petoly
Well-known member
Metallyticus Violaceus Consolidated.
I figured I would make one if it's okay with everyone and please add your input so we can shed some light and misinformation on this semi mysterious species.
This guide will be focusing on The Violaceus Species but some of this can be applied to the Splendidus species as well. Just know that Splendidus is much smaller so you will need much smaller food.
Location:
Island of Sumatra in Malaysia. There are rumors out stating that they have also been located in eastern india but those rumors haven't been confirmed
Habitat:
This is a bark dwelling mantis. It lives on the barks of trees and hardly if ever leaves them.
Description:
While less attractive looking than it's cousin Splendidus, the violaceus makes up for it in size. Being around 1 1/2 to 2 inches as an adult. This size also makes it easier to care for in a way. Coloration is very dark, almost black with purplish and/or blue metallic hues. These guys are more roach than mantis. They scurry and stay pretty parallel to the surface they are on. Definitely not slow. Be careful with tank maintenance. if you blink and one moves you might find that it jumped out of your tank and is now under something safely away from you to catch. It is no question that the physiology of this species is completely alien compared to any other mantis species. As such they behave completely differently. They ignore flying prey, and rely on scurrying prey. Instead of walking slowly and mimicking branches in the wind, these guys are little bullets. one minute they are perfectly still, the next second they are at the other side of the tank. They are also able to walk sideways like a c r a b, walk backwards, and rotate themselves 360 degrees. These are very very agile mantids.
Cannibalism:
almost uneard of. These guys seem to have the communialness of a roach although territorial. The babies can also live with the adults as long as the cage is well supplied with food.
Caging:
For a pair use at least a 8X8X12 enclosure. height is important.The cage walls MUST be lined with bark-like material or bark itself. You can also opt to make a cage out of wood and that should work farely nicely. I Prefer using cork bark tile as it is easy to cut to size, has crevices for the food to hide in, and it stimulates the mantis's natural hunting behavior. Not to mention it looks cool. Some people have also used the cork liner you use to line shelves.
For substrate you could use coconut fiber but I just lined the floor with the cork bark. Spray it enough and it maintains humidity. My preference is this because that way timid roach feeders won't burrow in the substrate. Instead they will try to hide in the cracks of the cork bark.
Temperature:
I keep mine at around 85F. 85-90F is a good temperature for them during the day. Night time temps can safely go down to 68F but I wouldn't do more than that.I suspect warmer temps will help induce mating.
Humidity:
During the day I keep them at 50%-80%. 80% at night. Sprits the cage once daily. twice or 3 times if you live in a dry hot area with the AC blasting.
Diet:
It seems the big misconception is that you need to have firebrats or silverfish to feed these guys. I don't believe that is necessary at all. I recommend starting some good roach colonies for them. Depending on size of specimen feed it the appropriately sized roach. Roaches I recommend are Oxyhaloa Duesta (red head roaches) these guys are climbers and don't burrow. Another good roach is the small variety of the banana roach (panchlora nivea) since the adult's bright coloration will catch the eye of the mantis. I have also had great success with the super timid Dubia roach. in fact that's what I have been primarily feeding my guys and they are always fat and plump. I can see firebrats being useful for L1 or the Metallyticus Splendidus, but I believe that the babies of the smaller roaches I mentioned above will also work well if not better. Also less chances of the feeder animal escaping the tank with roaches. Don't expect to observe them in their hunting behaviors very often if at all. These guys are nocturnal. They hardly move during the day. Make sure the tank is well stocked with roaches. I usually have around 30 in there and they last about a week if not more.
Bug_Trader feeds the adults 1/2 inch crickets on top of the roaches. They seem to like them
Tom has had success feeding subadults with fruit flies
Sexing:
Just count the segments like a regular mantis
Breeding:
Still working on that. These guys can be fussy to breed. I suspect it's because of them being communial. The male might get desensitized to the female's pheromones, since they are usually housed together. A separate enclosure and separating them for a few days should solve that problem. Most likely you will not see them breed. They will probably do it at night. With their skittishness it's also pretty unlikely that you can line them up and try to get the male to mount the female like a normal mantis.
A lot of luck is involved. I recommend increasing humidity to 90% and upping the heat. I'd like to hear your input in this section.
Ootheca laying:
I have observed my gravid female over a few days. I have observed that the female seems to actively search with her abdomen for an optimum spot to lay her ooth. It appears she is looking for the perfect crack or crevice in the bark for her to lay an ooth so it's farely well hidden. Barks with mediumish deep cracks Are recommended in my book, but probably not necessary. I feel this may simulate her natural environment a bit better. and the deeper cracks might stimulate her to lay an ooth, increasing chances. Cork bark did it for me.
I hope this sheds some light. Please don't rag on me if something seems wrong to you. Just let me know what you do. This is how I care for mine and they are doing just fine, so for me it works. Let's hear some other opinions =)
I figured I would make one if it's okay with everyone and please add your input so we can shed some light and misinformation on this semi mysterious species.
This guide will be focusing on The Violaceus Species but some of this can be applied to the Splendidus species as well. Just know that Splendidus is much smaller so you will need much smaller food.
Location:
Island of Sumatra in Malaysia. There are rumors out stating that they have also been located in eastern india but those rumors haven't been confirmed
Habitat:
This is a bark dwelling mantis. It lives on the barks of trees and hardly if ever leaves them.
Description:
While less attractive looking than it's cousin Splendidus, the violaceus makes up for it in size. Being around 1 1/2 to 2 inches as an adult. This size also makes it easier to care for in a way. Coloration is very dark, almost black with purplish and/or blue metallic hues. These guys are more roach than mantis. They scurry and stay pretty parallel to the surface they are on. Definitely not slow. Be careful with tank maintenance. if you blink and one moves you might find that it jumped out of your tank and is now under something safely away from you to catch. It is no question that the physiology of this species is completely alien compared to any other mantis species. As such they behave completely differently. They ignore flying prey, and rely on scurrying prey. Instead of walking slowly and mimicking branches in the wind, these guys are little bullets. one minute they are perfectly still, the next second they are at the other side of the tank. They are also able to walk sideways like a c r a b, walk backwards, and rotate themselves 360 degrees. These are very very agile mantids.
Cannibalism:
almost uneard of. These guys seem to have the communialness of a roach although territorial. The babies can also live with the adults as long as the cage is well supplied with food.
Caging:
For a pair use at least a 8X8X12 enclosure. height is important.The cage walls MUST be lined with bark-like material or bark itself. You can also opt to make a cage out of wood and that should work farely nicely. I Prefer using cork bark tile as it is easy to cut to size, has crevices for the food to hide in, and it stimulates the mantis's natural hunting behavior. Not to mention it looks cool. Some people have also used the cork liner you use to line shelves.
For substrate you could use coconut fiber but I just lined the floor with the cork bark. Spray it enough and it maintains humidity. My preference is this because that way timid roach feeders won't burrow in the substrate. Instead they will try to hide in the cracks of the cork bark.
Temperature:
I keep mine at around 85F. 85-90F is a good temperature for them during the day. Night time temps can safely go down to 68F but I wouldn't do more than that.I suspect warmer temps will help induce mating.
Humidity:
During the day I keep them at 50%-80%. 80% at night. Sprits the cage once daily. twice or 3 times if you live in a dry hot area with the AC blasting.
Diet:
It seems the big misconception is that you need to have firebrats or silverfish to feed these guys. I don't believe that is necessary at all. I recommend starting some good roach colonies for them. Depending on size of specimen feed it the appropriately sized roach. Roaches I recommend are Oxyhaloa Duesta (red head roaches) these guys are climbers and don't burrow. Another good roach is the small variety of the banana roach (panchlora nivea) since the adult's bright coloration will catch the eye of the mantis. I have also had great success with the super timid Dubia roach. in fact that's what I have been primarily feeding my guys and they are always fat and plump. I can see firebrats being useful for L1 or the Metallyticus Splendidus, but I believe that the babies of the smaller roaches I mentioned above will also work well if not better. Also less chances of the feeder animal escaping the tank with roaches. Don't expect to observe them in their hunting behaviors very often if at all. These guys are nocturnal. They hardly move during the day. Make sure the tank is well stocked with roaches. I usually have around 30 in there and they last about a week if not more.
Bug_Trader feeds the adults 1/2 inch crickets on top of the roaches. They seem to like them
Tom has had success feeding subadults with fruit flies
Sexing:
Just count the segments like a regular mantis
Breeding:
Still working on that. These guys can be fussy to breed. I suspect it's because of them being communial. The male might get desensitized to the female's pheromones, since they are usually housed together. A separate enclosure and separating them for a few days should solve that problem. Most likely you will not see them breed. They will probably do it at night. With their skittishness it's also pretty unlikely that you can line them up and try to get the male to mount the female like a normal mantis.
A lot of luck is involved. I recommend increasing humidity to 90% and upping the heat. I'd like to hear your input in this section.
Ootheca laying:
I have observed my gravid female over a few days. I have observed that the female seems to actively search with her abdomen for an optimum spot to lay her ooth. It appears she is looking for the perfect crack or crevice in the bark for her to lay an ooth so it's farely well hidden. Barks with mediumish deep cracks Are recommended in my book, but probably not necessary. I feel this may simulate her natural environment a bit better. and the deeper cracks might stimulate her to lay an ooth, increasing chances. Cork bark did it for me.
I hope this sheds some light. Please don't rag on me if something seems wrong to you. Just let me know what you do. This is how I care for mine and they are doing just fine, so for me it works. Let's hear some other opinions =)
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hopefully there is some data
