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@Cole 78 The camera was a Nikon D40 with a macro lens attachment. I believe it was set on Auto and the lens was 2X macro. Sorry, I’m not too familiar of the mechanics of DSLRs yet. @Graceface Unfortunately I have pretty grim update. The male limbata was eaten by his mate, who also passed away a...

Thanks @Cole 78! I can’t see what image you’re referring to, though.

Thanks for the correction, @Major. I should have been more specific that I only meant to say that typical artificial lights, especially those intended for pets, wouldn’t hurt a mantis’ eyes. However, I personally have never had any issues with my mantids having lights on them 24/7.

Interesting. I personally have never seen a Chinese ooth without the “zipper,” hatched or unhatched, but I’ve only ever tried them three times.  Might still be worth trying to hatch, but if doesn’t it would make for an interesting dissection.  Good luck with whatever happens to it!

Now that I’m looking at the images again, you might have a Habronattus sp. It looks to be about the right size and pattern for an adult male, too. Texas has several of those, but I believe the most common is H. pyrrithrix. I’ve had several of those myself this last year, and one male still going...

So here’s a little update: Still no new male for the S. limbata, but I’ll be leaving the female outside again overnight in hopes she might call one in.  Both truncatas have molted, but I’m still unsure if they’re both male or a breeding pair. They look like M/F based on hood shape, but seem to...

Indeed, you can see them quite large on the side of the picture. Love the macro as well, by the way. Here’s my S. limbata right before he final molt. It also helped me that her bottom wings became more vividly yellow as the molt drew nearer.

The wingbuds inflate/swell in subadult, even more so right before the adult molt. 

Haha, I guess this is why you shouldn’t buy a mate until L5 or L6.

I once had a mantis (L4) go two weeks without food while my friend was watching her because they ran out of fruit flies. Of course, you should never intentionally try to replicate these results.  As long as your mantis is still plump, she should be fine. The more you try to force feed her, the...

Good luck with the molt! Keep us updated 

Once again, DeShawn did fantastic with packaging. The orchid mantis arrived alive and well, along with the BSFL’s and housefly pupae. The houseflies’ hatch rate was an average of 1 out of 4 after three days. The phoenix worms, as last time, are large, squirmy, and overall healthy looking. The...

I’m so sorry for your loss, @Little Mantis. He was so cute. Are you going to add him to your photobook?

Thanks everyone! And thanks @Graceface and @ausar318, glad to know orchids really are as wonderful to keep as I hoped! Unfortunately, I found the male S. limbata lethargic and slow on the floor of his habitat. Since he was on the brink of death, I tried to pair him up with my female...

So I got two new Mantids this week. One is a male S. limbata, which was perfect timing, because Dana has now been an adult for two weeks. He’s very skittish, so I’ve only got this photo. Will try for better ones later. Also ordered a new mantis, which arrived today. I’m completely obsessed...

I’m sorry for your loss @MantisGirl13. You did the right thing for her. Very unusual that the male ate the female, though.

Interesting idea! Although, a mantis would have to be self-aware to know what color it is. If one looked in a mirror, it may recognize itself, or see itself as another mantis.  Based on this idea, the main way I know of to test for self-awareness is to place a sticker on an unconscious animal...

Thanks for the reference @Ziiggy's Insectarium! I’ve been referring to their caresheets for a while, so I’m glad to know it’s circulating.

I don’t have any personal experience breeding or raising orchids, so you might want to wait until someone else comes in, but according to this, trying to slow down your male’s growth may cause them to “end up smaller than a normal male,” and “will most likely be infertile...” If this is true...

That’s something I never really thought about. I have had several occasions where my mantids molted in synchrony and other times individually. But I’ve never had a large enough control group to really chalk it up to anything other than coincidence. It’s a pretty interesting topic. I’d have to...