maintain
the desired temperature. Keep the temperature cooler at night to lengthen
the lifespan of the mantis. Warmer temperature speeds up the metabolism
of the mantis and will shorten its life span…and in contrast,
cooler temperature slows its metabolism and lengthens the life span,
but both extremes could kill it. Keep humidity at 60-70%...smaller nymphs
may need higher humidity.
Caging:
their cage should be well ventilated with lots of twigs and leaves for
the mantis to perch on. They are a tropical species and will do well
with lots of foliage. These mantises don't require much room as they
are small, but they do need room to molt. The suggested height is usually
3x the mantis' length and 2x for the width. This species is not as vicious
as other species, but nevertheless, if you have only two, they will
fight in small containers so it's not advised to keep more than one
in each container. I have had great success with keeping them in a colony,
but I have observed cannibalism when food is absent for too long.
Feeding:
this species prefers flying insects, but is no as picky as some other
flower mantids. Start out with fruit flies for nymphs and move to pinhead
crickets for larger nymphs and moths, mealworms, wax worms, and other
flying insects for sub-adult and adults. Even though they are voracious
and will attack anything, do not offer them poisonous insects or wasps
or bees as these could seriously harm the mantis. To feed them, you
must stimulate them to eat. This species is very voracious and will
chase after its prey...no handfeeding required here. Feed them as much
as it will eat in one day and do not feed it for another 2 days. Watch
their abdomen, if it is inflated, then stop feeding them. As for watering,
this type will get its fluid from its food, but it can sometimes be
seen drinking off droplets from the side of the cage. Young nymphs and
hatchlings need misting everyday to drink, otherwise the mortality rate
will greatly increase.
Molting:
a mantis will stop eating a few days prior to its molt. Mantises
molt about every 2 weeks as babies and the time in between each molt
increases as they get older…so their last molt into adulthood
can sometimes take as long as 3 weeks. It takes about 7 molts for females
and about 6 for males. To pair up a pair of male and female, speed up
the growth rate of the females while slowing down the males' with cooler
temperature and less feedings…once the female has molted, speed
up the male's growth to molt him out. During molting, it is vital that
you do not disturb them and also make sure that the humidity is at a
safe level…too much humidity can hinder the insect from drying
out correctly and it might end up with bent legs and crippled arms.
The mantis will hang upside down from a branch or the screen lid and
will sometimes shake or spasm violently. Then after a while, it worms
out of its old skin and will hang out to dry. Once it's dried, it will
resume eating and being its normal self.
Reproduction:
this species is easy to breed. After 2 weeks since their last
molt, introduce the female into the male's enclosure near him. This
would attract his attention and he'll try to make his move. He will
start to flash his abdomen with its intense red color and will cautiously
move towards her. Then he will make his move and jump onto her back.
Make sure the female is well fed to prevent any possible cannibalism.
It could take hours before he does anything though. Try feeding her
at the same time...as she is busy with eating, she can't grab him or
throw him off of her. After a while of holding on (usually within minutes),
the male will bend his abdomen down to connect with hers and mating
will commence. Afterwards, he will run away and he must be removed or
else he'll be eaten.
Ootheca:
from a few days to a week, the females will be depositing her oothecae.
This species can lay around 6-10 oothecae. After 4 weeks of incubation
at 30 C (86 F) and 70-80% humidity with an everyday misting, some 30-60
nymphs will hatch out. The tiny nymphs can be fed on fruit flies a day
or two after hatching. Then continue to care for them as this care sheet
suggests.
Additional
Notes: I recieved 5 L4 and 1 L3 nymphs and they're barely bigger
than a Phyllocrania hatchling. These nymphs started chowing down on
loads of fruit flies as soon as they settled into their new home. They
exhibit remarkable semaphoric displays with their arms and vibrate their
antennas intensively.
The L3 nymph has molted to L4 and molted again to L5 10 days later.
The other L4 nymphs have molted to L5 at the same interval. These voracious
nymphs are very acrobatic and daring. They will tackle any prey, even
ones as big as themselves. They will leap from one side of the cup to
the other to snatch their prey. Even when they fall to the bottom, they
still hold on tightly. It's quite amusing to feed them. I've started
giving them small moths and small crickets. These nymphs should grow
quite quickly with lots of food.
These nymphs molt on an average of every 10 days. The subadult males
are still very tiny at about 1.5 cm...the subadult females are about
2 cm long
The adult females are barely 1 inch long and the males are slightly
smaller. Of the 3 females that I bred, one laid her first oothecae immediately
after the male dismounted. The others took 5-6 days to make their first
one. The oothecae are about 2 cm long and vanilla in color. They look
like they contain at least 50 eggs in each case.
The first eggcase hatched out after only 4 weeks of incubation. There
were about 56 nymphs, not including any that may have died during hatching.
The newly hatched nymphs are very small...about 3-4 mm from the head
to the the tip of the abdomen.
They eat small fruit flies readily...tackling them as they crawl by.
The fruit flies are almost half as big, it's amazing how brave these
little guys are. So far, there is no sign of cannibalism.
After 12 days, the first nymph started molting. The rest soon followed.
It's been a while and these guys are about L5 now. They are still living
in the same container and seem communal. Only one incident of cannibalism
was observed, the rest seem to be content with each other as long as
there's an ample food supply.
I would like to than Evan for his wonderful caresheet. You can see more at mantisphotos.com
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