Hello everyone. I'm new here but I've been into rearing and breeding mantids since a young boy. I'm wondering if there are any other mantis lovers here. Malaysia is abundant with exotic species of mantids and the species there rank as my favourites.

I'm currently keeping these mantids:
Stenotoxodera porioni, Toxodera beieri, Hymenopus coronatus, Theopropus elegans, Deroplatys desiccata, Deroplatys lobata, Phyllocrania paradoxa, Hierodula cf. tenuis, Tenodera sinensis, Acromantis sp., Statilia sp.

I've previously kept:
Toxodera fimbriata, Pseudocreobotra Wahlbergii, Odontomantis planiceps, Blepharopsis mendica, Ceratomantis saussurii, Tropidomantis tenera, Euchomenella sp.

Currently attempting to breed:
Hymenopus coronatus, Theopropus elegans, Deroplatys desiccata, Deroplatys lobata, Phyllocrania paradoxa, Hierodula cf. tenuis.

How many of you here have experience in rearing and breeding mantids?

This post has been edited by mantismania: Dec 22 2009, 02:51 AM

will them hurt peoples ?

I've never been hurt by a mantis before. They'd probably try and defend themselves if handled aggressively though. They'd rather try and run away from you rather than attack.

Wow, such a large collection u have there
Are they all local mantids? O_O
There's a forumer here name issac that keep mantid

Nice. Here's an old pic of a D. dessicata I used to keep.



I've had the chance of keeping D. lobata, Hierodula sp. and H.coronatus before too. Coronatus spurred a craze and sleepless nights for some time. Almost went on to buying P.wahlbergii and I.diabolica but ended up quitting mantises totally. The way they kill interests me, but that's as far as it goes. Lol. Question, what kind of feeders do you keep for your bugs? How much work is it? Haha.

Many thanks. The mantids I'm currently keeping are native to Malaysia with the exception of P. paradoxa and T. sinensis (acquired from US).

That's a beautiful D. desiccata male bro. Even though there are many exotic mantids from all over the world, I think Malaysian species are the most fantastic. Most famous examples would be the H. coronatus and all Deroplatys species. I've had a fascination for them since a small boy. I used to keep jumping spiders when young, one day my dad brought home a tank filled with leaves and twigs and he told me to put one of my spiders inside. I did that and one of the twigs caught and ate my spider. Found out later that it was a Euchomenella sp mantis. Immediately I fell in love with mantids. Although I never ever feed my mantids spiders after that because I love spiders.

For feeders, I'm culturing fruitflies (D. melanogaster & D. hydei), have a big tupperware full of crickets, mealworms and going to start culturing Blue Bottles, Houseflies and B. lateralis soon. The mantids are not really high maintenance. I just feed them once a day or every two days. For nymphs I just give them fruitflies and for the adults crickets, mealworms and wild-caught butterflies when I have the time.

Here's a photo of my setup:


This post has been edited by mantismania: Dec 23 2009, 12:31 AM

Awesome man.............
U selling any mantids?
I have always been interested with them but have no idea where to get one (Aside from catching them in the wild)

yeah.. interested in buying some too... never seen them in years now.. my bro loves them very,very much...

Thanks for the interest all. I've mated my H. coronatus, T. elegans and D. lobata. T. elegans have already laid several oothecae, just waiting for the rest to lay and the nymphs to hatch out into 2nd generation.

Anything just PM. Thanks!

hi hi ...
good to see you here

looks like the thread is slowly picking up good sign

i missing the T.elegans lol can't wait for the babies to hatch ..

btw .. do post a few pics of the lovely "strange" mantis you have .

to be frank ... that is the most exotic sp i ever seen ... so far ..

lol ....

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Added on December 22, 2009, 11:53 pm

This post has been edited by s98432512: Dec 22 2009, 11:53 PM

Hey Bro! Nice to see you. Hope that you have a good hatch rate from the ooth. I'll post some pics up soon.

But here's a photo of the Toxodera beieri nymph:

Totally wicked pic, nice!

Wow a mantis thread... I love these babies...

this is what i use to have...sadly not anymore. They do make real great pets and nothing much to maintain beside needing a slightly cold temperature and a little more moist.




This post has been edited by echosmiles: Dec 23 2009, 05:06 AM

yes that is the one ... i was like wow ..when i first saw it ... the disguse was so good .. just img that spotting one of the mantis in the wild

owh gosh... so beautiful.... god creature...

Glad to see quite a couple of mantis lovers here! That's a nice photo of a very pink Hymenopus coronatus ReBeLLioN! Orchid mantids are very very beautiful and I never get tired of looking at them! Although they're not that difficult to rear, breeding them can be a bit difficult.

Here's a photo of my H. coronatus adults. Male is on the female's back.


H. coronatus connection!


My Theopropus elegans copulating.


Deroplatys lobata.


Connection!

Nice job bro. Have you had by any chance get your hands on any ant mantis? PM me if you have any extra. And I'll also like to know if you have a spare starter colony for D.melanogaster.

Thanks.

Speaking bout ant mantids, there are a few times where i encounter small and black color mantids in my friend house and college lecture hall
Wonder what sp it is....

PM sent!

Sounds like Odontomantis planiceps (ant mantis). They're literally everywhere because they're aggressive and very hardy. Here's a Taiwanese link for some ant mantis photos. Scroll down to see the nymphs, do they look like the ones you saw?

Im not sure because they are really small and the lighting is very poor in the lecture room cause all the lights was off and only dim sun light and LCD projecter screen provide some lights but those mantids i saw do looks like ants at 1st glance

If they are indeed ant mantis, catch a few and culture them bro. They're very easy to rear and breed. No issues at all. And the mated females will lay a lot of oothecae in her lifetime.

Will do when i spotted them again in my friend house
They are pretty common during a period of time
(Think it's the breeding season for them)
Now can hardly see one

Is this the ant mantis?
what is the adult size...look cute to me..

Awesome bro. If you go to some heavy shrubs or bushes or any low plant during this rainy season, you will definitely find some. If you spot one nymph, there will be many more for sure. Good thing about this mantis is that they will usually sit on top of leaves and not underneath. Good times to see them on top of leaves is around 4-7 pm.

Yeah, that should be Odontomantis planiceps. They're just awesome. Adult females will only grow to up to about 2-2.5 cm. Here's an awesome video to show you how aggressive they are even though they're small.

Got this pix from creepy craelies

Bro, it is always said that female mantis will either eat or cannibalised its mate after mating... how urs
and the mating are hours ..is it

That's a threat display photo of Theopropus elegans. About the female eating the male, it's not entirely true. It's species-dependant. I'll normally remove my males after they disconnect though. Some of them will run away themselves. They never face the female head-on.

Finally a hobby out of the ordinary. congratz mantismania for starting it. i think it's going to be a very eye-opening thread to bug lovers out there.
I must admit i'm also curious bout the female eating the male after mating event. before yr reply, i thought all the mantis act like that and never knew it was species dependant. thanks a lot for the info ^^

Thanks for the encouragement bro! We're all nature lovers here and the mantis is easily one of the most unique insect nature has to offer. I'm just here to share my experiences with these amazing bugs. Anything I can do to help, just ask!

keep this thread full of info, sure this thread got many follower... nice job dude bcuz show it to us...

great works guys

Perhaps a basic care sheet on the 1st post will attract more hobbyist

yeah,a close up enclosure pic is even better

Bro, show us ur set up.....
maybe we can adopt few layout from u....

Since u have the D lobata, can u show the enclosure set up?

This post has been edited by AshJ: Dec 27 2009, 07:35 PM

Nice！ I love mantis also, but i dunno where can i get them and still dunno anything about them. haha

me also..when i was kid, always collecting mantis and 'belalang'.keep in small botol.usually nescafe botol.hahahah

Thanks for the replies all. I just got back from a hunting trip and I have a lot of spare T.elegans nymphs and female adults I need to let go. PM me if interested.

Once I have some free time, I'll post some photos of the enclosures. All our enclosures are actually simple, no fuss.

Dun over harvest man

i wonder does the female ate the male after mate?? coz this normally happen in the nature...

Don't worry about that. Nature takes care of its own haha. I'm just sharing its beauty.

This doesn't happen all the time. The female will eat the male or anything else it can overcome if it's too hungry. Which is why it's normal practice for breeders to overfeed the female before attempting to mate them just so she will ignore the male.

U still here....LOL...thot gone d..

wanna know how feeding (hand feed or leave the food in) like for this guy as just got D.Lobata for 3 days d and not eaten since then.
is it the sign it going into molting process or what ... as at today still hanging as usual

BTW how much selling... maybe u should also come out with the caresheet based on ur experience..

Hey yeah I'm still here lol. What instar is your D. lobata? What are you feeding it? If the size of its prey is not that big, then it's probably nearing a molt.

I haven't come up with any caresheets yet but anyone needing assistance can just PM me.

Informed it is at its 3rd...mealworm, superworm (mid size), grasshoppers
have u tried cricket for ur mantis..is it really that cricket can kill ....
ermmm due to bacteria or sumthin.....

Whats insect the best for it?

I feed crickets to almost all my mantids all of the time. There's an opinion going around about crickets causing mantids to become sick and eventually die. Many people have found this to be untrue. Just to be safe, never feed your mantids crickets just purchased from the shop. Always gut-load them first. I gut-load and take care of my crickets and make sure they're healthy before I feed them to my mantids. You can gut-load the crickets with bok choy, cat food, dog food, etc. If the enclosure your crickets are kept in is not well-kept, chances are you'll have unhealthy and stressed crickets.

Try putting in a cricket that's just a couple sizes smaller than your D. lobata and watch it become 'alive'. Mantids become extremely active and aggressive when faced with a insects that they're specialized to prey on. D. lobata can usually be found in shrubs, bushes and even on the forest floor. In the wild, they'd most probably prey on a lot of forest floor-dwelling insects such as crickets. Give it a try but make sure you gut-load the cricket first. It's good practice to always gut-load your feeder insects to maintain their health.

thanks bro for info.....done that d

hi all, I been so busy with stuff that i totally miss this place.

Congrats to mantismania for the new thread. FINALLY someone who is very passionate about these wonderful creatures. Nice to meet you.

Some reposting on MTS forum

My current Favourite

Malaysian Dead Leaf Mantis
Deroplatys lobata
Pride of Mantis keepers in Malaysia (aside from the orchid mantis)
Envy of the world.

Hard to spot out in the rainforest, Malaysian Dead Leaf Mantids hold true to their name.
The entire body looks like a zombie leaf walking.
But hid under the shady brown colour lies a wonderful blend of purple, black, amber and red. That's when your mantis gets ready to fly off. Though they seldom do.

They are ambushers, not hunters and can wait patiently for their prey for days, provided they are give water everyday.
While they are quite docile and non-venomous but they do scratch you if you keep pestering them. Their threat display rivals that of a tarantula

With their hood-like appearance, they look like fallen Jedi ready to use their lightsabers, but evil they are not. That title goes to another mantis.

Range Malaysian rainforests.
Type Arboreal.
Full Grown Size Females get up to 5.5 inches. .
Temperament Docile and calm. Loves to climb and cling onto your arm.
Speed Slow
Additional comments: LIKES observing. HIGHLY curious. If you are not looking, don't worry. It's looking at you.

Bro good info there....BTW is that ur D lobata enclosure? how is it in that as i used high container for it less the foliage...using only paper towel for dampness

Good description. Did the female die a few days or weeks after you took the photo? She looks stressed with the wings like that.

Anyway, we recently mated our Deroplatys truncata. Here are some photos:

Just noob q ere

what's that no represent i.e 1.0.0, 2.2.0 as all insect keeper have that

Lets say 1.2.3
The 1st number indicate male, 2nd indicate female and 3rd is unsex or sling/baby

Anw mantismania (Any other name that we can use to refer u?)
Which pic u referring? Would like to learn how to see if they are stress or not

Look at the photos with her wings half opened. They'd usually do that if they're stressed/too hot.

Thanks ryo

just 2 understand .. 1.2.3.. means i got 1 male 2 female and 3 unsex/sling... altogether 6

ah... she was like that when she arrived from the post. I suppose the ligaments was damaged. I had two females

Where did you get them from? It helps to know the stock they came from.

Hmmm~ just wonder here, does any Mantis that is Terrestrial and quite big 1? @@ and whats is the basic care for them? Can any1 teach me? i quite interest on Mantis. haha

Hey Harry, there are still many undiscovered species out there but right now what I can think of is Deroplatys sp.. They're both arboreal and terrestrial and they're quite big. Keeping mantids is easy. Basic care is just feed them, mist them once in a while and if they're nymphs, give them space to molt.

OMG i thought i was the only one catching this type of insect (back when i was a kid) and feeding them with live insects from my garden. awesome thread.

nice thread, i want to keep mantis quite long already, same as your point, i like to see how they prey on food.
but then i dunno how to catch one and where to catch one. and last time i just used to see those green colour mantis, which come to your house everytime after raining. but then now hardly to see one.
is it all those tank is your mantis enclosure? you keep a lot? any of it plan to given away?


this one is a nice one, but then i just saw them in natianal geographic channel only.


where you get this baby? i hardly seen it in malaysia.


woah, i didnt know that male and female got such a big different in mantis.

This post has been edited by zoejehuty: Jan 10 2010, 03:03 AM

Wow... They're like TRANSFORMERS in disguise~~

Hi Guys

What r the three difference between this D.desiccata, D. lobata & D.truncata as all of them r the dead leaf mantis rite?

I assume they are all the same genus but different species?

Yeah Ryo is correct. There's another one in culture in Europe, it's the Deroplatys trigonodera. This comes from Malaysia too. Malaysia is mantis heaven I tell ya!

any idea where can i buy the praying mantis ... ? i need to keep some for my assignment ...T.T .... need to make their habitat box ...
any shops in KL ..

This post has been edited by undecidedboy: Jan 11 2010, 10:47 PM

Wat course assignment dat need u to keep exotics?

haiz .. T.T interior design ... donno y they give us this kind of assignment oso ....

This post has been edited by undecidedboy: Jan 11 2010, 10:49 PM

Wow interior design got such assignment
It is a interesting assignment isn't it?
Mantismania have some mantis for sell, u can pm him

where do you guys find all those exotic mantis?
i always just see those whole body green mantis only.

That one is exotic enuff la = =
I found nth

How or where did you get the Toxodera beieri nymph??
I´m from Mexico, and I´m new with mantis, I have 5 Phyllocrania Paradoxas, and trying to get some others, but I found a photo of th Toxodera beieri and I think this specie is so beautiful, so I really would like to get it.

Arturo

woah, from mexico, nice to have you here.

Mantismania,

When is ur next hunting trip, maybe want to tapau some..lol

Hey Arturo. Sorry for my late reply as I'm more active on other mantis forums. We found the T. beieri nymph at Tapah Hills, the same location where we found all our other Malaysian species. This is a very rare species which is not in culture at the moment. Previous breeders have only managed to keep T. beieri or any other Toxodera sp. only for a week. We've successfully kept our nymphs for 2-3 months. We'd love to culture them in the future.

Haha, we're not really sure. Most of the time, it just happens randomly.

I'm not sure if this is allowed, but I've just created a mantis forum aimed towards Asian breeders. Anyone interested PM me for the link!

This post has been edited by mantismania: Jan 16 2010, 05:47 AM

mantismania, can i know where you usually hunt for mantis?
i plan to breed some of them.

I look everywhere! But when I'm in Malaysia, I'll go hunting deep in the rainforests at Tapah Hills. I've made very good friends with the Orang Asli there. We're like family.

haih, look like i need to go hutan reakeasi in malacca here already. haha.
but then when is the good time in order can find any of it?

December to April is the best period. Better get your gear ready now. Please join here if you'd like to discuss mantids. It's still new but we already have some reputable breeders from other forums on board.

Saw one praying mantis around 3cm the normal green one and showed my bro. Wanted to keep it but flew away. My bro devastated.... Where can I buy one?

PM me bro.

ya, where can buy mantis? LFS got it?

I don't think LFS sell mantids.

Hard to look for any mantis now's day, even the common one.

last time my housing area here, got a lot of those ant mantis, & also the green common mantis.. now i dun even see one.

Yeah deforestation is killing most of them. Which is why I'm keeping and trying to breed local species.

yeah, deforestation is the reason.
good good, breed already then can give people, for those common one la.
those more rare one have to sell lo.

There is a report read sumwhere.....
All species are endangered dueto forestation worldwide xcept those from nort america.

I wonder those people dun used wood ke?......lol

This is always happened..we always miss the small one, rite?

yeah.. deforestation really devastated to their habitat.
Last time below my house, there's a small garden with a lots of those bunga raya flower stalk all around, that's the time where we could everyday saw a lots of mantis...now the garden gone edi

Insects can never go extinct due to them being collected from the wild because there's just too many of them. What makes them go extinct is clearly deforestation. This is a sad thing. Malaysia is home to many exotic insects. It's devastating to know that sooner or later they'll all go extinct.

Hi guys.

yesterday night i visited mantis land and i tot i share some pictures i took ( with permission from owner of cos lol.).It was a eye opener for me and it is the first time i actually saw the engagement of mantis mating.
Learn alot from the two nice friendly gentlemen and even recieved an orchid mantis and two violin mantis from them. Once again i have thank them for the kind hospitality and time taken to teach me more on mantis keeping.

For some reasons , i have decided not to disclose the ID of them but all the mantis i snap to my hp are from them and i own none of them. i am sorry for blur pics.

IMO, Rearing and breeding of inverts takes lots of time and passion in it. low death rate, high hatch rate of ooth many a time size down to breeder's experience and will to commit in the daily maintaince of the enclosure like humility , temptuare control etc . Which too apply from the babies to the adults alike.

therfore i would like to take this chance to comment them for their excellent breeding method and setup they have and the amount of effort they took in rearing and breeding them from mantis it self to the feeders culture.

Well enough said, time for pictures .

Mating of my fav mantis - orichid mantis .
male riding on female





The stoner and master of disguise .. spot where am i


Dead leaf mantis.. target on and ready to mate .


the female dead leaf mantis


green mantis ??? lol


cheers

nice mantis there...
i wan to have one.....

Hei Zoe,

You can contact Mantis manis, but our postal service....you know la

i did contact him b4, but thne maybe too busy so didnt reply...

No la, he seldom online here maybe u can check in here

hi, is there anyone have the caresheet about mantis?

i wish to learn to rear a mantis as pet. thanks

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Added on February 7, 2010, 11:38 pm

This post has been edited by s98432512: Feb 7 2010, 11:38 PM

Went to P.Dickson to shoot a wedding vid today and spotted two grey color mantid at mangrove area
Damm regret never bring container with me, cant catch it at all zzzzz
Any idea what sp is that?

Finally saw some of the comon green mantis in this 2 weeks, a small one spotted in some food court, another bigger abit hang around in my house, didn't go to catch it, just let it be there.... interesting lil guy.

Hey guys, I'm not that active here. Please join here for more mantis stuff.

It should be this species...
Asian Mantis Network