They ate my greenie ghost female!

[cloud jaguar]

Damn ghost females ganged up on and ate my only female greenie! That makes me mad. I guess i should over feed them. Why couldn't they eat a black one?

 

[idolomantis]

Wow.. sucks. The weird one is always targeted.

Anyway, why keeping them together then?

Phyllocrania is canibalistic, just a bit less than others.

 

[yeatzee]

Wow.. sucks. The weird one is always targeted.Anyway, why keeping them together then?

Phyllocrania is canibalistic, just a bit less than others.

So are Gongylus, but that doesn't stop people from keeping them together. Theres something about keeping a "colony" I guess

Oh and Arkanis, the same exact thing happened to me when I had my first generation. I was pissed <_<

 

[idolomantis]

So are Gongylus, but that doesn't stop people from keeping them together. Theres something about keeping a "colony" I guess Oh and Arkanis, the same exact thing happened to me when I had my first generation. I was pissed <_<

Gongylus and Phylllocraniaare not related.

Gongylus, along with most other empusids, are less canibalistic towards eachother.

Hymenopids(phyllocrania, yes they are from the Hymenopodidae) are not as tolerant and will eat eachother even if other food is available.

 

[Rick]

But but but I thought these were communal mantids?

 

[idolomantis]

But but but I thought these were communal mantids?

No such thing as completely communal

They are far less agressive and more tolerant to eachnother than say Hierodula.

Doesn't mean they won't eat eachother if they get a chance.

 

[C.way]

sorry to hear that, seems that racism does exist in mantis world...

 

[Katnapper]

Bad luck, Roland. Sorry to hear.

 

[Rick]

No such thing as completely communal They are far less agressive and more tolerant to eachnother than say Hierodula.

Doesn't mean they won't eat eachother if they get a chance.

I know. It was sarcasm.

 

[idolomantis]

I want to ask people a question;

Why keep Phyllocrania together?

They aren't empusids.

 

[massaman]

I know a giant asian is nothing like these species but managed to keep them in the same enclosures and have had 0 cannibalistic tendencies and have had them together since l2 or l3 and most are sub adults or pre sub adults and even the ones who did molt among the smaller brethren there has been no signs of this behavior. My guess isf you can keep a eye on the group of mantids in question and keep them fed and there may or may not be too much of that going around but I guess I am lucky and never seen this behavior with my acromantis nymphs either and got like 12 in the same container so dont know if its just keeping a eye on them or just that I am lucky or just got some skill!

 

[revmdn]

sorry to hear that, seems that racism does exist in mantis world...

Ha!

Sorry to hear that.

 

[batsofchaos]

I want to ask people a question;Why keep Phyllocrania together?

They aren't empusids.

While it's factual that ghosts are hymenopids and not empusids, it does not change the fact that ghosts are 'communal.' No, that's not a guarantee that you won't see any cannibalism, but there's no guarantee that you won't see cannibalism from empusids. Mantids are blood-thirsty little boogers and will eat anything that moves, so they will definitely snack on flatmates given half a chance, empusids or otherwise. Ghosts are, however, fairly docile towards eachother and will hang out inches away and not bother their neighbors, so as a general rule you can get away with housing them together without experiencing heavy losses. As to why, I think you may as well ask why people keep empusids together since there's a similar level of danger, but I'll answer to the best of my understanding:

1) Because housing them together looks cool. Having a large cage with a bunch of sticks that all have ghosts clinging to them looks great. You can show them off to friends and say 'guess which ones are bugs.' It's a lot more impressive than one in a 32 oz deli cup.

2) Because housing a bunch together is a lot less work. You only have one big cage to clean. You can dump a bunch of food at once into the cage (or put a slightly-opened culture directly inside of it). You only have to worry about space, temperature, and humidity levels for a single cage instead of two dozen deli cups. It's easier in every single way to raise a colony rather than individuals.

3) Because experts say you can. Most ghost care sheets available online say it's honky-dory to house them together. Folks just starting out, or old hats tackling a new species may just house them together because it's the perceived status quo.

4) Because you feel the risk is outweighed by the benefit. You know they're not perfectly communal and there's some risk of loss, but it's not such a big risk you're not willing to chance it for the easier time and cooler-looking enclosure.

That said, I haven't been raising mine communally. The reason for that is that I started out with a small number and I couldn't afford any cannibalism between them. Once the ooths I'm keeping hatch, I plan on raising them communally until about L4 or L5, because I'm bound to have way more than I need to keep them in culture so if I lose a couple I don't have to sweat it.

 

[yeatzee]

Gongylus and Phylllocraniaare not related.Gongylus, along with most other empusids, are less canibalistic towards eachother.

Hymenopids(phyllocrania, yes they are from the Hymenopodidae) are not as tolerant and will eat eachother even if other food is available.

Where did I say they were related? I simply said that they are cannibalistic also (all mantids are afaik). My point (which I thought was quite obvious) was that they are both thought of as "communal" species *usually* and are kept together commonely. Its fun having a large group of mantids living in one giant pretty container Its closer to having them in the wild than a 32 oz container is also which again is more fun IMO

Gongylus will eat each other, as will Phyllocrania, etc.

No such thing as completely communal They are far less agressive and more tolerant to eachnother than say Hierodula.

Doesn't mean they won't eat eachother if they get a chance.

*facepalm* Rick I guess some people will only get it if there are sarcasm tags

 

[idolomantis]

Where did I say they were related? I simply said that they are cannibalistic also (all mantids are afaik). My point (which I thought was quite obvious) was that they are both thought of as "communal" species *usually* and are kept together commonely. Its fun having a large group of mantids living in one giant pretty container Its closer to having them in the wild than a 32 oz container is also which again is more fun IMO Gongylus will eat each other, as will Phyllocrania, etc.

I never said you said that they were related

I fail to see the fun in keeping them together tho.

*facepalm* Rick I guess some people will only get it if there are sarcasm tags

LMAO my brains are pretty off today.

1) Because housing them together looks cool. Having a large cage with a bunch of sticks that all have ghosts clinging to them looks great. You can show them off to friends and say 'guess which ones are bugs.' It's a lot more impressive than one in a 32 oz deli cup.

Altough that's true, but since when do we keep bugs to please the crowd? and for a "guess the bug" game i think phasmids are more suited.

2) Because housing a bunch together is a lot less work. You only have one big cage to clean. You can dump a bunch of food at once into the cage (or put a slightly-opened culture directly inside of it). You only have to worry about space, temperature, and humidity levels for a single cage instead of two dozen deli cups. It's easier in every single way to raise a colony rather than individuals.

True. but most keeper that keep mantids do what is best for the bugs. Not for their own good.

I think it's even easier to divide a terrarium into parts.

3) Because experts say you can. Most ghost care sheets available online say it's honky-dory to house them together. Folks just starting out, or old hats tackling a new species may just house them together because it's the perceived status quo.

LOL "experts". since when is a person an expert? is it when he writes his "experiences" on the internet?

Never trust everything on a caresheet. I can say you can keep Hierodula together because mine never ate eachother. Does not mean it's true.

Because you feel the risk is outweighed by the benefit. You know they're not perfectly communal and there's some risk of loss, but it's not such a big risk you're not willing to chance it for the easier time and cooler-looking enclosure.

Same as 1.

People, please.

 

[batsofchaos]

I didn't say they were all good reasons, especially the expert part, just the reasons why. As for doing what's best for the bugs, letting them live in the wild is probably what's actually best for them. Keeping them in cages, feeding them food that's not their normal diet (sometimes with force), and pairing them up to mate with insects that are usually their siblings is not exactly the best thing to do with a creature. Sticking them in an enclosure where they might die at the hands of a sibling as opposed to an individual container where they might die for a different reason is hardly that careless, provided the species is a communal one. Sure, communal isn't a 100% fact for any species of mantid, but there's a big difference between housing twenty ghosts together where one or two might get eaten vs. twenty chinese where one or two might survive. Sure, you're exposing your mantids to a little more of a risk than separating them at L2, but it's a minor one.

 

[PhilinYuma]

This just in. Yeatzee:5 Idolo:2.

Keep up the good work guys!

 

[idolomantis]

This just in. Yeatzee:5 Idolo:2.Keep up the good work guys!

........

wat.

 

[cloud jaguar]

Aha! I just found my greenie ghost in there! It appears they only ate a blondie All is good. I just overfed them so that should be it for now.