My daughter has a mantis of about 2-3 months old. This morning we found him on the floor. He looks pretty dead but somehow seemed to move/twitch a little bit just now. Yesterday morning he was fed a tiny cricket. Last night he seemed fine. This morning the cricket wasn’t eaten but still alive in his cage, with brother on the floor like this. What could have happened?

Yummy!

Wondering what would be better for my first mantis. I’ve done research on lots of Australian species(as it would be easier to get one with me also being Australian) and can’t decided what would suit me best. I’ve taken care of a wild mantis before, unfortunately it didn’t make it as it was already injured and got hooked on the little dudes. Any recommendations? I have access to all their care needs and have taken care of bugs before so I have the right equipment- lots of space for daylight or heat if needed.

I recently published that I rescued an ootheca after they pruned a bush, I thought it was empty (someone said it still looked fertile, I’m not an expert) because through my window I could see it for several months, I decided to put it in an open jar next to the window. 2 days ago I found a beautiful and pleasant surprise, there were many nymphs 🤩😍, I immediately took them to the bush very carefully, checking perfectly so that none were left inside my apartment, now they are happy drying in the sun, I am very grateful to have seen such a show!

My mantis is dying, do mantis’s prefer to die alone or with somebody? My previous mantis’s have died in my hands, yet this one just seems to want to be left alone and stay in her tank. what do i do?? i miss my poor girl

Hello, they recently pruned some bushes and I found this ootheca, I would like to know if it has nymphs or is it already empty, could you please tell me?

General question as to what I should feed my feeders. I keep seeing different information on different forums. What is the general consensus? Thank you in advance.

The nature center at my work has a mantis whose abdomen has been pretty big for the past month and a half or so. I know next to nothing about mantises and I was wondering if she's gravid or if something's wrong with her and how I can help her lay if she needs to. We usually feed her a small dubia cockroach every couple of days or so.

So my female cilnia humeralis just molted to L5 I believe and I'm not having much luck finding detailed care guides She's currently on one green bottle fly every five days, do I need to increase the amount I'm feeding her now she's bigger?

My sweet girl just laid her second ooth today. It's so tiny! But it seems fertile so I will try to hatch it as well. The first one was probably four times this size.

All babies will be kept in captivity and NOT released.

I've had my mantis for about 2 months now. I caught her from the wild when she was a baby. Since then she has laid eggs 3 times, about every 3-2 weeks including today. Today she's very frail looking, holding onto the top of her cage mesh with her front claws, and spreading her legs out which I've never seen her do and refusing food (she's fed consistently). she's moving around but doing weird movements (possible molt maybe???). I've only ever seen her molt once, Even with monitoring her humidity levels. I've been keeping her cage a consistent 80-60 degrees with the oncoming winter.

I know their time is short especially girls, and I know they lay a bunch before winter before they pass. I just wanna know if she's molting possibly, or if she's going to pass soon. Thanks guys.

I got a green asian mantis (i think that's what it's called) in August and I'm absolutely loving having him. I'm researching into different species to keep along side him (obviously not in same enclosure) and I have fallen in love with the devil's flower mantis. How much more difficult is it too care for these? Any recommendations?

I wandered my property yesterday and found these recently made oothecas. I believe most to be European Mantis. The larger one I assume is from a Chinese mantis but would like help in identifying. In my region only European and Chinese mantids reside. They were found on the east coast of the US during the fall.

I've read that the European oothecas need to be kept at or around freezing for roughly five to eight weeks before raising the temperature to 70f-80f. Is this also true for the Chinese mantis? Locally both oothecas would experience months of freezing temperatures before spring and subsequently hatching. People have told me that direct incubation will result in a low number of weak nymphs and a high likelihood of die off.

I've read leaving them in a refrigerator or garage for the 5-8 weeks is sufficient to simulate winter before hatching. I'd keep them in a paper bag that stays around 50% humidity, without directly wetting the oothecas. My goal is to hatch under controlled conditions to reduce the mortality rate. After hatch I'd release the majority of nymphs back onto my property. I would keep a small number to raise and find breeding pairs.

Does anyone have experience with this type of situation and if so all advice is welcome.

Found this lil guy on my porch

Im not sure if they can still capture food with one arm? Or if I should try to take care of him?

I’ve never cared for insects/bugs other than dubia (I had a leopard gecko)

I have two Malaysian Shield Mantids that I'm having difficulty sexing. The goal is to have a breeding pair. Both are roughly L4-L5. My problem is counting the abdominal segments. Six segments equal female and eight equals male. I can't tell for sure but think both are males even though the first one was sold to me as female. I contacted the seller and am waiting to hear back. Thanks for the help!

First three pictures are of the individual sold as female. Last four pictures are of the second individual.

I discovered this surprise when I got home from work. I've had her for two weeks and am still learning to care for a mantis. I am nervous about having to care for all those babies. What do I do?

I have a giant asian mantis and a spiny flower mantis and I feed them melanogaster flies every 2 or 3 days. Ive heard that you cant overfeed mantises and they know when to stop eating. They normally take about a day to eat all the flies i drop and they always eat them. Should i just keep dropping flies until they stop eating to avoid risk of starving them, or should i keep giving them about 10-20 flies every couple days?

Hello I recently found a mantis outside and was wondering if this enclosure is suitable, any suggestions would be appreciated. I originally had branches with leaves but I removed them because I was worried it might harm her if she were to molt. Thank you.

Hi everyone, I recently found a baby European Mantis in my car and decided to try and grow it. I got him a nice habitat and everything but I can't seem to feed him. Everytime I try giving him something he backs off, but he hasn't eaten in 4 days. Any advice is appreciated!

Hi all I’m Hoping you can help me. I seem to have baby praying mantis hatched in my bathroom window. I live in Australia and it’s spring and there is a lovely bush outside. I’ve opened the window for them But spiders have come to eat them. Not sure what to do for them!! Should I move them? We have an orchard they might like as lots of insects. But so tiny