Species Identification Request, and other stuff.

[Benayla]

Down to my two Hierodula Memebranacea sisters. But right before their little brother died my dad found a smaller Mantis outside. I can't really identify his species (He'Z sure as Smurf not a Hierodula) So here is a picture, I can only attach one because of the MB limit here. 

Moving on, I've started feeding my Mantises meal worms, feeling they'd be healthier than crickets. But at least one of them pupated. So I'm left concerned if the adult beetle is something to worry about, because I obviously don't want my Mantises hurt or killed. The worms also bury themselves in the dirt, and I've only seen NaruHina, the smaller of the two Hierodula Membranacea sisters, actually eat one. Her larger sister doesn't seem to notice the worms. 

 

[Ocelotbren]

I'm not sure about IDing it, but if others need more pictures to help them ID it, you can also upload pictures to a website and post it that way, so that you don't have to be limited by the forum's size restrictions.  Imgur and Flickr are examples.

As for the meal worms burrowing, it's possible that they should mainly be hand fed or fed outside the enclosure at least.  I haven't fed worms myself after a failed attempt with silkworms that my mantids didn't care about at all, but I would imagine the worms would go a long time unnoticed in the enclosure if they have the option to hide in the substrate.

 

[River Dane]

@Ocelotbren

Agreed, they should be hand fed. Mine also burrow into the dirt, and none of my mantises have ever eaten them. The only way I get them to always eat is by cutting the mealworm in half, and putting the gooey insides right up to their mouths, then they’ll eat it from there.

 

[Okoboji22]

That looks like a male European mantis, scientific name: mantis religiosa. Also I don't think the adult beetles are anything to worry about, just another mantis snack if your mantis likes beetles.

 

[Rick]

Providing the location where the mantis was found would help in identifying it. 

Don't really want to wade into it here but not sure why you think crickets are unhealthy. Mealworms are a poor choice as mantis food both in practical and nutritional aspects. 

 

[hibiscusmile]

Look like male Religiosa

 

[Cloud the Dinosaur King]

To me it looks like a male Stagmomantis californica. That or a male Stagmomantis carolina. I have never seen a green adult male Carolina Mantis however. Just juveniles.