Thorngren
Member
So, if you read my introduction thread you'll know that (so far) all the mantids I've ever seen in person have been from one area. I'm from Napa, CA and work in American Canyon, CA. I've found them all at or near my work. I've kept a few as pets and am just wondering what type they are. They range in color from tan, brown, dark tan, light green and bright green. I've seen females up to about 4 inches (normally 3) and the males seem to be around 2 or so inches. The one thing I noticed they all had were these black markings on the inside of their front claw arms with a white spot inside the black. One time a mantid got mad and puffed out his wings and arms making the spots look like eyes to a big ugly face. I notice the males are much more jumpy/easy to startle than the females and the males seem to fly quite a bit, even having seen one once fly a good thirty yards away and about 5 yards high in the air.. I only ever saw a female fly once, and that was because it had fallened from climbing high. Are these traits of all male/female mantids, or just the type living near me? Also, if you know what type of mantis these guys are, I would totally love it if you pased down more info on them and how to care for them, as I have a skittish mantis named Dexter whom I want to give the best care possible for and want to learn all I can about whatever breed he is..
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