beginner species of mantids

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alan2296

alan2296

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I'm pretty new to the mantis hobby, and would like to know what species would be best for me. So please comment below telling me what species you guys would recommend to me.

 
Hierodula sp.'s, Phyllocrania paradoxa, Creobroter sp.'s, ummm D. Lobata were easy to care for when i was a beginner, but i recommend Creobroter or Ghost mantis.

 
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Mime454 said:
Popa Spurca was my first species. They were easy, but I learned not to keep them together. Lots of cannibalism.
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Forgot about them, they are easy too, but bonus about the creos and ghosts is that if kept well fed, they can be kept communally.

 
Ghosts, Creobroter sp. (both on the small side) and if you want something bigger, Sphodromantis sp. I also love Miomantis and they're pretty easy.

 
creos, popas, ghosts, hierodulas, sphodromantis, mios, budwings. When i was a beginner personally one of my first was Phyllovates chlorophaea, the texas unicorn mantis.

 
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brancsikia339 said:
creos, popas, ghosts, hierodulas, sphodromantis, mios, budwings. When i was a beginner personally one of my first was Phyllovates chlorophaea, the texas unicorn mantis.
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Is the unicorn mantis still common in culture? I've been looking for someone selling nymphs and I haven't had luck.

 
brancsikia339 said:
I haven't seen any recently, but they're native to texas, new mexico and arizona so someone could easily catch them
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They are actually extremely rare in the US and can be only found in the most southern town in Texas.
 
I had an easy time with Creobroter sp. and with Oxyopsis gracilis. Now I am having a great time with the Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii species.

 
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I am on my first mantis, a sphodromantis, and he is pretty sturdy. We even had a near death experience when the power and heat went off in our apartment for a full day while we were at work. It got down to 50 degrees inside, we flipped the breakers back on and put a few lamps by him and he was fine 30min later.

Also, he's big enough that I can handle him with out worrying that I will break him.

 
This is my first year raising mantids so this is information based on very limited experience. For me, the Sphodromantis Lineola has been very hardy and I have raised all 6 from L1 to adult with no deaths. I started with 4 creos and 6 ghosts from L1 and I raised 2 creos and 3 ghosts to adult. The creos and ghosts that were lost were probably due to not having plenty of food at all times so there was some cannibalism because I kept them together. For whatever reason, I had a difficult time with the Chinese mantids. I lost over half of 20 on the final molt. I'm sure I was doing something wrong but can't quite figure it out. Anyway, if a newbie like me could raise 6 Sphodromantis with no deaths than they must be pretty hardy.

Good luck and have fun!

 
It's difficult to recommend a beginner species since there is so much variation in how individuals keep their mantids. It ends up being about how you will be keeping any of the mantids you obtain, since your climate and your household's internal conditions will either make their upkeep very easy or very difficult. If your house is dry, you'll need to either keep mantids tolerant of low humidity or mist often. If your house is very humid, you may have difficulty keeping mantids susceptible to infections in humid environments. The ease of the mantid ends up being about two things: the conditions you'll be able to give them and their natural survival rate. We can say that chinese mantids are very easy because they can adapt to a range of conditions, but we can also say that they're difficult because they have a very large mortality rate. At the same time, we can say that orchid mantids are difficult because of their need for a more defined environmental living condition, but are easy because their mortality rate is relatively low. That said, the suggestions above are pretty good starting points.

That said, I think that some of my favorite "beginner" species are probably Phyllocrania paradoxa, Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii, and Oxopsis gracilis. Relatively easy mantids with distinct differences in behavior that I find quite interesting.

 
I am new to this also. But would disagree that D. lobabta are easy to keep for a beginner.

They like to hang out near the bottom so are more liable to mismolt. I have killed 3!

 
Budwings and Creos are very easy which can make it more fun for a beginner, once you raise something like this to adult then maybe try the Orchids and such. But really almost no species is that hard if you do some research before buying, but then again I count total failure as a learning experience as well?!? :)

 

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