First mantis care help

[Buggy]

Okay, so I caught a wild mantid today. Its obviously a male and I think its a Chinese. (Ontario, Canada.) Brown body, greenish stripes down each side of his body and a small black spot on the inside of each forleg. He's about 2.5inches long and already owned a grasshopper about the same size.

Just wondering if theres any special watering percautions I should be taking.. He's been accepting food very readily (think he might not have been getting enough), but I've read that certian species get all the water they need from their food, and some need to be misted.

Will misting hurt him at all either way? thanks.

 

[OGIGA]

Misting is generally good. Just don't drown him. Is he an adult yet?

 

[Hypoponera]

Is the small black spot near the armpit area? If so, you probably have a European rather then a Chinese mantid. Chinese males that I have are all over 4 inches in length.

I mist my European adult daily. But I do live in a desert with very low humidity levels.

 

[Orin]

Make sure you keep it in a cage with a screen lid or/and sides.

Are you sure it's a male? Males usually don't eat oversized food.

 

[Buggy]

yep! looked it up today and its a european! Thanks for the help! I'm not so sure its a male anymore though now, I had guessed male because its wings are fully developed and its only around 2-3 inches head to wingtip.

 

[Rick]

The length of wings is not an indication for many kinds of mantids. Go to this thread and look at the part on adults to find out the gender: http://www.mantidforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7110

 

[Orin]

yep! looked it up today and its a european! Thanks for the help! I'm not so sure its a male anymore though now, I had guessed male because its wings are fully developed and its only around 2-3 inches head to wingtip.

European mantids aren't especially big and are quite variable. Years ago someone sent me an adult female European mantis that was barely over an inch long, wild-caught. It took me a while to figure out what it was because of the size.

 

[asdsdf]

Wow. One inch. My female was around 3 and a half. The male is 2 and a half. Both are wild caught. I never sprayed them, since they lived in a field that was ver ver hotm 100something dgrees, and no humidity/rain. Instead, I fed them bees, which had nectar inside of them, so water! (No, I'm not cruel, they didn't drink the first week I sprayed them, and sometimes I randomly spray and they don't drink.)

 

[Asa]

I catch some pretty big Europeans.