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I believe they can be found from about Davis, CA south to Arizona. I have had ooths that were exposed to freezing temperatures for a short time still hatch It seemed to me that nymphs hatched out much stronger and larger and over a shorter period of time when exposed to a cold period of a...

It really depends on the species, but most of the larger exotics easily live 6 months as an adult (if female). My personal record was 9 months for a female S. lineola.

European mantid ooths can tolerate freezing temperatures outdoors because of the gradual temperature change, but yes, sticking them directly into the freezer, or into freezing temperatures may kill the eggs. I believe the ooths, under natural conditions in SoCal, will hatch march-April when the...

Your best bet is to keep the oothecae outdoors (protected from vermin), so that they will hatch at the same time as the local wild ones. These are highly adaptable mantids that is for sure. Southern California does not have much of a "cold" period, so hatching MAY be related to daylight length...

The feeler things at the end of its abdomen are called cerci, and both males and females have them.

Yes, it is most definitely a Stagmomantis carolina ootheca!

It is difficult to tell from the pics, but European mantids have distinct "targets" or "eyespots" on the coxa of the prothoracic legs, Chinese will have markings but they will not look like a target

Most likely it is a male of one of the following three species Iris oratoria Stagmomantis limbata Stagmomantis californicus

Sexing by looking at the exuvia (cast skin) is the best way in my opinion. There are many websites and books that describe this method. Oh yeah, and you are right, that is an extremely poor choice for a beginner, easy to keep but extremely fast and defensive (almost to the point of being...

Julian has the right idea. Mantids are not in the same Family, they are in the same Order. Domestic dogs all belong to one species and/or subspecies Canis lupus familiaris.

I would say keep them in the fridge until 4-5 weeks before the last estimated frost date (ask your local nursery), and then take them out and allow them to hatch. You may want to take a group of them out of storage every couple of days for 2 plus weeks, so you don't have a million of them at...

"Overrated": Any mantid that costs $10+ USD for L1-L3. Underrated: Can't decide between S. lineola or P. agrionina.

I've done that with S. lineola, H. membranacea, P. paradoxa, and P. agrionina without ever killing any. I never tried it with any other species though.

Not if you put them in the fridge first!

One method I use is to put the mantid nursery into the fridge for 10-15 minutes. Sometimes they all look dead and fall to the enclosure floor, but they always "come back to life". It gives me a good 10-20 minute window to get fruitflies into the enclosure, which usually takes a minute or two...

It was most likely a Tachinid(spelling?) fly, some of these flies are able to lay active larvae (some are live-bearing) onto another insect. The larvae may then "burrow" into the other insect and eat it's insides until it is ready to pupate. It then exits the insect and burrows into the...

I get mine from www.grubco.com, however they come as prepupal larvae (migratory stage). The larvae keep for several weeks or longer if kept in the fridge but pupate within a day if brought to room temperature. They usually hatch 5-7 days later. I usually take a certain amount of larvae out of...

As long as the T is a spiderling or juvenile, it should be fine. Curly hairs grow very quickly when fed often and kept warm. It may be in danger if the container is too tall, the fatter the T, the more likely it may burst if it falls. It may also be in danger if food items such as crickets...

The first one actually looks like a Hierodula patellifera or closely related species, not a Sphodromantis spp.

I have unknowingly at the time bred two different Sphodromantis spp. I thought they were both S. lineola, but the resulting offspring did not produce any fertile oothecae, even the outbred ones. Many of the offspring(which I didn't use for breeding) did not unfurl(sp?) their wings properly...