Found adult Mantis

[darrelb]

I live in Cincinnati Ohio and have found a adult mantis about 4 inches in length and brown in color. I currently have in in a container about the size of a 10 gallon aquarium. I want to photography it in a more controlled setting than outside. Any tips on care, I am guesing it will probabiliy die soon - am I right?

Darrel

 

[robo mantis]

you probably got a month left and just feed it crickets or and large insects (crickets can be purchased at a pet store) and you could photograph it on house plants to make the picture look natural good luck

 

[worldofmantis]

yeah like robo said probably about a month and from your description my first thought is it would be a chinese mantis

 

[robo mantis]

ya ohio is crawling with chinese mantids

 

[darrelb]

Thanks for the info. Here is a link to one image I toook outside.

http://www.pbase.com/digital_darrel/image/67791362

 

[robo mantis]

oh dude that is a species of mantis called carolina mantis the one you have is a female

 

[darrelb]

I just measured her about 2 1/4 inch. I was a bit off in my orginal estimate.

robo mantis thanks for the ID.

Darrel

 

[wuwu]

since it's pretty late already, i would guess that she's laid all her ooths already, judging by her flat stomach. this means that she won't live much longer, probably 2 weeks or so at most.

 

[Rick]

Yep, female carolina mantis. She will live a little while if kept indoors.. I'm guessing more than two weeks. She may lay another ooth.

 

[robo mantis]

no problem darrel well anyway my mated female chinese mantis is laying and ooth right now!!!

 

[tarpshack]

Thanks for the info. Here is a link to one image I toook outside.http://www.pbase.com/digital_darrel/image/67791362

That's a good looking mantis! I haven't seen on in the wild since I was younger. I need to start looking more often if that's what I can find in Cincinnati. When my soon-to-be mother-in-law found out I was keeping mantids, she told me that if she'd have known she could have gotten some for me. She works as a gardener/landscaper for a living and says she runs into the ooths all the time and occasionally runs into a mantids. That's cool to know because I wouldn't mind having one that looks like that.