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It’s hard to tell from the picture, but it looks quite plump, so I don’t think you need to worry much about it not eating. I once had an S. vitis go two weeks without food, and she survived just fine. You should note it’s behavior, though. Is it still active and curious? If it’s lethargic then...

Looks like a subadult based on the wingbuds. A month long wait seems to be typical for the final molt, although I’ve never kept this species, but just in general. I can’t tell you why the abdomen got darker, but your mantis still looks quite healthy to me. If she becomes lethargic or clumsy, it...

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! That’s a nice holiday surprise for sure. Good luck with the new little critters!

Thanks everyone! I like them all as well. And thanks @Little Mantis! I’m so proud of her. Here’s the promised pic of the male:

Figured I’d finally make one of these, and I’m glad to say it’ll be my 600th post. I certainly don’t have very many mantids, but perhaps they’re still worth sharing. Firstly, here’s my beloved Dana, S. limbata, I believe. Since I haven’t had success breeding and I’ve only hatched a Chinese ooth...

I’ve never had orchids before, but one of my truncatas has done this before. She lays flat almost as if to mimic dead leaves, and if she’s disrurbed while in that pose, she’ll ‘popcorn’ around. Her male counterpart, however, is much more chill, and hardly ever goes into that pose. My best guess...

 Just feed her whenever she starts looking skinny. Her current size is a pretty good guideline as to how large she should be. 

She looks pretty healthy to me. Females can get really fat, and generally overfeeding isn’t really an issue at the adult stage with Europeans. 

Beautiful mantis, those are some nice pictures. I’m sure there are members online that would be happy to sell you some male breeders of you were interested in breeding her.

Here’s a quick guide if you want to be sure. Notice the difference in the crown and the antannae

Congratulations on the adult molt! He’s really adorable. Male orchids are some of the cutest things, I think.

It’s generally recommended to wait until L4 to get accurate guesses. For orchids, I’ve heard sexing is quite easy because they develop the brown and green colors fully by L4, so I would suggest waiting a couple weeks to a month.

I agree with @MantisGirl13 for the ghosts, although I should say that I’ve never kept them myself. I think you’re right in saying the lobata is male, based on this guide:

Wild mantids have to look at the sun pretty much 24/7, so your light should be fine for their eyes.

A wild guess, but maybe L5/6? That’s around the same size as mine was at that age, but he was male.

Wild mantids generally do fine when brought into captivity. Although it’s hard to say exactly what killed your mantis without much information. Some members say crickets are a dangerous food source because they can cause infections.  Another possibility is it’s because by it’s  a glass jar...

Congratulations on the hatch! They’re such a nice little group. Definitely keep us updated on them!

I’d say female. For this species, can’t you also tell based on the antennae?

Of the ones I’ve kept, I have to say I’ve loved my Deroplatys, both desiccata and truncata. Haven’t had lobata yet, though. I also love my Stagmomantis, Dana. Since I don’t really breed mantids, she’s the first and only mantis I’ve raised since L1, and now she’s subadult. Hopefully I can get her...

Thanks so much for your help @ausar318. And thanks so much for going into so much detail. So I take it inbreeding is fine for a generation or two, but outbreeding is necessary. Makes sense. Since I don’t know if my mantids are siblings, I’ll just go ahead and find them some mates when the time...