Was this something I should have expected?

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brytewolf

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I have 3 Ghost mantises, 1 female and 2 males. These are my first. The female is in her own terrarium, and the boys share one (It's a nano terrarium, so plenty of room for the two). The two are right next to each other on the shelf.

I've had them since L2/3, and have kept them in this setup. One of the boys, Kevin, was molting faster than the others and he got to adult a couple weeks ago. Demona, the girl, molted into adult on Friday.

Saturday I find the other boy (who was still subadult) dead on the floor of the boys' terrarium with the isopods getting a good meal. Kong (the Destroyer, Attorney at Law) definitely did not have a head at this point, but I can't say for certain that Kevin was the one that murdered him. He also didn't have an abdomen. He was fine on Friday, so I don't think it was sickness. We're assuming that it was Kevin, as all signs point to such. Kevin also was not going after the food I put in Saturday afternoon, so it appeared as if he'd already eaten <.<

I know that ghosts aren't ~entirely~ communal, but with enough space for them to stay out of each other's hair and the female separated. And, you know, them coexisting for months. I wasn't expecting this. Was this caused by Demona becoming an adult and Kevin suddenly seeing Kong (the Destroyer, Attorney at Law) as competition? If I get mantis in the future, should I separate each of the boys out into their own enclosure before any of the females turn into adults? Has this happened to anyone else?

I'm very grumpy at Kevin right now.
 
Yeahhh Kong probably got munched by Kevin. Sometimes mantises will decide they're not hungry/are spooked by the food and then a few hours later will inhale anything in front of them. Very few species of mantis can be kept communally with little to no causalities. I would not put Ghosts on that list despite what others may say. Even the most docile of can easily decide to make their roommate a snack, however. My advice to never keep any mantis species communally unless there are several documented setups of them coexisting together without causalities. Metallyticus splendidus is a species that comes to mind.
 
*shakes fist at Kevin* you were supposed to be bros. I always knew it was a risk. They are predator bugs after all. Poor Kong.
 
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