Accommodation:
this species of mantis relatively resistant to all kinds of conditions
since it was found in a fairly hot and humid area, although it is best
to keep them in a moderately warm atmosphere. Keep these at 30 C (86
F). Keep their humidity maintained at around 50-60%.
Caging:
their cage should be well ventilated. They're rather long for their
size and will need some space to crawl around. The general rule for
caging is 3x the mantis' length for the height and 2x for the width
and length dimensions. This species will spend most of its time hanging
upside down so plenty of perches will be necessary. They are not an
aggressive species and can be housed together.
Appearance:
this rather long and slender mantis is found throughout the southern
US all the way to Mexico. They have a very tiny head and very skinny
legs. The males are excellent fliers and can hover for long periods
of time. Their catching arms are rather small compared to other mantid
species. When threatened, they'll stretch out their arm to mimic a stick..
Sexing:
Males grow a little bit over 2 inches long while females grow
to 2.5-3 inches. After the 3rd molt, 8 segments can be counted on the
male's abdomen while 6 on the females. Adult have long visible antennas
while the females sport tiny ones. Females are also wingless and can
be difficult to tell if they're matured.
Accommodation:
this species of mantis relatively resistant to all kinds of conditions
since it was found in a fairly hot and humid area, although it is best
to keep them in a moderately warm atmosphere. Keep these at 30 C (86
F). Keep their humidity maintained at around 50-60%.
Caging:
their cage should be well ventilated. They're rather long for their
size and will need some space to crawl around. The general rule for
caging is 3x the mantis' length for the height and 2x for the width
and length dimensions. This species will spend most of its time hanging
upside down so plenty of perches will be necessary. They are not an
aggressive species and can be housed together.
Feeding:
this species eats very tiny prey. Adults will readily feed on large
fruit flies and small moths, but because their catching arms are so
tiny, the flies or moths must fit inside its arms. They are capable
of hunting for themselves so no hand feeding is required. 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 fairly inflated, then stop feeding them.
As for watering, mist nymphs lightly every other day and two to three
times a week for adults.
Molting:
a mantis will stop eating a few days prior to its molt. Mantises molt
about every 1.5-2 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. During molting, it is vital that you do not disturb
them and also make sure that the humidity is at a safe level…the
suggested level is fine. 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. Note
that height is very important since they are quite long and need the
extra space.
Reproduction:
this species is very easy to breed due to its docile nature. After 2
weeks since their last molt, introduce the female into the male's enclosure
near him. A mature male will respond quickly. It could take hours before
the male does anything though. He will jump on her back and grab her
thorax. After a while of holding on (this could take from hours to days),
the male will bend his abdomen down to connect with hers and mating
will commence. Once they are finished, the male will fly away and must
be removed to reduce any chances of cannibalism.
Ootheca:
after two weeks or so, the females will be depositing her oothecae.
This species can deposit from 10 to 15 oothecae, each every 4 or so
days. After 3 weeks of incubation at 30 C (86 F) and 70% humidity, about
15-20 nymphs will hatch out from each one. These can be reared together
for easy feeding. Then they can be removed after a while if need be.
These 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:
my wildcaught female has lain 6 oothecae in captivity (1 before mating
and 5 after mating). Each was lain exactly 4 days after another. The
oothecae are very small and are about half a cm. The turn slightly reddish
a couple days after being deposited.
The female is very aggressive. She'll tackle small crickets that look
almost too big for her small hands, but she'll hold on to them and promptly
eats them slowly.
The nymphs hatch out very small and at first, I was afraid that they
couldn't eat fruit flies...but the nymphs managed to catch the flies
alright. They molt their first molt about 1 week after hatching and
their 2nd molt came in about 9 days or so.
I would like to thank Evan for his wonderful caresheet! You can see more at mantisphotos.com
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