And these are supposed to be hard to catch

[MantidLord]

Hey all, as some of you may know, a couple of weeks ago I caught 27 I. otatoria nymphs. Well, between yesterday and today, I've increased that number to well in the forties. However, I won't be keeping the newbies.

But, during my capture of 6 nymphs yesterday, I noticed that one would never jump, only run (making it kind of tricky to catch). Anyway, I caught it nonetheless and went on my way. But when I went home to organize everyone, that runner stuck out. Same size as everyone else, except its body stayed close to the ground and it has eyes like a locust. I knew it was a different species, but what?

That's right, L. minor! I've never fathomed them being in Nevada (even though they're a desert species), but here it was. So today, I set off to a bike trail to hunt some more. Immediately, the I. oratoria nymphs started jumping everywhere . Finally I started seeing L. minor nymphs of all sizes. I caught six total of those guys (who's population was far less dense than I. oratoria's who were everywhere).

 

[MantidLord]

And the thing is, they weren't hard to catch. Granted there was one that did escape me, but for the most part it was a heck of a lot easier than catching lizards.

So am I just a freak of nature, or are these guys all hype? And more importantly, what are requirements for these guys? I'll post pics of them as well as the spot where they and I. oratoria nymphs were held. Nice to see two species right by eachother.

 

[Peter Clausen]

I enjoyed reading about your collecting efforts for these species and look forward to the photos. There are several Litaneutria spp. in the US.

 

[Rick]

Don't know. Never had the opportunity to see them in the wild. I do hope some end up in the classifieds though.

 

[massaman]

Found this caresheet for this species not sure if its accurate or not!

Litaneutria Minor - Ground Mantis Caresheet

 

[MantidLord]

Thanks guys, after doing some research on other Litaneutria species, its quite possible that this is L. obscura (I apologize if this comes as a disappointment to anyone). However, sense I'm no expert, I dont know. Anyway, here they are:
















compared to an I. oratoria nymph.

Let me know if the links dont work.

 

[hibiscusmile]

The links work fine and I am with Rick, hope to see em here, and a mantis is a mantis, no matter what's its name :tt2:

 

[MantidLord]

Thanks, I wanna catch some more and send them out to you guys. I also want to start a culture of these guys as well. On a side note, I have what appears to be an l1, very small, but able to take down aphids. I assume you could feed spring tails as well. Will keep this updated with info, and hopefully create an offer in the classifieds real soon. Lol, so many walked by me when I was collecting them, as if I were crazy.

 

[yen_saw]

Good find! The ground mantis you have there is likely older than L1. There were plenty of ground mantis during my recent trip to Arizona. Caught one subadult male ground mantis too which make me think that there could be 2 breeding cycle in places like Southern Arizona. All the best with the mantis.

 

[ismart]

Cool find! Good luck in breeding a new generation.

 

[MantidLord]

Thanks guys. it is possible that they have two generations, because I caught what I believe to be an l1, and it molted. I also have something that molted to what appears to be a subadult. I caught six more yesterday, will post pics later.

 

[hibiscusmile]

Wow, crazy huh! u the man! :tt2:

 

[MantidLord]

Update: I haven't gone collecting in a while as I don't want to bleed the area of ground mantids. However I did go out yesterday where I caught two adult female Litaneutria sp. One has a beautiful pattern of blue and grey, while the other one is tan. As of the ones I've already had, I have two sub males and one sub female. I also have about 8 more at various instars. I've been taking pics, but uploading via ps3 is ridiculous (my camera won't upload directly, so I have to chang memory cards bla bla) so I'll try to post them asap. And boy are these things aggressive and small.

 

[ismart]

Cool! Look foward to your pics!

 

[Dracomancer]

looks alot like the one im currently taking care of O_O could not find info on what he is anywhere lol

 

[Ntsees]

...I don't want to bleed the area of ground mantids...

The way how I deal with this is that once the females become adult and are mated, I gorge them with food so that they'll lay as many ooths that they possibly can. That way, you can release (or put ooths back to that area in winter) the instars to overcompensate for the ones you took (make sure you do your release with natural timing - don't hatch/release nymphs late in the season or in the dead of winter). For the ones you caught, it should be good because in your hands, they are safe from predators.

 

[MantidLord]

That's true, I haven't gone back collecting yet, +100 degrees is too hot. But I do intend to release some future hatchlings. I just want to understand their "season" and whether or not they have overlapping generations. And I've sort of neglected this thread. So an update is in order.

I have a total of three ooths so far. One of the wild adults layed one before dying. The other wild caught was mated by my male over 10 times! With no cannibalism. She has laid two (or three, will explain confusion) ooths and still eating. The male has also mated twice with another of my females, no ooth yet. I have another sub adult male and female, and five other nymphs.

These guys are great, very easy to breed. All I did was let the male's antenna touch the female and jumped on, in my hand! They readily tackle prey and are easy to handfeed if no small feeders are available. They're like lizards arms.

Onyl frustrating part is that the lay ooths on the ground. The ooths blend in well with my sand/soil substrate...

 

[MantidLord]

...hince the confusion with my ooths (the female suddenly became skinny, but I don't see an ooth, no crix in there either). despite being "ground" mantids they prefer twigs and the top of cages. They can molt on the ground and branches (at least the younger ones) A great species and glad I found them. I need batteries for my camera to post their beautiful speckled colors.

 

[Ntsees]

That's true, I haven't gone back collecting yet, +100 degrees is too hot. But I do intend to release some future hatchlings. I just want to understand their "season" and whether or not they have overlapping generations. And I've sort of neglected this thread. So an update is in order.

I have a total of three ooths so far. One of the wild adults layed one before dying. The other wild caught was mated by my male over 10 times! With no cannibalism. She has laid two (or three, will explain confusion) ooths and still eating. The male has also mated twice with another of my females, no ooth yet. I have another sub adult male and female, and five other nymphs.

These guys are great, very easy to breed. All I did was let the male's antenna touch the female and jumped on, in my hand! They readily tackle prey and are easy to handfeed if no small feeders are available. They're like lizards arms.

Onyl frustrating part is that the lay ooths on the ground. The ooths blend in well with my sand/soil substrate...

Interesting. It would be good for you to find out the season. But considering how you already caught adults and/or subadults, the siblings (the wild ones) of the adults you caught should also be adults and should be laying ooths as well. If that's the case, then placing your new ooths back to where you caught them now or later should be alright. Since some people did mention their interest in the species, and considering that each ooth can produce many many nymphs, one ooth should be more than enough to overcompensate for your "take" right? But of course, you can put more than that.

It would also be good if you knew where wild females lay their ooths (under the shade of plants or in the open and subject to 100+ degree temps). If it's in the open, then those ooths sure are resilient against the hot temperature. I'm just thinking what if you were to try and hatch the ooths you had now because you would use heat like anyone else(but the funny thing is that outside according to what you said might be hotter than the temperature you might incubate them with). If you are able to hatch them within a few months, then it might be true that there are overlapping generations. If not, then the species may need to go through a pause before they can hatch. Anyways, I'm just throwing stuff out there so good luck!