Need your opinion please

[yen_saw]

If you are given a chance to chose only half of the species list below (in none particular order), which would you like to drop? it is taking too much of my personnal time, and i am afraid that i may not be able to give the best to all the species.

1. Florida bark mantis - Gonatista grisea

2. Nigerian flower mantis - Chloroharpax Modesta

3. Budwing mantis - Parasphendale Agrionina

4. Grass mantis - Thesprotia Graminis

5. Orchid mantis - Hymenopus Coronatus

6. Ghost mantis - P. Paradoxa

7. Spiny flower mantis - P. Wahlbergii

8. Desert pebble mantis - Eremiaphilla sp.

9. Texas unicorn mantis - Phyllovates chlorophaea

10. Asian giant mantis - H. Membranacea

11. Peruvian stick mantis - Pseudovates Peruvianan/Phyllovates?

12. African twig mantis - Popa sp

13. North aAfrican ground mantis - Oxyothepsis Dumonti

14: Boxer mantis - Otomantis sp.

I dropped marble mantis and devil flower mantis from my list of culture already but still having trouble spending too much time. Thanks in advance for any input.

Edited: scientific name included ---- sorry Isis, hope this help. By the way, i forgotten about North African grass mantis (No. 13)

Second Edit - bummer i forgotten my boxer mantis.....

 

[randyardvark]

yen thats a hard one! do you have any charater preferences? which do you find the most interesting in your opinion? and which are the highest maintinance? i mean its all very well for me to say drop the budwings, the asians and the ghosts, but bud wings may be your fav species ect,

the easyier to gain species may be better to drop however as if you want to get back into those species it would be easyier to do so than say with the bark mantids

sorry for beating about the bush, but i hope this helped in some vague way :?

 

[Isis]

I hate these awful english names I always have hard time dtranslating them to only-correct latin

Anyway: In my opinion drop: Chloroharpax, Hierodula, Peruvian stick.

I guess you will quit raising orchids too after your extraordinary success with them...

btw: I feel quite the same, having more than 10 species, I've decided to keep a pair or three of some more popular species. I have more from rare species.

 

[CockroachYet]

-Hello Yen, a very hard to answering question, but the next list was taked from your own list, and is only my very own particular selection ((for still keep them)) from your own list ((with no order of preference)):

-Orchid Mantis.

-Spiny Flower Mantis.

-Ghost mantis.

-African Twig Mantis

-Bark Mantis.

-Asian Giant Mantis.

-Best regards. Roberto.

 

[padkison]

Ok, If it were me (and I am not you, beauty is in the eye of the beholder), I would drop

1. Florida bark mantis (interesting but not a real beauty)

2. Nigerian flower mantis (cute little guys but not a lot of pizazz)

8. Desert pebble mantis (interesting but not fascinating)

9. Texas unicorn mantis (pick between this and peruvian)

10. Asian giant mantis (Nice, but something has to go and these take space)

11. Peruvian stick mantis (pick between this and Texas unicorn)

4. & 13. Drop one grass mantis species

Note that I've only kept a couple of those on the list so I am going off of pictures and caresheet info on many. Also, you know I've only been keeping mantids for about 9 months.

I do know exactly what you mean about trying to keep the number of creatures to a manageable level.

IMHO - all species have something unique about them that makes one want to keep them.

Good luck with such a hard decision!

If you are given a chance to chose only half of the species list below (in none particular order), which would you like to drop? it is taking too much of my personnal time, and i am afraid that i may not be able to give the best to all the species. 1. Florida bark mantis

2. Nigerian flower mantis

3. Budwing mantis

4. Grass mantis

5. Orchid mantis

6. Ghost mantis

7. Spiny flower mantis

8. Desert pebble mantis

9. Texas unicorn mantis

10. Asian giant mantis

11. Peruvian stick mantis

12. African twig mantis

I dropped marble mantis and devil flower mantis from my list of culture already but still having trouble spending too much time. Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[yen_saw]

Sorry i updated my list, would gladly hear more. isis, Perry, Roberto, Randy, If you change your mind, please let me know.

 

[xenuwantsyou]

1. Florida bark mantis - Gonatista grisea

5. Orchid mantis - Hymenopus Coronatus

9. Texas unicorn mantis - Phyllovates chlorophaea

10. Asian giant mantis - H. Membranacea

11. Peruvian stick mantis - Pseudovates Peruvianan/Phyllovates?

12. African twig mantis - Popa sp

If it were up to me, I would drop those. Realize I've kept very few mantids, so I'm more inclined to suggest keeping the ones I'm more interested in keeping some day. :?

 

[wuwu]

i feel exactly the same way as you, even though i only have 9 species at the moment. i'm thinking about dropping half of my species, most likely the "normal looking species."

if i were you, i would drop these species:

2. Nigerian flower mantis - Chloroharpax Modesta

3. Budwing mantis - Parasphendale Agrionina

4. Grass mantis - Thesprotia Graminis

5. Orchid mantis - Hymenopus Coronatus

6. Ghost mantis - P. Paradoxa

10. Asian giant mantis - H. Membranacea

13. North aAfrican ground mantis - Oxyothepsis Dumonti

 

[Isis]

For me only 1 species would be easy to drop I HATE Hierodulas.

As to other... if you are dropping orchids, I would'n mind getting some adults you know [a joke, if I exchanged something for these you would have a much greater dilemma ]

It depends on the country. In Poland other species are on top than in US. Keep that in mind. And you have a couple of grass species- save only 1 of them which you find m,ost interesting- they look alike and behave alike, if I were you I would do that.

So me list to drop-:

1.HIERODULA

2. Chloroharpax (there is no cuteness factor in them )

3-4. Some grass mantids

5. Hymenopus (but I would 100% save them these precious gems! )

 

[hibiscusmile]

Oh please keep the Orchids. They are so lovely! And the Devil, the Ghost, the Dead leaf and the Spiny Flower, and if you can the others too! But defineatly keep the Orchid, Devil, Ghost, Dead leaf and Spiny!

These are my favorites, and you did ask!

 

[hibiscusmile]

Oh please keep in mind the species (male or female) that reply! Thanks Yen

 

[yen_saw]

Wow, afraid orchid will have to go hibiscusmaile. I am just waiting to see if more breeders are able to breed them, i will definately drop orchid from the list if this species is doing well here in the states.

i mean its all very well for me to say drop the budwings, the asians and the ghosts, but bud wings may be your fav species ect

Randy indeed they are my fav! I sold all of them just to buy them back again (from the same person i sold to)! BUt i am going to miss them, however, they are doing well here too so no worry.

I guess you will quit raising orchids too after your extraordinary success with them...

Thanks Isis, it has been great fun raising them, although i haven't kept them as long as budwing mantis...err i mean P. Agrionina :wink: hope you have fun with the one i sent you too.Perry, you got my PM!! and agree with you on Giant Asian, except that my female just laid an ooth :?

wuwu, i feel your pain too!!

Thanks Roberto, i will take note of it.

 

[Christian]

Hi.

Now, I would handle it like this:

1. Florida bark mantis - Gonatista grisea

-> Interesting one, somewhat difficult. Maybe not beautiful, but very special. I would definitely keep it.

2. Nigerian flower mantis - Chloroharpax modesta

-> A nice one, rather new in stock, and doesn't need much space, so you can keep it or not.

3. Budwing mantis - Parasphendale agrionina

-> drop it; everyone has it and they are really boring

4. Grass mantis - Thesprotia graminis

-> unusual species, doesn't need much space either; keep it.

5. Orchid mantis - Hymenopus coronatus

-> drop it; everyone has it. They are nice, but somewhat "worn".

6. Ghost mantis - P. paradoxa

-> drop this one, too. Everyone has it. You can take it back when you get more time or loose some other species.

7. Spiny flower mantis - P. wahlbergii

-> drop it; everyone has it. It's a beautiful one, but not very challenging.

8. Desert pebble mantis - Eremiaphila sp.

-> definitely: keep it! A difficult species with interesting behavior, like no other mantis you have

9. Texas unicorn mantis - Phyllovates chlorophaea

-> keep it. All members of this group are difficult, even if this does not look like at the moment. A real challange to breed those. If it will turn out that they are easy, you can abandon them. Not available in Europe.

10. Asian giant mantis - H. membranacea

-> drop it; boring, needs a lot of space and everyone has it.

11. Peruvian stick mantis - Pseudovates peruviana/Phyllovates?

-> see Phyllovates chlorophaea. Everyone seems to have this one at the moment, but wait 2 generations! Remember Pseudovates arizonae? You see!

12. African twig mantis - Popa spurca

-> widespread; you can drop it.

13. North African ground mantis - Oxyothepsis dumonti

-> this one is new in stock; keep it.

14: Boxer mantis - Otomantis sp.

-> keep it; they are small, show interesting behavior and do not need much space. Also a species which tends to disappear from the stock, so wait some generations!

This is how I would do it. Challenging species are by far more interesting, as they require some attention and experience.

Regards,

Christian

 

[Isis]

Oh Christian I don't agree with you!

Parasphendale is one of the most interesting mantises I've raised! Maybe simple to keep but the colours, the "angryness", the hunting- they are very interesting IMO.

The rest... I wouldn't said anything bad about the species you dropped- polish breeders would drop Oxyothespis definately but not Hymenopus nor Pseudocreobotra

 

[Orin]

KEEP THESE

1. Florida bark mantis - Gonatista grisea

5. Orchid mantis - Hymenopus Coronatus

6. Ghost mantis - P. Paradoxa

9. Texas unicorn mantis - Phyllovates chlorophaea

 

[padkison]

I am finding it very interesting to see everyones' opinions. Helps me rethink what I want to culture from new perspectives.

 

[sean]

i agree with christian. it would be a shame for you to drop mantids that are very rare in the hobby. it may be that some of the more common species are your favourites(as are mine), so keep some, but everyone has them and you will easily be able to re-stock with these in the future. The other less common species would be much more difficult to come by at a later date. Thats how i would make the decision.

 

[CockroachYet]

-Also, may help to definy exactly what is your particular search ((looking for)) in the mantis breeding ((I am not a breeder but some animal breeders may apply these point of view for re-definy their breeding stock)), is say, awesome looking species, or very rare species, or very hard to breed species, or small or big species, or common looking species, or a mix of all above ways and other not mentioned ways.

-Every way have their own pros and cons on their road. Principally is a definition about which are your most favourites species of mantis for owning/keeping by any reason you definy. And finally, only take all other points of view said here ((mines included)) like a none reference definitive ((but please keep breeding the Orchid Mantis :wink: )).

-Best regards. Roberto.

 

[jplelito]

1. Florida bark mantis - Gonatista grisea

I'm with Christian on this one.. they may prove to be really cool. Their behavior is not like most other mantids.

2. Nigerian flower mantis - Chloroharpax Modesta

Small, but once you've sold a lot of them you can get rid of it... someone else will breed it.

3. Budwing mantis - Parasphendale Agrionina

I love these too, I will keep these because students love them - if you need more later, PM me, we can trade. But otherwise ditch 'em.

4. Grass mantis - Thesprotia Graminis

Maybe keep out of uniqueness at the moment.

5. Orchid mantis - Hymenopus Coronatus

Since you made this species so easy, you are probably safe to get rid of it, once you know other people will maintain it.

6. Ghost mantis - P. Paradoxa

Several others breed these, and even though they don't take much space their generation times are looooooooong. Probably safe to get rid of it.

7. Spiny flower mantis - P. Wahlbergii

I don't know too much about these guys, but if other folks breed them, it's safe to get rid of them.

8. Desert pebble mantis - Eremiaphilla sp.

Must keep! You are good at breeding things before anyone else, so once you teach the rest of us, you can get rid of it.

9. Texas unicorn mantis - Phyllovates chlorophaea

Keep! Same as #8.

10. Asian giant mantis - H. Membranacea

Ditch 'em. They are widespread enough without your help.

11. Peruvian stick mantis - Pseudovates Peruvianan/Phyllovates?

Keep! Same as #8.

12. African twig mantis - Popa sp

Same as #7.

13. North African ground mantis - Oxyothepsis Dumonti

Keep until others breed them, maybe?

14: Boxer mantis - Otomantis sp.

Please keep these! They have many VERY interesting behaviors. If you are going to get rid of them make sure you get some into the hands of us researchers first!

Good luck trimming your colony.. I always hate getting rid of any critters... :?