Ground Mantis

rickyc666 · Oct 14, 2006

Hi All,

Has enyone ever seen in captivity, any mantids in the family of Eremiaphilidae? I have a photo of on in a book called "Grasshoppers and Mantids of the world" but i cant post it for copyright reasons.

found a link to a drawing and photo of some on the net:

http://tolweb.org/Eremiaphila/12603

http://www.fjexpeditions.com/desert/florafauna/sandbug.jpg

http://www147.sannet.ne.jp/ookuwang/DSC001935.JPG

The last picture is in a tank so someone must have them. I really want some of these and cant find them anywhere.

Samzo · Oct 14, 2006

The last picture has been discussed on this forum before. I don't think anyone on here has/ or knows of anyone with them.

Ian · Oct 14, 2006

Ah yes, the Eremiaphila. Lee had some of these a few weeks ago, maybe he can post his experiences with them.

Samzo · Oct 14, 2006

Ah yes, the Eremiaphila. Lee had some of these a few weeks ago, maybe he can post his experiences with them.

Oh, didn't know people could get hold of them now.

Christian · Oct 14, 2006

Hi.

Some of us also had 2-3 species along the years. They are not easy to keep. They need high temperatures (45-60°) and do not well on fruit flies as larvae. As they are very cannibalistic, you need a tank per specimen, but not too small ones, as they run very fast. However, if the tanks are too large they run against the walls and damage their eyes, as they are somewhat hectical and scary. I remember of some special humidity thing with the ooths as well. Not an easy taxon indeed, needs attention, space and high energy costs. If you do not take a lot of care, you usually loose the stock after 2-3 generations.

They appear frequently in culture, but are rarely bred in higher numbers to be available for everyone.

Regards,

Christian