Allthingsterrarium
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2018
- Messages
- 107
- Reaction score
- 7
How's it going everybody? It's nice to meet you all! I joined just yesterday on behalf of the newest member of my terrarium collection and who I'm really excited about. A giant Asian mantis! More specifically since a couple species apparently share that name she's a Hierodula membranacea. I got her yesterday when I went to a local reptile expo where I was actually hoping to find one of two special species of lizard I'm on the lookout for but while I didn't find either of them I found this beautiful specific mantis I've actually been wanting for a little over a year now. She's probably just under two inches but apparently will eventually reach around 5 and considerably beef up. I'm not positive but I assume she's female because according to the care sheet the seller gave me males have long wings that extend past the abdomen while females have shorter wings that just barely reach the abdomen and I'm not seeing any long wing on her but then again she's still very small and I might not know until later. I'm actually not sure if she's still a nymph. She also has a big abdomen which apparently can also indicate female. Once she settles in a bit I'm going to put some twigs, leaves and maybe even a few tiny rocks into her container. She actually just molted as I found the molt, which I've since removed, clinging to the top of the lid. The fact that she molted was one of the reasons I chose her specifically over the others because I feel that means she's well on her way in growing larger. I also really appreciate the shade of green she is though I looked into them more and this species can sometimes change color which should be awesome to watch! There's a few tiny red runner roach nymphs the seller already put in there for her but I'm going to actually wait a day or two before I feed her myself because I feel like if mantises are anything like their fellow arthropods the tarantulas they need to let their bodies and mouth parts harden a bit before eating. There's some damp paper towel in the bottom that they gave her for moisture but I'm considering putting in some water gel cubes like crickets use instead. I've done some research on keeping mantises but I still have a lot to learn and I look forward to learning more here along with her as she grows and I think I'll have plenty of time to get experience as the woman I got her from said some females can live up to 16 months. Long for an insect! I'll get some better pictures later. Right now I'm still stuck on finding a name for her. I think a Chinese name would be fitting for a giant Asian mantis and for the time being I'm just calling her Lee as it's very oriental, gender neutral until we find out and also because it brings to mind a lot of famous martial artists with that name and the way a mantis moves when it strikes reminds me of martial arts.
