Best species for a mantisnoob?

[Rick]

Oh I definately can't find a living mantis where I live right now!!!! I would be looking for these next spring.Are you saying they live only 1 year? so buying mantis unless you want to breed them, is pretty much useless?

There are some comments you need to just skip over. Some exotic species can live a year but most will just give you several months at best. You say you will be looking next spring. Do you want to find your own or buy one? It is not useless to buy a mantis if you don't want to breed. Like I said, some people you can just ignore. Over time you will know which ones.

You want us to be precise? Well I don't know what else to tell you. You say you want something affordable? Well what is affordable to you? What is affordable to one person may not be to another. Most of the more common species can be had for not much money. Shipping will be your biggest issue. I told you in my first reply to check the classifieds here, many of the members also have websites.

 

[Rick]

first off there is prob no real species of mantis in east canada or any that reside in canada other then the ones that were introduced there!So the idea of finding a species that lives in canada and thats a large species is not going to happen!

getting a ooth is alot easier then just jumping into the mantis game because you need to learn how to raise them from the ground up and as they say you dont learn how to fly unless you learn how to land first!

Please. Stop.

 

[dubias]

There are some comments you need to just skip over. Some exotic species can live a year but most will just give you several months at best. You say you will be looking next spring. Do you want to find your own or buy one? It is not useless to buy a mantis if you don't want to breed. Like I said, some people you can just ignore. Over time you will know which ones.

ok gotcha!..

If I am to get a WC myself, I will obviously hunt it next spring, else I can buy/ship pretty much any time... When I know if there is a specific specie that I would be interested into, and that would be worth buying, then the other option of catching one will be mostly dead

You want us to be precise? Well I don't know what else to tell you. You say you want something affordable? Well what is affordable to you? What is affordable to one person may not be to another. Most of the more common species can be had for not much money. Shipping will be your biggest issue. I told you in my first reply to check the classifieds here, many of the members also have websites.

When I say be more precise, I mean those kind of replies!

Many of those don't meet his criteria.

which ones? why?

i think ghosts are the easiest in my opinion

why dude?? why!!;p

as for afordable, I guess I could check the classified, but then again, I don't even know a single of these species, xept the chinese one!

as in any hobby, I guess there are some ultra expensive, ultra rare mantis out there, and then there is also that basic, easy to breed,cheap , usual starter mantis, am I right? the second one, is the type of mantis that would enter my "afordable" I guess!

I checked the classified, and it seems that even the rarest don't go for high prices, but I still have to consider that it will die within a year!

this forum is for the mantis hobby and since all you want is one then its not much of a hobby for you then since your more into frogs!

that's what YOU think buddy, I am pretty sure the mods here are happy to see someone who's looking for good advice at the right place even if its for the good of only one single mantis, correct me if I am wrong

 

[Rick]

ok gotcha!..If I am to get a WC myself, I will obviously hunt it next spring, else I can buy/ship pretty much any time... When I know if there is a specific specie that I would be interested into, and that would be worth buying, then the other option of catching one will be mostly dead

which ones? why?

that's what YOU think buddy, I am pretty sure the mods here are happy to see someone who's looking for good advice at the right place even if its for the good of only one single mantis, correct me if I am wrong

Spring would be the hardest time to find a mantis. They are very tiny in the spring. Also tiny nymphs eat fruit flies, if you already have those for your other animals it may not be a concern.

I said they don't meet your criteria because you said you want a large species which most of those are not.

Most mantids are pretty easy to keep. Most can live under the same basic conditions. There are really only a few to avoid as a new person to the hobby.

Some of my favorites and some easy ones are:

giant asian mantis: large species, easy to keep

budwing mantis:small to medium species

chinese mantis:most people know about his one. L1 nymphs can be difficult

african mantis:medium mantis, very aggressive

any of the stagmomantis species:small mantids

texas unicorn mantis:interesting mantis native to the southwest (texas)

wide arm mantis: a medium mantis, pretty interesting. Also very aggressive.

There are so many......

 

[dubias]

but about spring.. those tiny babies come from 2 mantis that mated during spring? right? or do they lay egg during fall, and then die, and the eggs hatches in spring?

if that is the case, well god, mantis are complicated hhaha!!!

thanks for all the answers

 

[Rick]

but about spring.. those tiny babies come from 2 mantis that mated during spring? right? or do they lay egg during fall, and then die, and the eggs hatches in spring?if that is the case, well god, mantis are complicated hhaha!!!

thanks for all the answers

Mating takes place in late summer/fall. Ooths are laid around the same time. First frost usually kills the adults. Eggs hatch in spring. Newly hatched nymphs are 1 cm or less in size which is why I said they are hard to find.

 

[ismart]

I'm a little confused! Are you looking to buy an adult mantis? Or a nymph that you plan on raising to adulthood?

 

[Emile.Wilson]

first off there is prob no real species of mantis in east canada or any that reside in canada other then the ones that were introduced there!So the idea of finding a species that lives in canada and thats a large species is not going to happen!

getting a ooth is alot easier then just jumping into the mantis game because you need to learn how to raise them from the ground up and as they say you dont learn how to fly unless you learn how to land first!

This is why I say that having tones of posts does not make you smarter in any way.

 

[Emile.Wilson]

yes it is pretty much useless?most of them live only till winter and thats the native species and they dont live anywhere passed the end of fall or beginning of winter and there are few species of mantis that can live a year or a little longer but those are not native and those would lay alot of ooths in their lifetimes and just raising one mantis I guess is ok but this forum is for the mantis hobby and since all you want is one then its not much of a hobby for you then since your more into frogs!

Katnapper do you have a smiley that shoots himself in the head "

"

 

[Katnapper]

Katnapper do you have a smiley that shoots himself in the head "insert here"

 

[dubias]

I'm a little confused! Are you looking to buy an adult mantis? Or a nymph that you plan on raising to adulthood?

Well I did want an adult, but I didn't know about mantis... now I understand that having a mantis as an ooth is pretty much just not even an option, it's how you can have a mantis! I'll have to think about all this a bit more... I guess if I find one in the wild, I might try it out but I doubt I'll pay for mantis as I do not plan to breed them ;X

 

[Katnapper]

You don't have to breed them; keeping one or two as pets can be very rewarding!

 

[ismart]

May i suggest that you look into maybe buying a sub-adult chinese or giant asian. The reason a say this is because if you don't want to raise one up from a small nymph then at least you will have a little more time with a sub-adult mantis. Mantids do not live a very long time. So if you purchase one as an adult you may only live for a short time. Also these species at sub-adult should have no problem tackling dubia's if i'm not mistaken. A female mantis would also be best. They are more aggressive and usally a bit larger, of course depending on the species that is. Really the best thing you could probally do is just browse through the forum. There is such a wealth of knowledge here. I hope this helps a bit!

 

[Emile.Wilson]

Wow Your rule!!!

 

[DeadInTheBasement]

there is always the tip that venomous snake owners tell newbies when they ask "whats the best beginner species"

its a simple answer....a DEAD one...dont have to feed it or nothing they are very easy to keep i swear

 

[JoeCapricorn]

What I would suggest if you are unable to find a wild mantis in your area, but you don't quite want to raise a mantis from a tiny nymph stage is to get one that is L4, L5 or so (still a few molts behind adult hood, but still reasonably large) or even sub-adult or adult (Don't just restrict yourself to adults, since they aren't always available).

I have 5 mantises - one adult Chinese, 3 L2 African and 1 L1 African (Or it could be 3 L3 or 1 L2, I just know that Meek is one molt behind the rest). Patience is key, and I suggest an older nymph or adult mantis because at first, you will make mistakes (I have) and you will learn from them. I also don't intend on breeding my African mantises, for the most part they'll be separate from each other. I simply do not have the time or resources to tackle having 50-200 baby mantises in my house, nor do I have the experience on shipping those babies to others if I want to get rid of them but not kill them.

Also, you probably do have a pet store that sells crickets in your area, so if you get a mantis that is decent sized and an older nymph, you can probably start off with small to medium crickets right off the bat. If you have an adult mantis, perhaps even large crickets.

As for specific mantises... there have already been many good suggestions. My favorite are Chinese mantises, I also like European mantises, which are smaller. I am loving my baby African mantises as well, they are also a hardy species and if you were to get baby African mantises, I recommend bugsincyberspace.com. Ordering from the internet can be intimidating because there are those that will rip you off and send you oothecas that are made of foam (Personally, I'll never order an ooth)

 

[PhilinYuma]

there is always the tip that venomous snake owners tell newbies when they ask "whats the best beginner species"its a simple answer....a DEAD one...dont have to feed it or nothing they are very easy to keep i swear

Yeah. Just be sure to keep it in the freezer.

 

[hierodula]

hierodula,sphodromantis, and rhomberda are all great and hardy species.

 

[PhilinYuma]

I don't wanna be an ######, buy you guys win a medal when it's time to post empty answers!!!!!!!!tell me why? give me examples! be more precise!!!

I will try to be more precise myself too, so here are my 4 criteria, in order of importance!

First of all, what I really need is a mantis that is affordable and that is available in Canada

secondo, I need a mantis that I can feed dubias to (so I guess I need a big one right?)

troisiemement, I guess I also need an easy to care for mantis as I don't have specific experience with mantis... I can't tell their feeling and how healthy they are by just looking at them, like I do with frogs for example (I am a frog freak!)

but from what I have been reading, mantis are very very easy to care for, right? I have seen that you don't even need to clean leaves or whatever you pick up outside before putting it in the tank! do that with a frog, and you have 50% chance of having a dead frog tomorow!

lastly, of course I would like a beautiful, fun to watch while hunting mantis, but the 3 first(specially the 2first) criteria are a lot more important !

Other than that, what is the average life span of a mantis?

Should I get a male of a female? What are the differences?

Am I not better off picking one in the wild? I do not know what type of mantis there is in eastern Canada though.

Thanks a lot for the information!!

Charlotte

Precise answers.

There are three species of mantis in the wild in Canada, two introduced species and one that only occurs in B.C. (I think that Emile is from there) and would be too small to interest you.. Try Googling <mantids eastern Canada> for more info, and you might want to p.m. Emile for expert advice, though when last heard from, I think that he was contemplating shooting himself in the head. You will certainly not be able to catch any mantids in the wild until next year -- early summer probably.From yr time zone, I imagine that you are from Ontario. If so, you might be able to get mantids shipped from the N.Y. (as in Bronx!) or from those nice midwestern states, like Illinois or Ohio.

Mantids are not "very, very easy to care for." Read through some of the threads here for the real skinny! "My mantis wont eat/sleep/molt." My mantis has developed a crick in its abdomen/black eyes/ fungus spots/creeping crud," etc. Also, not cleaning off stuff from outside before putting it in an enclosure is to invite trouble, as several members have reported. Most of us use twigs and artificial flowers.

You can feed dubias to any of the large mantids that you are likely to come across. All insects like some variety, though. I have fed dubias to S. limbata, the Arizona bordered mantis, which tends to be somewhat small. Just feed the right sized roach! An adullt female Chinese or peacock mantis will take adult dubias with ease.

Get a female. They are larger and fiercer than males for the most part and some give a very nice display of outspread wings when alarmed. Females have plumper abdomens and usually have shorter wings than the males.

If you have already had a deep frost this year, all of the adult mantids will be dead and the nymphs will not hatch from their ootheca until late next spring. In the wild, they will live from the time that they hatch in the spring until the first frost, if they don't get eaten or parastized or stepped on in the meatime. If you want an adult Chinese, say, don't expect it to live for more than a few months.

As Rick suggested, terms like "affordable" and "beautiful" are pretty subjective, but yes, all mantids are beautiful, and I have never bought one yet that I couldn't afford.

Finalment, I would suggest that you spend the winter learning more about mantids and the strange people who keep them, and perhaps catch one (mantis, that is, not strange person) in the wild next summer or buy one from a forum member.

Hope that helps.