Officially the best leaf mimic in the mantis kingdom! The
tropical dead leaf mantis lives on to fulfil it’s name
As a generalisation,
I think it would be safe to say that the Deroplatys
looks somewhat like a leaf. With a widened and curved
thorax, and large wing case, the dead leaf mantis came
camouflage perfectly in with leaf litter, and other
decaying material. Each sub species grows to different
lengths, the largest being the dessicata, which can
reach 90mm, and the smallest being the truncata, at
80mm. As with all species, the females are typically
larger than the males, usually lacking around 10mm in
comparison. The dessicata is usually the lighter of
the Deroplatys family, bearing light brown to orange
markings, sometimes even red. The truncata are usually
a lot darker, bearing mainly dark brown colouration,
with a small, pink coloured ootheca.
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Originating from South East Asia, the
Deropltys requires conditions of the average tropical
species. Temperatures around 30c are advisable, however
anything hotter than this might be a little excessive.
They also require a fairly high humidity, around 80%.
This can be stimulated by simply spraying the tank
once a day. Using substrate, such as coconut fibre,
or soil, can hold humidity.
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The Dead leaf mantis is prone to having problems shedding
their skin. To reduce chances of a bad moult, large
space should be provided. At least 3 times of the
mantids length should bare the height of the enclosure,
and the width should be enough for the mantis t be
able to hunt for its prey. They do not usually hunt
however, but sit and wait. Because of this, you will
need to provide some pen spaces in the enclosure,
making it easier to find prey at feeding times. Foliage
must also be provided to give cover for the mantis,
and to help stimulate its natural habitat.
Generally this species will take well to food. They
are fairly ferocious eaters, and will not hesitate
to eat large prey. Standard live food such as crickets,
locusts, wax worms and mealworms are good, however,
the diet must be varied. Flies, wasps, bees, moths,
and any other flying insect found outside will be
much appreciated, and will be naturally gut-loaded.
By offering a varied diet, you will notice that each
specimen will be much larger, and will produce a much
larger, more fertile ootheca. Do be careful when offering
prey, making sure that it will not be to large for
the mantis to catch, or consume. There have been many
accounts of live food eating the mantis, so any food
which ash not been consumed within a day or so, should
be removed.
Ootheca hatch up to 50 nymphs, although, a lot of
the time less. Sometimes you might expect to get just
10 or 15 nymphs emerge. These will hatch after around
4 weeks, although it has been known for periods of
as less as 3 weeks, and as much as 6 weeks. The best
conditions for incubating the ootheca would be at
around 28-32c, and 80% humidity. Again, provided by
spraying once every day.
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Although not one of the easiest species
to keep, the Dead leaf mantis is one of the most talked
about species in captivity. To get the full idea of
what mantis camouflage is, I would definitely recommend
introducing one of these into your collection!
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