What is the longest mantis?

[Mantis Man13]

I have heard the Giant African stick mantis,( Heterochaeta orientalis) is the longest mantis in the world at 6 inches, but then I have also heard accounts, in both picture and video form, of the Brunner's stick mantis at almost 7 inches. So, which mantis is really the biggest?

 

[Ranitomeya]

Length can easily vary in longer species due to the fact that the abdomens tend to extend in length rather than width as they feed and there's also variation in adult length within the species that's dependent on the nutrition they received as they molted from one instar to the next.

 

[Mantis Man13]

So how would you give a mantis more nutrition? Would the mantises with less nutrition not be getting enough food or something?

 

[Ranitomeya]

Just try gut-loading your feeders before you use them. It's not about the quantity of food--it's the quality of food you should be worried about.

 

[Mantis Man13]

The thing is that I catch wild moths and flies, I wouldn't have time to fully gut-load them with supplements. What supplements would i gut-load them anyhow?

 

[Ranitomeya]

Gut-loading isn't about feeding supplements--it's about feeding them foods that're healthy and nutritious. Supplements themselves can be harmful if overdosed.

 

[Mantis Man13]

I have no idea where to start with gut loading, though. I don't know which kind of prey I should use or foods the prey should eat so the mantis will get maximum nutrients for height. Is it bad to feed a mantis one type of prey, even if I were to gut load?

 

[Ranitomeya]

It's not bad to feed a specific type of food item, as many people do it, but mantises will benefit from either a more varied diet. If you gut-load their prey with a variety of types of foods, it's probably the next best thing to a varied diet for the mantis itself. I keep and use feeder roaches, so gut-loading is pretty easy for me to do. Feeding flying insects such as flies, moths, or butterflies will make it difficult to gut-load as they hold less food in themselves and they're limited to a liquid diet.

 

[Mantis Man13]

Back to the main topic, if all of the longest types of mantis were at maximum length, which mantis would be the world's longest mantis?

 

[Ranitomeya]

I don't know what the longest mantis is as there are plenty of long mantises from the tropics that have yet to be described, but I'm pretty sure Brunneria borealis does not reach 7 inches. They're reported to be around 4 inches at maximum unless they're measured with their arms and legs out. If measuring length from head to the end of the abdomen, Heterochaeta orientalis is certainly longer than Brunneria borealis.

 

[Rick]

I have no idea where to start with gut loading, though. I don't know which kind of prey I should use or foods the prey should eat so the mantis will get maximum nutrients for height. Is it bad to feed a mantis one type of prey, even if I were to gut load?

You don't need to attempt gut-loading of wild caught insects.

 

[Mantis Man13]

Well then my mantis will eat non- nutritious insects, as always. I feed my mantis wild caught flies and moths. Gut-loading could be the answer to making my mantises finally be as long as wild mantises. Is there no way to gut load wild insects because they are too toxic?

 

[mantisman 230]

no they don't need to be gutloaded because they ARE eating a healthy natural diet like they are supposed to, they are "pre gutloaded"

 

[Mantis Man13]

Then why are my mantises always an inch smaller to their wild counterparts?

 

[razoo26]

gut loading with anabolic steroids might work...

but any resulting record setting lengths

would probably be disqualified

 

[dmina]

gut loading with anabolic steroids might work...

but any resulting record setting lengths

would probably be disqualified

Lol Right ??