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Awesome pictures. Thanks for posting them up.

I do what some have already said - cannabalism. Strangely enough, the ones that cannabalized molted earlier than the ones that just ate fruit flies (not enough fruitflies to go around for so many nymphs). I guess by eating a food item as large as itself, it gained the nutrients to start...

Some are 6cm long, but they can get up to 3 inches.

From what I've seen and heard on the forum, it tends to average at 4 inches. Some are slightly larger and some are smaller.

I usually just open up the forelegs carefully (no twisting) with my fingers. If you don't want to pry open the forelegs, you can try a method I've never used: 1) the mantid has your finger with it's forelegs and won't let go 2) lightly pinch it's anus/butt (if you don't want to pinch, just...

If you mean living strictly on the ground, no. In my experience, based on what I've seen in the wild, these mantids tend to stay low even when they have the option to live higher up on brushes, grass patches, etc. Occasionally, they do get on the ground as seen in the video and the only thing...

Are there differences in the physical design patterns (for example the spots in the forearms in the mantids in Brancsikia's reply) besides color?

Like what others have said, your mantid will end up taking in water through it's spiracles if u bathe it. Spraying water on it (mimicing rain) is the closest I've done to bathing my mantids. I don't think any type of cleaning beats how clean they are when they are freshly molted in the adult form.

Yep, bring her in if you want to squeeze out some ooths from her before she goes. Nice limbata.

Yes.

Yep, the pictures shows the abdominal position of a female calling. Plus, while the mantid is in that position, look at the rear end. You might be able to see her ovipositor (a pair) moving. Although it's untested, the ovipositor movement is my interpretation that the female is releasing...

I use moth balls. I usually place my specimens in a closed container with moth balls inside so that the fumes will be contained. After some time, you'll have to replace the moth balls though.

It is an Iris oratoria. That species is very common in Fresno.

Just to be clear, I was referring to tiny puncture spots on the wings. The mantid isn't harmed in any way. But yeah, search for a male just in case.

Whenever I find a female in the late season, I always look for tiny puncture spots at the anterior part of the female's forewings. These tiny puncture spots are created by the spikes on the male's forearms (grasping the females back) when he had mated with the female earlier in the season. It...

Like around when the sun just comes up (6,7, or 8am). It's just that when there's light, a mantid tends to want to go hide in the brushes with the assumption that it's on wall (i.e. next to your front/back porch light).

Lunarstorm would be right if it is true that you have a mantid that can change colors as you have described. Anyways, did the color change occur throughout the entire body of the mantid or was it just located at the thorax section?

It will and should work. Well, it does for my species. For me, all I required was a cricket cage to place the "calling" female in and didn't need a larger netcube to trap the male. She'll send out pheromones during the night and there will usually be a male next to the cricket cage in the...

You picture reminds me of the "water mite parasite" on damselflies. Google it to look at the pictures.

That is a risk that you are going to have to take if you don't enclose it with netting. I have taken those risks in the past, and have had times when I lost the mantid because it escaped. If you planning on doing that this year, it's probably too late. The best times are when the nights are warm.