, location would help with identification.

Based on what I’ve read, Hestiasula sp. and Pseudocreobotra sp. can live in 32oz deli cups their whole lives. I think male orchid mantises can, too.

Congratulations on the molt! Her wings look fine and beautiful. However, it’s generally recommended to wait 24-48 hours after a molt to take out or handle a mantis because they’re still soft during that time. Her wings will probably also straighten out and develop more color after drying.

Looking primarily for nymphs of Hestiasula major, but also looking for other boxer species (not Otomantis, sorry). Also looking for: Deroplatys desiccata/truncata, breeding pair P. ocellata Orchid mantis US only. I’m in  Southern California, USA. Thanks for looking!

Looks like a female Carolina, yes. Could be wrong on the ***, but I’m pretty certain she’s a Carolina. I don’t have much experience with them, but we get limbatas over here, and yours looks to be Stagmomantis as well. Good luck with the little mantis, whatever it turns out to be!

1). It’s hard to answer this question without being able to smell the culture. It could be a sign of mold or rot, but in my experience, all fruit fly cultures are quite smelly. It is made out of fruit, after all, not to mention all that FF feces.  2). I don’t have much experience with pinhead...

As @Sticky said, moths are great and easy wild food source. I’ve found that light traps also work to catch lacewings, and even once saw a katydid.  Another thing you can do is use a good old blow fly trap. I’ve never used this before, because supposedly it gets incredibly stinky and I live in...

Sorry for your loss. The leg might’ve gotten infected, or he might’ve just died from the shock of eating his own leg. Hopefully you’ll find another oratoria again, soon! I’ve never kept this species, but they look pretty cool to me.

Still hard to tell, but it looks like a male.

Welcome to the forums! Sounds like you already have a good amount of experience. Glad to be reassured that you’ll probably be wanting to stick around. Good luck with your website!

I’m so sorry for your losses. They were both beautiful mantises, and you had them for so long. I know it probably doesn’t make it much easier, but it sounds like you did the right thing for them. 

Congratulations on the breeding @MantisGirl13! Glad to hear he mounted alright, and survived the whole encounter. Keep us updated on the new mom!

Welcome to the forums! The most recommended websites here are MantidKingdom, MantidsGalore, BugsInCyberspace, and PanTerraPets. There are also many great breeders and sellers you can order from in the Classifieds section right here on this forum. You can also check the reliability of many...

Congratulations on the wings! What a beautiful mantis.

Generally speaking, Mantids can be sexed accurately past L4. Aside from actually counting the total segments, another easy method is just to look at the last couple segments. Several smaller segments leading to the rear means it’s mostly likely male, whereas one large final segment suggests it’s...

Unfortunately, there’s surprisingly very little amount of information available online. However, it seems that it is a predatory insect, so I would try to feed it the same things that you would feed a mantis of a similar size. Wikipedia also says that they steal captured bugs from spider webs...

The second pic looks fine. Mantids eyes darken to a brownish-black color when in dim lighting, especially at night.