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There are also terflies if you are looking for a middle ground between Drosophila and bottle flies. They are houseflies bred to have crooked wings.

They hardened in an incorrect position. Even if you pull them out now, it won't be able to use them.

Sorry, but the mantis can't be helped. All legs are completely crippled.

That's a mismolt. The actual molting process should only take around 15-20 minutes. They will quickly harden and deformations will stay until a potential later molt.

One Idolo left. She's starting to show signs of old age like dark spots on her shield and missing tarsi, but she's still going strong. One of my R. megaera females is a dwarf. The size difference between her and other females is quite noticeable, and even a male is bigger. Pretty interesting...

I recommend taking a look at www.mantidsandmore.com It's a reliable German shop that ships all over Europe. There are currently several species for sale that are suited for beginners. Creobroter gemmatus, Phyllocrania paradoxa, Sphodromantis gastrica, as well as the three Hierodula species are...

That's a Liturgusa. Beautiful little guys.

It's part of the threat display and usually folded beneath the segment. Your mantid's thick abdomen just causes it to bulge out a bit, it's normal.

Part of the abdomen, nothing to worry about.

Toxodera, especially T. beieri. Large and stunningly beautiful. Mantoida are as odd as Metallyticus, though without the flashy look. The adults remind me of stoneflies from a glance. Parymenopus davisoni, such a strong yellow. Sinomantis denticulata have a ghostly look. Eremiaphila...

It would be beneficial to glue some mesh/flyscreen across the lid. This would give her a better grip, if she decides to have her next molt from there.

Depending on how much of the leg was lost, it should take one to three molts until it grows back to full length. The fact that she already pulled off a molt with the leg missing is a good sign, there's nothing you can do for now but wait.

Nice idea! Here are some of mine that got messed up by bad lighting or blurriness.       

@River Dane No worries! Raising them was still a lot of fun and gave me some good experience. @Connor Best of luck! A few hundred nymphs sure would be a great way to start the next attempt. :lol: Meanwhile, the Metallyticus have been doing well. They aren't very fast growers though, so they...

A late and final update regarding the Idolos. Prior to the molt, the male already started getting motoric issues with his raptorial legs, such as odd spasming and loss of control. It was not able to align them at all during the molt, leading to them just hanging downwards and causing a failure...

The missing lobe makes me think that it previously lost the leg and is in the process of fully regenerating it. My H. coronatus female tore it off right at the Coxa during a molt, and then popped out a whole mini-leg at her next one. Depending on her sitting position, she also sometimes lets it...

Kind of a wild guess, but I think what might have happened is that the damaged eyes "popped open" during the molt, causing the hemolymph to flow out and have the mantis stick to the exuvia because of the liquid. I've seen mantids somehow hurt their eyes a bunch of times during the molt and "bleed".

I doubt they dehydrated, Iris oratoria are adapted to warm and dry environments. Get a halogen spot so temperatures during the day are somewhere between 77-95 degrees and mist lightly in the evening. Mantids don't need UV either.

Sorry to hear about that, sounds like a chain of bad events. The male's wingbuds are swollen now and it stopped eating two days ago. The molt should hopefully happen very soon. Meanwhile each female laid another ooth, stings a bit to see such large ones go to waste. :P Will do!

Thought I'd make a bit of an update after time has passed. 2 females failed their final molt. One was a regular mismolt, I suspect it got dehydrated because it spent a whole week preparing without eating anything. The second one somehow badly hurt its eye at the start of the molt and basically...