grob
Well-known member
Hi everybody,
well, I've been largely lurking on this forum reading up on all the great info. I was hoping to start slowly, I have 6 Phyllocrania paradoxa nymphs and 5 Creobroter pictipennis nymphs. I think they are the one-two punch of commonly raised mantids and I can see why, they are super cool and good eaters and really delightful to watch.
I know lots of people are interested in Gonatista grisea, and I'm hoping to help Andrew and Agent A build a gonatista factory, so I've spent some time looking for them.
At first, no luck. I think I was looking in the wrong place. I know they love small trunks from what I've read, but I think they also need the trunks to be free from vegetation (so they can see far and easily run around the trunks?) So I was looking at beautiful lichen covered little oaks in the tangled undergrowth, on the edge of forests. I had also heard the edge of forests was the place. Nothing.
So once I started looking on trees with nothing around them I started to see them. Or, more accurately, when I got really close to the tree I saw something quickly run and later saw this!
I actually managed to catch the first one I saw - not easy. And get it home, and here it is in its first home:
I apologize for the bad photos, I ordered an iphone macro lens, hopefully better photos soon.
So that's the good news. The bad news is this individual seems very skiddish. It seems terrified of me and any fly or moth I gave it.
So I thought I was being clever and I put a log in the middle of a container so it could run around and hide, then I see Andrew had the same setup and others before him. Well, it worked, somewhat, and now the grisea was no longer skittering around when I walked into the room. It molted the next day, and so I figured it just wasn't eating because it was getting ready to molt.
The problem is the cage is so big, I'm not sure it is eating. I put in all kinds of bugs and moths, and I think there may be fewer, but maybe they are down in the sphagnum. The abdomen doesn't seem very fat. Maybe it doesn't like being watched when it eats. It is amazing how far away they can see you. It spends most of its time on the far side of the log where it can't be seen, seemingly pining for the fjords.
Andrew's all seem so happy and congenial. Do you think I just have a nervous one? Is there like an adjustment period where they settle down to captivity? I'm debating putting it back into a smaller cage without the log so I can see if it eats, but it does seem happier with its mini-tree trunk. The room is 20-22C and the humidity is around 60%, and everyone else seems to happily eat.
By the way, I returned to the spot I caught it and found another grisea had moved onto the same tree, and I found a third on a nearby tree, all cypress trees with nothing around them. I didn't try to catch them. I don't want to depopulate the area, and I don't want to get more until I'm sure I can take care of them.
Can you spot the nymph? (I couldn't. I only saw it after it moved.)
well, I've been largely lurking on this forum reading up on all the great info. I was hoping to start slowly, I have 6 Phyllocrania paradoxa nymphs and 5 Creobroter pictipennis nymphs. I think they are the one-two punch of commonly raised mantids and I can see why, they are super cool and good eaters and really delightful to watch.
I know lots of people are interested in Gonatista grisea, and I'm hoping to help Andrew and Agent A build a gonatista factory, so I've spent some time looking for them.
At first, no luck. I think I was looking in the wrong place. I know they love small trunks from what I've read, but I think they also need the trunks to be free from vegetation (so they can see far and easily run around the trunks?) So I was looking at beautiful lichen covered little oaks in the tangled undergrowth, on the edge of forests. I had also heard the edge of forests was the place. Nothing.
So once I started looking on trees with nothing around them I started to see them. Or, more accurately, when I got really close to the tree I saw something quickly run and later saw this!
I actually managed to catch the first one I saw - not easy. And get it home, and here it is in its first home:
I apologize for the bad photos, I ordered an iphone macro lens, hopefully better photos soon.
So that's the good news. The bad news is this individual seems very skiddish. It seems terrified of me and any fly or moth I gave it.
So I thought I was being clever and I put a log in the middle of a container so it could run around and hide, then I see Andrew had the same setup and others before him. Well, it worked, somewhat, and now the grisea was no longer skittering around when I walked into the room. It molted the next day, and so I figured it just wasn't eating because it was getting ready to molt.
The problem is the cage is so big, I'm not sure it is eating. I put in all kinds of bugs and moths, and I think there may be fewer, but maybe they are down in the sphagnum. The abdomen doesn't seem very fat. Maybe it doesn't like being watched when it eats. It is amazing how far away they can see you. It spends most of its time on the far side of the log where it can't be seen, seemingly pining for the fjords.
Andrew's all seem so happy and congenial. Do you think I just have a nervous one? Is there like an adjustment period where they settle down to captivity? I'm debating putting it back into a smaller cage without the log so I can see if it eats, but it does seem happier with its mini-tree trunk. The room is 20-22C and the humidity is around 60%, and everyone else seems to happily eat.
By the way, I returned to the spot I caught it and found another grisea had moved onto the same tree, and I found a third on a nearby tree, all cypress trees with nothing around them. I didn't try to catch them. I don't want to depopulate the area, and I don't want to get more until I'm sure I can take care of them.
Can you spot the nymph? (I couldn't. I only saw it after it moved.)
