Stagmomantis Californica Info ?

Mantidforum

Help Support Mantidforum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

cloud jaguar

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 12, 2008
Messages
788
Reaction score
0
Location
Los Angeles, California
Hi everyone. I am new to mantids. I am keeping a stagmomantis californica for a couple of days before I release it (bright green). Also watching one I released back to the Zinnia where i found it - i kept it for 2 days after finding it hurt and it seemed weak so i let it go. She has been released 2 days and seems fine now (colored peach/pink). I have realized a deep fascination for mantids and have started to study about them. I live in california I would very much like to buy a couple of oothicae in spring to raise them up to L4 or L5 before letting them go in my aphid riddled rose garden.

At garden stores the oothicae they sell are Stagmomantis Californica or Chinese Mantids?

Also, is there a Care Sheet somewhere online about these mantids? please direct me to it if possible.

Here are some of my observations about these. They really like flowers. They seek out flowers that are colored like them. I placed the peach/pink mantid on a red Zinnia and within a couple of hours i saw it nestled under the only flower on the bush colored exactly like her. They like bugs that eat nectar, they seem to prefer flying bugs, they seem to enjoy eating yellowjacket hornets, they seem to prefer hanging upside down, they move in a jagged way seemimgly to mimic vegetation swaying in the breeze, not too scared of people, 7 belly segments on these ones.

I read online that if you raise these from oothica in an white/plastic environment without any greens or browns, that the baby mantises of this type will be all manner of crazy looking colors - has anyone heard about this?

Thanks.

 
Most garden center ootheca are going to be of the chinese mantis. Care for the mantis you speak of is the same as for the carolina mantis. You can find plenty care info by searching on this site.

 
I read online that if you raise these from oothica in an white/plastic environment without any greens or browns, that the baby mantises of this type will be all manner of crazy looking colors - has anyone heard about this? Thanks.
Sounds right from what I've heard about the color changing. Behavior you describe sounds like what I've heard from a co-worker who says they're always on the roses.

If you're interested in selling any...I'd like to buy a few. I'm in Southern California, but don't have any near me. My co-worker says they 'creep him out' so I didn't want to ask him to collect them for me.

 
Thanks for helping me out. Today i could not find the pink/peach colored mantid - perhaps it died last night. I looked for it at the base of the plant among mint sprigs but saw nothing. Also, there is a large green lynx in that Zinnia. So, I released the green Stagmomantis Californica back to the Zinnia. My wife took some pics of it this evening - but not digital. She took some pics of the pink/peach mantis which probably died - it was sitting in the center of a large Zinnia but the darned autofocus kept messing up the pics.

Anyways, i will look for ooths around. I do not want to sell the one i just released since she likes yellow jackets and need her to kill em so they dont bite my young kids. I am pretty impressed by this species of mantid - not that i have any basis for comparison but they seem so cool. My family has some experience keeping humid habitats for hermit crabs and snakes so i am pretty keen on starting a terrarium for some ghost mantids and eventually raise an orchid or two. But first I will probably buy an ooth of some more hardy type to raise up and release in my garden.

Anyways, thanks.

~Arkanis

 

Latest posts

Top