Noob Questions

[yankeereefer]

Hi All-

I'm a noob here to the forum - I came across a terrestrial mantis last night when I came home from work - He was there the other day and I shooed him off -

Well last night, I decided to collect him as I knew that there was a group of people that maintained them as "pets". Until I googled the web today, I had no idea how huge of a group it actually was and that's how I came to subscribe to this thread.

Over the winter I noticed several "nests" in the shrubbery in front of my apt - I'm almost sure that this is one of it's previous offspring - I do not know if the last nest I saw were viable or not.

Anyways, being a new keeper I was hoping someone might help me learn some basics - I have perused some of the threads herein and on other sites and found myself unfamiliar with some of the "lingo"

What is L3, L4, etc.? I believe it to be an indicator of size - What are they specifically?

How long does a typical mantid live? I thought I read once uon a time that females die after egg laying.

Lastly, can someone ID my mantis? Here's a pic:

In case anyone's wondering, my screen name is related to my interest in nano reefkeeping - I use the same handle at nano-reef.com where you can see my saltwater tanks - My newest addidtion there is a 5.5g tank housing a Mantis Shrimp. here's his pic snapped during acclimation process:

Anyways, thanks in advance for any help - I plan to hang out here quite a bit to further my knowledge of my new found charge.

 

[Rick]

Welcome to the forum! Be sure to make an intro in the introduction forum. That is a chinese mantis nymph. If you see any egg cases this time of year they have already hatched. "L" refers to the instar or stage the mantis is at. A newly hatched mantis is L1 and each time they moult they go up. The one you have appears to be subadult which means after it's next molt it will be an adult. It looks like it's gonna be a female but if you could get a pic of it's underside I can confirm. Most mantids we keep are captive bred by breeders. The one you have is a common mantis that is not very desirable to breeders. I keep them on occasion though.

 

[yankeereefer]

Thanks for the reply and welcome!

I will make my way to the intro forum this evening -

Is this mantis a pretty "hardy" individual and easy to keep for noobs? I will get (if I can) pics of it's underside to post later tonight as well- I think I read that you can sex them by counting segments on their thorax

Can you tell me the life expectancy of this little guy? I am also curious if I should release it as it was "wildborn" vs. captive bred.

Thanks again!

YR

 

[Herp13]

Hey, i'm a noob just like you, i had one of the chinese i caught outside, but it died this morning during a bad molt, it was at the same stage in life as yours, oh, nice shrimp by the way, what species?

 

[Rick]

You can keep it if you want. It will probably live another few months indoors. They die at the first frost outside. They are fairly hardy once they are at that stage and after. It will need some vertical space to molt though. Yes you can tall sex on nymphs by counting the segments. Adults you can tell at a glance because the males are petite and the females are larger.

 

[robo mantis]

where you at in illinois

 

[yankeereefer]

Hey, i'm a noob just like you, i had one of the chinese i caught outside, but it died this morning during a bad molt, it was at the same stage in life as yours, oh, nice shrimp by the way, what species?

My mantis (aquatic) is a Neogonodactylus wennerae which is a pretty common hitchhiker found when purchasing live rock. He's what they categorize as a "Smasher" type of mantis - As their name inplies, they use their front "arms" to club crabs, sails, etc. The other type of aquatic mantis is "Spearer"- Spearer's appendages are more akin to those found in our terrestrial mantids.

 

[yankeereefer]

where you at in illinois

Chicago suburbs; Naperville

 

[robo mantis]

omg i used to live in a town around there now i am at Indiana border

 

[yankeereefer]

Well, then we're still practically neighbors!

 

[Rick]

I am also originally from Illinois. Small town Illinois:Central part.

 

[robo mantis]

nice was in South Holland but moved

 

[yankeereefer]

I'm not a Illinois native - I'm a CA boy deep down, but consider myself a Southerner as alot of my time has been spent in TN/MS. I have also lived in MA, MI and MN

 

[yankeereefer]

So am I to understand that my new mantis will only live a few months outside, due to frost (if I left him go) or inside the house (as Rick wrote) - I'm confused

 

[xenuwantsyou]

Basically it'll most likely live longer in your care, given the proper care. Either way age will eventually do it's thing, unfortunately.

 

[Rick]

So am I to understand that my new mantis will only live a few months outside, due to frost (if I left him go) or inside the house (as Rick wrote) - I'm confused

Whenever the first frost usually occurs in your area is when she would die outside. Will live a little longer inside.

 

[yankeereefer]

Basically it'll most likely live longer in your care, given the proper care. Either way age will eventually do it's thing, unfortunately.

If I maintained it, how long might I expect it to live (average) - Do captive bred mantis have a longer life expectancy than wild caught?

 

[Rick]

You may get four months if you're really lucky. Chinese don't live long to begin with. Get another type from some of the breeders here. Some other types live much longer.

 

[yankeereefer]

I guess I'll rear it the best I can for as long as I can - It'll give me time to research and find the best species for my skill level