Connor's Mantis Collection

[Connor]

Well, I finally decided to do one of these, and I'm super excited about it. I've been wanting to share my whole collection for a while, just haven't gotten around to it. I can't wait to see where this goes in the future! 

DISCLAIMERS: sorry if this is in the wrong section... didn't know where the correct place was. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help me get the genders and age right; I am still learning and will except any help. Thank you for any responses!

LET'S BEGIN: 

Sphodromantis Lineola Subadult Male



He was in my first ever package of mantis... he was part of the reason I got hooked. He's the most aggressive mantis I own(except for my female) and is always entertaining to watch hunt. But he has caused me lots of trouble... even escaping his enclosure a few time lol. 

Sphodromantis Lineola Presub Female



She had to be the most aggressive mantis I own... absolutely crazy. I plan on breeding her with my male and hopefully continuing the generations.

Pseudocreobotra Wahlbergi L5/L6 Female?



She(?) was also included in my first package of mantis. The most color changing species in my collection, going from black and white poke dots to pink and white to now green and white and black. One of my more confident mantis. She(?) is always throwing her arms in the air and more than occasionally eats a fly with one arm just to show off lol.

Pseudocreobotra Wahlbergi L3ish 



This spiny is siblings with my other but it had gotten sick a while back and now refuses to molt. Very strange. It hasn't molted now for a month and is 2 molts behind it's sibling. 

Epaphrodita Musarum L5ish Male(?) 



Love this little guy! He is one of my most cool looking mantis. Heard these guys are rare so I will definitely be interested in breeding him(?). I will definitely be able to determine age next molt. 

Hymenopus Coronatus Presub Female



I shouldn't have to explain it, but she is definitely one of my favorites. She is my most calm mantis; I have never scared her or made her freak out at all. When I push her along she goes slowly and willingly. Not to mention how pretty she is. But she's an eater... munching down BBs in a minute! Will 100% be breeding her. I have some males on the way. 

Phyllocrania Paradoxa

Crazy little guys! The leave patterns on them are just absolutely incredible. 100% will be breeding! Males are behind a molt atm.

L4/5 Female



L4/L5 Female



L3/4 Male(?)



L3/4 Male(?)



Brunneria Borealis Ootheca



Heard these guys are a little more difficult species but I love the look of them so I had to get some. It might take a while but hopefully the wait is worth the reward. 

Blepharopsis Mendica Presub(?) Female(?)



One of my favorites for sure. I love the coloration and texture on this mantis. And boy is she a eater! Definitely wanting to breed her.

Stagmomantis Californica Adult Mama



Here is my female carolina mantis munching on a Dubia preparing for a ooth lay. My uncle actually found her outside then brought her to me, knowing that I love mantis. She was a sub and boy was I surprised when she had wings one day. I have bred her and she has already laid one big healthy ooth!

Stagmomantis Californica Adult Papa



Not much to say other than he got the job done lol. Bought him specifically for breeding.

Stagmomantis Californica Ootheca 



Cannot wait for it to hatch!

Deroplatys Lobata L4/5ish Male(?)



My most skittish mantis. He doesn't take off but instead goes immediately into stick formation. He is also the slowest possible eater EVER lol.

Gongylus Gongylodes L4(ish) Male and Female(?)



Some of the most cooling looking mantis. And the most communal in my opinion. Their name is no joke. As soon as you open that lid they start exploring. Hopefully I will be able to breed these guys

ON THE WAY: 

I have a Otomantis Scutigera ooth in route

I also have some Idolos and male orchid on the way. Breeder is waiting for idolos to molt.

Thank you so much for reading if you have gotten this far. This took a lot longer than I thought it would lol. But who cares... I now have a post of all my wonderful mantis. Lmk what you guys think. 

 

[Serle]

hey Connor , marvelous looking herd , quite the cross section of species. I have a few Blepharopsis at the same stage L6/7 certainly taking their time moulting to adult .............. S

 

[Connor]

Hey @Serle. Thanks, I love them all! I really love all the different kinds of mantis so that is what I am going for. Good luck with your thistles. Lmk if you'd be willing to perhaps do some exchanging for a male when the time comes . 

 

[Carnival Glass]

Wow you've got quite a lil family there! I commend you for keeping track of so many lol. I'd like to try my hand at keeping Blepharopsis Mendica someday too.  ^_^

 

[Jessie]

I have a caralina mantis to female. Very agressive. My mom gently touched her foot the first day and she took the banana under her rapture swatted at my mom and took off haha. Shes slowly tameing. I hold her with my sock on my hand. The other day i went to put her in her cage ans she grabbed my pants and started biting them.

 

[Connor]

Wow you've got quite a lil family there! I commend you for keeping track of so many lol. I'd like to try my hand at keeping Blepharopsis Mendica someday too.  ^_^

Thanks! Lol it doesn't even take that long everyday to take care of them. 10 minutes at the most if I didn't get them all out to feed and continually watch them with awe. B. Mendica are amazing! Just make sure you got a heat source.

I have a caralina mantis to female. Very agressive. My mom gently touched her foot the first day and she took the banana under her rapture swatted at my mom and took off haha. Shes slowly tameing. I hold her with my sock on my hand. The other day i went to put her in her cage ans she grabbed my pants and started biting them.

Geez she seems pretty aggressive. Mine is just really skittish. If I scare even a little bit she starts running around like crazy! 

 

[Shaun Young]

Connor, you mentioned having some orchid mantids on the way? Where did you order them from / what website? I was not able to find any at all on any website that were available !

 

[Connor]

Connor, you mentioned having some orchid mantids on the way? Where did you order them from / what website? I was not able to find any at all on any website that were available !

They are from @Savechanges. One of the best breeders that I've done business with. I strongly recommend him if your looking for some mantis. I believe he has got some L3-L4 orchids for like 30 bucks. Tell him I sent you!

 

[Ocelotbren]

Great collection, thanks for sharing!

 

[Connor]

Great collection, thanks for sharing!

Thank you!

 

[Logan_123]

You have my dream collection?. Will you be selling any mantids that come from your ooths? BTW you should start a YouTube channel for mantids! I think you would make some great vids

 

[Connor]

 @Logan_123Haha thanks. I for sure will be selling some nymphs. I'll think about a channel, but I do not have my own laptop yet or know how to edit. Maybe in the future 

 

[Okoboji22]

Great collection! How can you take care of so many at once? :blink:  Also, you should post some more pics of that epaphrodita on a different post as they aren't just rare, I think they are actually completely new to the USA

 

[Connor]

@Okoboji22Thank you! The maintenance honestly isn't bad at all. When I will start having to spend a lot of time is when all my ooths start hatching. Once I get home I'll put some more pics on.

 

[Connor]

UPDATE: 10/09/17

Another ghost molted on 10/07. Turns out one of the males is actually a female ! I'm going to hope this last ghost is a male or else I'm gonna have to hunt one down.



All three of my newly hatched lady ghosts



My female Giant African successfully molted once again(10/08). But she is not as big as my male and her wingbuds aren't as apparent. Is it true that the females of this species have one extra molt?



And here are some pics of the E. Musarum for @Okoboji22 I believe it's a male but I'll be sure next molt.

 

[Okoboji22]

Thanks for posting more of the epaphrodita, there's almost no pictures of this species and I find them pretty interesting. They're like a shorter and stockier deroplatys.

 

[Connor]

Thanks for posting more of the epaphrodita, there's almost no pictures of this species and I find them pretty interesting. They're like a shorter and stockier deroplatys.

Yeah exactly how I would describe it as well.

 

[Connor]

GIANT UPDATE: 10/12/17

My packages have arrived this week! I now have wayyy too many mantids but who cares lol. So I'll go through the list of stuff I have received and then I'll go through updates of my past mantids. Any help or response would be greatly appreciated!

First up are my group of Idolos! These guys are magnificent creatures. Absolutely beautiful and so majestic. These will be my first real challenge in this hobby so let me know what you guys think. I got 2 female L3s and 4 male L3s. I tried getting older females but unfortunately there were none so I will be providing the girls with more heat and food! These pics are not in order or are any specific sex(I can't remember which is which, once they start having some more personal details I will be able to remember). Props to @Savechangesfor handling such a large order!



Males in net cage and females just in he regular enclosure. Let me know if I should change anything around?



Next are my pair of prohierodula laticollis. Stunning colors on these. Cannot wait for them to get their wings!



Last but not least are my two little orchid males. They better make my girl happy!



 Now onto the updates with my original mantids. 

My last ghost molted and it's a she .... means I got to get a male now. At least I got 4 beautiful girls! This last girl that molted had a bit of an accident where she molted too close to the bottom. But the only thing affected was her crown. So now she looks like she's wearing a baseball cap lol. 



One of the violins molted. I have now confirmed both are girls so imma need some boys for them too lol. I will have to get a better pic soon because she is a pretty light green, a color I don't see violins having very often.



My D. Lobata molted as well. It is a she!



And last but certainly not least a NEW OOTH! My carolina laid again and this time she laid even bigger. I'm not interested in keeping this one so Pm me if you are interested.



lmk what you guys think! The idolos have quickly become my favorite if I'm going to be honest. I will get more pics out soon because these idolos will be molting shortly. Let's hope they do well molting! Thanks for reading everyone!

 

[Ocelotbren]

Everyone looks great; glad they arrived safely.  I would enjoy another angle of the ghost with the baseball cap. :lol:   Also another of the greenish violin.  I have no experience with idolos so I can't comment on your setup, but it seems good.  Maybe a bit big for feeding purposes?  That's all that comes to mind.

Enjoy the new mantids!