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It's some species of Yersiniops.

I've recently had a similar problem with a Heterochaeta nymph that lost all tarsi on its four hind legs and could only wrap around branches. While they are still small and light it is possible for them to successfully molt and recover. Try to give it sticks where it can hold on to, but thick...

When mantids are only hours or minutes away from molting, they will enter a certain stance different from the way they usually perch. I'm gonna post a few examples, note how the upper body is more vertically aligned compared to their usual sitting pose. The older nymphs get the longer they will...

Finally, the first M. splendidus female reached adulthood. It took her two days to gain her color, though I think the purple wings also looked pretty cute.

I'd say that there's like a 99% chance that it was an assassin bug or some other Heteroptera nymph.

Tape only helps when a mantis already started a molt and fell down during the process. This one is completely done for, no point in prolonging the inevitable really. It has no chance of initiating a molt when it can't even move on the ground.

Three M. splendidus males are adult now. Once they get ready to mate, they are occasionally having phases of extreme activity. They run and fly around the tank for several hours nonstop, it's funny to watch. I tried to make a few GIFs of them flying. Sorry for the wonky camera work, but...

Thanks for the insight and good luck on your projects! It would be a dream come true if Toxodera species were to get established in the hobby at some point. I'm looking forward to hear and see more about your experiences! Greetings!

Welcome! I've been interested in them for quite a while as well, how did you happen to even acquire them? I haven't read about anyone successfully keeping Toxoderidae alive for longer than a few months, let alone breeding, with only Cheddikulama straminea as an exception. It would be amazing if...

A Rhombodera female of mine bent that way in order to eat the spermatophore a few hours after mating.

Hard to say because the number of instars for M. religiosa seems to depend on locality/subspecies, with some requiring more, some less. Expecting them to be adult in L7/L8 for males/females is probably realistic. Based on your picture I'd still say that it's most likely L4.

That's a male. Instar is likely L4 judging by the very small wingbuds, possibly L5. Hard to say without a real sense of scale.

No, the L1 are already starting to cannibalize.

Turns out I already had subadult M. splendidus. The first male completed his final molt today and looks gorgeous!

Thanks! I'm located in Europe, so I don't think shipping overseas would work well. I'm pretty sure I've seen US breeders sell Eremiaphila in the classifieds at some point, though. I got the M. splendidus from a German breeder back in November. Their growth is really slow, but they've come a...

This week the first Eremiaphila ooth has started to hatch. Not sure yet whether the hatching process is normal for the species or if it's just that ooth, but there are just one or two little nymphs popping out each day instead of all at once, might be because they always come out of the little...

Those are the Cerci. They can serve insects as sensory organs, or in the case of earwigs also as weapons. Dragonflies use them to grab females while mating. For mantids they seem to be more like evolutionary leftovers without much of a function. Roaches do use them as sensory organs, especially...

Just keep the female well fed and give her something to eat while you introduce the male. I put my males on a stick and hold them right behind the female. Once they realize what's in front of them they should start pointing their antennae towards her and hop on shortly after. As far as I know...

If there are no visible deformations then give her some time. It can easily take an hour or more until the body is hardened enough for it to move.

Got some matings done recently. My H. coronatus male struggled a lot with positioning and connecting, but after one week of attempts he succeeded at last. Hopefully I can expect fertilized ooths soon. Several Eremiaphila females have been mated as well. Really interesting to watch, when the...