Good mantis book?

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FitzWallace

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Are there any good mantis books out there? Seems like all of them are written at kid level - which can still have good information, but I'd like something written at a higher level. Another thread mentioned The Praying Mantids By Frederick R. Prete, Lawrence E. Hurd, but it is quite expensive ($85+). Looking for anything from identification of species to behaviors to anatomy. Thanks!

 
From personal experience, I can say that books on the topic generally only exist in the elementary school level and the high university level ONLY. I have had lots of problems locating books that were aimed for the high school to early college level (and that focused on mantids only). This can be quite frustrating, especially for people that are not into biology in general as the higher level books use advanced rehtoric for their descriptions and loads of detail and data. The average Joe can still squeeze information from them though; it's just that the reading doesn't flow so smoothly.

Anyway I have checked out The Praying Mantids. I thought it was great. I have checked out others, but I forget the titles. Go to your local library or university library and check them out instead of buying them.

 
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Praying Mantids: Keeping Aliens

http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=2006

I have heard that this is the best book about mantids on the market... it is short, but has alot of good information and isnt written for kids or for entomologists, but rather for the everyday hobbyist

Personally I rather enjoyed reading what was available online from The Praying Mantids By Frederick R. Prete, Lawrence E. Hurd. but I was a bilogy major in college, so the jargon doesnt bother me. I just wish I could find one for read online or at a library nearby... as our public library is a joke, and the nearest university library is hours away.

 
DARKSPEED said:
Praying Mantids: Keeping Alienshttp://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=2006

I have heard that this is the best book about mantids on the market... it is short, but has alot of good information and isnt written for kids or for entomologists, but rather for the everyday hobbyist

Personally I rather enjoyed reading what was available online from The Praying Mantids By Frederick R. Prete, Lawrence E. Hurd. but I was a bilogy major in college, so the jargon doesnt bother me. I just wish I could find one for read online or at a library nearby... as our public library is a joke, and the nearest university library is hours away.
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I think it is a great book for those just starting out. The Praying Mantids is highly technical but still a good read. I have both.

 
I agree with Rick. I also have both books.

The keeping Aliens book is the best basic intro to the hobby. I have not found another text that will help you get a good start better then this one. It also has great info on the US native species. However, the book was written several years ago. So some of the exotic species it covers have disappeared from the hobby in the USA. Other species have come in and are not covered at all.

The Praying Mantids book is good if you take a more scientific/detailed interest in mantid biology. It covers details like movement and vision. It offers info on the then current ideas regarding mating and cannabalism. But most of the info is really only of the "that's kinda cool" type. Most is not useful to a hobbiest. If you want a copy, try Amazon.com and be patient! I got a brand new copy, still shrink wrapped for $40!! Be patient and wait for a used copy at a good price. I don't suggest any hobbiest pay $85+ for this book!!

 
Well, I agree that the price is rather high. It was even higher over here, but that's a book I have to own. As books like this are rarely given away once you own a copy it should be rather hard to get an used one.

Regarding hobbyists books, there exists a good one in Germany, by far better than "Praying Mantids: Keeping Aliens". The language barrier should be a problem, though.

In general there aren't many books about mantids. They are understudied scientifically.

 
This one? Mantiden Faszinierende Lauerjäger. That is a very detailed small format (4x6) hardcover with 191 pages. It has a lot of outside source photos and is very nice (BTW it claims H.strachani females are 130mm). The only problems are obviously it is written in German which makes it more a novelty than a book for someone without at least basic German, the spine on the book breaks easily, it might not be that easy to acquire, and the species are also slightly out of date. It would have been great if it were financially possible for the Praying Mantids Keeping Aliens book to have been in such a format. Since it was constructed in the USA it doesn't have the full color or page count possible for books made in China, Singapore, etc.

 
You're right, I meant that book. "Hardware" problems and printing quality are an issue, too, but I just compared the photographic quality and information content. And, regarding this point, "Mantiden - Faszinierende Lauerjäger" is the better one despite of a few mistakes. Every book has mistakes, so this is no point, but the amount should be tolerable. From this point of view it's the best beginner book abvailable. It is sold out at moment, but as far as I am infomed a new edition is on the way. The species mentioned there were all in stock 2001, and only a few dissapeared. Besides Heterochaeta, there are Acanthops and Decimiana, and Brancsikia, to mention just the more spectacular ones, which are not available today. Brancsikia, however, never was really in stock, as the breeding success lasted only about one generation. Most other species are still, or again, found in the hobby. Of course all the new species brought in stock from 2002 on are not included. But a book is already outdated when it leaves the print shop...

Regardless how good or bad one may find a book, it is clear that there is a lack of such stuff for mantids.

 
I did a quick search at Amazon.com and found 14 used copies available. The cheapest is going for $65 and change. If you check back once a week, you might catch a copy for less. I did! Seems used copies are plentiful at this time.

 
Hypoponera said:
Hey Orin,Do you know what the exchange rate is? 70 pages for DKK 200 seems a bit high to me. But I remember the exchange rate from the mid- to late 80s!! Have you seen the book?
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It is a hardcover, full color book. The page format is much larger than the German book 9X9 versus about 4X9. It appears to be about $42 but that's cheaper than the German book (prices in the recent past anyway) and the German book according to Christian is not available. Both would have been much cheaper a few years ago but the dollar is starting to look like the peso. I have both books and even have a couple photos in the Danish one. Both books are neat to have in your collection but have limited worth if you can't read them. Obviously if you only read English and are looking for an inexpensive book for the hobbyist Praying Mantids Keeping Aliens is about it.

Christian, I don't think the H.strachani info in the Geman book is wrong from the specimens I had a while back labeled that species (didn't send them to a taxonomist so the certainty is not 100%). I only mention the spine on that book because it's a beautiful hardcover book but the spine breaks before you read through it once.

 
P.S. I didn't notice any printing quality issues with the German mantis book.

 
The thing about books is you gotta know where to look in order to find what you want to read... especially when you seek truith and wisdom.

Here we are sitting on alot of truith and wisdom right here. From wonderful insight and experience shared with us by some of the worlds best breeders, hobbyists, entomologists, and environmentalists... to amazing photography by many a great photographer, to the vendors that provide the best supplies and food, to the trials and tribulations of the novices, and learning from our mistakes. Not to mention the Admin tho help organize and maintain it all. By sharing all this with one another We are essentially writing one of the best mantis books ever written.

My thanks goes to us all.
 
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@Orin: I didn't have problems with the spine yet. Maybe there was some production failure. The size given for Heterochaeta may be true, I didn't check it recently. My impression was that this species (but not others) is slightly smaller than 13 cm. Maybe it were just the specimen in my collection which was smaller.

 
'keeping aliens' is a great little book,ideal for beginners but sadly devoid of any colour photographs (apart from the cover) but certainly worth the asking price..'the praying mantids' is a fantastic book for advanced keepers and those interested in taking things alot further,i have found it hard to put down...'mantiden f.l' is superb even if the german language is a barrier and is an excellent resource. I havent spoken german since my schooldays but i do find it quite easy to break down and understand (maybe its time i began learning it again?) and the species husbandry guide at the back of the book is handy for guidance...my way of looking at things is that books are never a waste of money and when i used to specialise in keeping/breeding endangered fish species i would pay anything for particular text books to broaden my horizons..i suppose in this day and age the internet dominates everything,but beware,anyone,regardless of experience,can give poor or inaccurate advice information via the web as i have come across particularly with the fish i used to keep.

There is another book which i do not have yet called 'MANTODEA;GOTTESANBETERINNEN DER WELT' author R Erhmann..does anyone have an opinion on this one?

 
The last book you mentioned is a must-have for scientists or taxonomists, but of low value for those interested in the hobby alone. It is primarily a catalogue of all known species until 2002 (in this regard, it is already outdated, but if you have the newer work still of great use), but it offers information on the life cycle, predators, many photos and a large reference part. If you try to get into species knowledge this is the one you must have. The only thing that may be critisized, although it wasn't a purpose of this book, is that it lacks an ID key. But a key is hard to compile and a work for several years. It's on others to do it.

 

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