Small Mantids

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What is small? In cm?

Pnigomantis medioconstricta is the best name to use (so the deleted post was right, it is the normal name everybody understands!). All the "fantasy names" are difficult to understand especially for non-native speakers.

Cheers

Brancsikia

 
Don't mean to be rude but if one is not interested in learning Latin names than maybe he should choose some other hobby...

"Fantasy names" are misleading and almost all of them impropriate.

 
I'm not really interested in learning Latin names, but I'm interested in things that have Latin names, so I'm going to learn some Latin. I don't think learning a little Latin is going to hurt anything :wink: ...

But not wanting to learn Latin names is no reason to leave a hobby.

 
Well, I want to know the fantasy names, since if I want to research the web, I can just type the name. Some websites only have things on fantasy names.

Also, I wrote that the scientific names would be nice too. Scientific names are Latin(they are the exact same thing, just different name for the name of the mantis.(if you got it)), they are names that scientists gave the mantids.

(If you need more help, the scientific name for Nigerian Flower Mantids is Choloropax Modesta. The latin name is the same thing. Scientific is the latin name. Scientists give latin names to animals and mantids, etc. , and another name for those names are scientific)

I would think that small would be less than 3 inches or 5 cm?

 
Don't mean to be rude but if one is not interested in learning Latin names than maybe he should choose some other hobby..."Fantasy names" are misleading and almost all of them impropriate.
I wouldn't agree that you would have to leave the hobby, but common names are harder to figure out.

 
Since when are they called fantasy names? How about common name? I prefer the accepted common name. Saying somebody should choose another hobby because they don't want to learn scientific (latin) names is like saying if you can't spell you shouldn't post a reply on a message forum. :roll: I know the real names but choose not to use them most of the time. Guess I need to find another hobby.

 
I know, I wondered why he used "fantasy." Note*: I just used "fantasy" because that guy used it, I guess he didn't understand "regular" (my first post) .

maybe he should choose some other hobby...
######???? You don't need to know latin to fing do something. It's like owning a dog. Who knows the latin(scientific) name of their dog species????
 
Yes, and I'm a heteroblahblah(straight) homosapian to be precise. Wierd. Homo sapian.

Anyways, back to the small mantids please?

 
I think you guys lost the topic:

Miomantis species and Otomantis species are rather tiny and often available.

 
It's like everything else, you will be able to keep up if you learn both, but do not try to hurry it, take your time and it will sink in. I do not like the "fantasy name" NAME. I was starting to wonder what I had missed, Common name is what it should be referred as! Fantasy name...bah Hum bug!!!

 
Mantids from the hymenopodidae family are small, check em out at terratypica so you can see which one you like.

 
Thanks! The problem with terratypica is that there aren't any pics. :(

Ya, lol, I was wondering what I missed too. So, I just used "fantasy" since they did. I normally use "common" or "regular"

 
As far as scientific names go, I have to agree that when one keeps or wants information on a species then scientific names are a must. Comman names can be very confusing when dealing with different parts of the world and country as every region has a different common name it seems. But, I don't put memorizing every scientific name high on my things to do list. I learn them as I need to, makes it easier that way.

Now, as far as a small mantis is concerned. I am keeping a mantis that stays very small. The North African Grass Mantis

(Oxythespis dumonti). The females of this species barely reaches 2 inches and the male is much smaller.

Another tiny species is the Ant Mantis. Sorry I don't know the scientific name for this one. Yen Saw is raising them and has all of that information. He says that they barely reach an inch long.

I hope this helps,

Tom

 


Bolbena (Bolbena) hottentotta (IGM Nr. 79)

only about 1.5 cm

Please use your fantasy and make propositions for a common (vernacular) name because it does not exist yet.

Some information: you find this species in some Southern African countries and they also have some boxing behavior like many others.

Is there a list were I could check common "fantasy" names against scientific names? Especially for species new to the hobby it might be interesting to know. If you want new common names for new species in the hobby it might be also good to discuss possible common names e.g. "Lichen mantis" for ?Theopompa ophthalmica? seem not to be a good choice...how should I name the other 50 or so "lichen mantids" (at least some are already in the hobby).

 
galapagia peruana, oxythespis dumonti, pseudoharpax viriscens... odontomantis planiceps (ant mantis) uh... miomantis sp.

regards

 
Pnigomantis medioconstricta is the best name to use (so the deleted post was right, it is the normal name everybody understands!). All the "fantasy names" are difficult to understand especially for non-native speakers.
When i tell people i keep Pnigomantis medioconstricta, they have no idea if that is even a matis and have many queries, but when i used Indonesian double shield mantis as common name, they get the idea better.

 
To use for Pnigomantis mediconstricta the common name Indonesian double shield mantis or Flores double shield mantis is a very good example for a very good common name, cause the species is endemic to the Indonesian island Flores and it is the only mantis with a double shield.

But unfortunately there are much more common names that fit for many species. Names like ant mantis, lichen mantis, flower mantis... can be kind of useless if you do not know the scientific name and e.g. are looking for mating partners. If somebody has Odontomantis planiceps and looks for ant mantis people could offer O. micans....and you will be surprised that they do not mate.

So a list of accepted common names might be a good project (not for me cause I do not know most of these names). How many common names are there for the 80-100 mantid species that are currently in culture?

To add something to the topic: most of the Tarachodinae are also small species (another group where it does not make sense to use common names cause lots of the species in culture look quite similar).

 

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