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Mantis religiosa timeline almost done.

Nice picture. Molting is among the no. 1 causes of death in these things in my experience. The reason why it looks twice the size is because it sucks in air during the molt and expands its body (notice that all of the segments appear "streched" out). When the exoskeleton chemically hardens it...

Cool, I live in the Bay Area too in Albany.

Thank you. SEO hasn't been very nice so far (only 38 clicks from google search in the last 18 days  :unsure: ) but its great to know the the site is getting at least a few views. 

For the mantis people: http://www.lianginsects.com/general-insect-timeline/category/mantodea Haha, I know its not much and I am a total amateur when it comes to mantises despite having raised them on and off for years now, but still. Will be adding more content later.

Hi,  We currently have some Mediterranean Katydid (Phaneroptera nana) nymphs for sale for $10 each. I did not raise them from egg, so I am uncertain of the exact instars, but they are either the instar when they first have wing buds (2 more instars until adult at this point) or the instar right...

Thanks. Very good article. Feel kind of stupid for not seeing it in the stickies. That makes me a lot more confident since I am planning on selling some Mediterranean Katydids (phaneroptera nana) hehe . . . :)

Hi, We currently have a lot of Anise Swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon) chrysalises and eggs for sale.  Chrysalises are $6.00 each. We can sex them for you if you like for $5 extra and will refund or replace any incorrectly sexed chrysalises guaranteed,  Eggs are $10.00 per dozen. Eggs hatch very...

By the way, since there are so many experienced sellers here - can you give us some tips on shipping livestock, shipping methods, shipping to countries outside of the US, costs, etc.? This is the first time we are selling our insects and we don't really know what to expect. Thanks.

Thanks Joe! 

Hi all. I'm not a very active member here due to the fact I only occasionally keep mantids (wild-caught ones) but I thought I'd make a post today since my brother an I have started our own insect site. We mainly raise lepidoptera, but there is (going to be) some mantis stuff on there. Right now...

Just last week the wild-caught M. religiosa ooth I had also hatched and they did not come out all at once as well so it may just be a normal occurrence in the species . . . not sure why they would all die though

2 weeks? It is most definitely trying to molt. Whatever you do don't try to feed it anymore or else you will disturb it and it may die (especially since it's only L2-L3).

This happened to me as well. I also bought a couple mantids (ghosts too) for the first time a couple months ago. 6 out of 7 of them died. Just found them on the bottom of the cage and they were dead. They also didn't eat several days after getting them. I know that some had fallen when they were...

Well she layed another one today. It was actually bigger than the other 2 half-inch ooths but still really small. I now have 1 tiny ooth with 3 other super tiny ooths and 2 ooth blobs.

Well then, this has been a disappointment and I guess I have been feeding a lot lol. My male has just died from old age so I guess there's no hope now. And btw she layed another one today, only about a quarter inch this time. when in the world will she stop...?

Wait, so they'll only lay the little blobs if they're infertile?

Chow from feeder insect places is not good for them because it does not contain their natural foods (tomatoes and potatoes are poisonous). It's usually just the same stuff they use for silkworms which is mulberry. So if you use it, the hornworms may die or have trouble pupating, etc.

Not sure why no one cared to say anything :( but my female has been laying an ooth everyday for the past 5 days--all really small. She is also refusing to eat... Day 1: Lays 1 in. ooth that is missing long wiry projection at the end. I feed her and she eats only a little, and reluctantly...

So after 4 weeks after my female molted to adult, she finally layed an ooth. Problem is, I'm not sure if it's fertile. She didn't start calling until a week and a half ago where and I've kept the male, who is now almost dead from old age with her ever since. I've never seem them interact with...