Hello everyone!

[shorty]

Hi everyone, I used to post here from late 2008 through early 2009 but went inactive from both the hobby and the forum due to personal/medical reasons. My name is Jay, I'm 22 (will be 23 this month) and I live in Northwestern Pennsylvania.

I had plans to order a few species but a friend and I happened across a big five inch T. sinensis female today and I got to start out sooner than I had expected. We found the T. sinensis in a vacant lot in Erie, PA and it seems to be a great area to find more. I go to Erie everyday so I'll be looking again tomorrow. I'd not only like to find her a mate but I'd also like to find a few Mantis religiosa. I remember catching them as kid; they're such a vibrant shade of green!

The female we found has a very large abdomen and she might very well be pregnant but I have to no way to ensure this other than to find her a mate. This is the best time of the year to find specimens in the wild in my area because they are all adults and easier to spot. Anyone know generally what time of the year they mate and what time they start laying oothecae? I imagine it would be right around now.

Anyway, I look forward to posting and taking part in the hobby again. And for anyone interested, I found another hobby that I really enjoy: growing Bonsai trees. I also have a few carnivorous plants.

 

[LauraMG]

Welcome back shorty! I hope all your medical stuff is worked out and you're alright!

 

[Nepfreak]

Welcome back to the hobby!

 

[Seattle79]

Welcome back and good hunting.

-Kevin

 

[PhilinYuma]

Welcome back, Shorty! You will find a lot of the names have changed,since you were last here, but the subject is the same!

 

[Rick]

Welcome back. I remember you. This time of year the female is pregnant without a doubt. Most likely she has already mated. Very unlikely she is 5" though. :lol:

 

[angelofdeathzz]

Welcome back... :alucard:

 

[hibiscusmile]

You know it, she lays eggs any time now if not already! welcome!

 

[ismart]

Welcome back!

 

[nickyp0]

Welcome back!

 

[shorty]

Found a T. sinensis male today as well as a brown female M. religiosa and a small green male religiosa. The religiosa look so small in comparison to the T. sinensis. Being that I have a sexed pair of each species, I'm trying to decide if I should try and mate them or not. I just don't know if I want to risk the males, especially if you think they may have mated already. I may just leave them be. That vacant lot is full of them. We only spent about ten minutes looking yesterday and found one. Today we looked for about a half an hour and found three.

Finding them in the wild is so fun; I wish there were more species around the area to look for.

And no, Rick, she's not quite five inches long. I measured her today and she is about four and a quarter inches long. I was just estimating when I said five inches.