communal mantis

joe0709 · #1 (**permalink**) 26-03-2008, 03:06 PM

what mantis do you keep communaly ?

i was thinking of keeping some chinese mantis communaly but i have been told not to by some and that they will be ok by others.

what species do ok communaly ?

if not ill just probably have them all seperate anyways

stuart89 · #2 (**permalink**) 26-03-2008, 03:17 PM

Hey mate.

Been looking at mantis' quite a lot recently,

.

It appears that Ghost Mantids (Phyllocrania paradoxa)will live communaly and so will the Devils Flower Mantis (idolomantis diabolica).

I have read though that the Devils Flower Mantis' are very hard to keep so it pretty much just leaves the Ghost Mantis' as your option.

I have ordered 5 mantids the other day, 3 of which are Ghosts which I plan on keeping comunaly. They say that as long as the food is available, they will not attack each other, BUT it is not a certanty (sp?) -its just less likely-

If you want ghosts, the only person I have found after days of searching is Martin French at Main
He wont send anything until after monday next week however, he moved house or something.

Hope this helped!

Stuart.

P.S. Cant get the link to show the site, it just keeps showing 'Main'

joe0709 · #3 (**permalink**) 26-03-2008, 03:22 PM

wicked. thanks and that link is awesome.

may be tempted by a couple of other things on there lol

Mark75 · #4 (**permalink**) 26-03-2008, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stuart89

Hey mate.

Been looking at mantis' quite a lot recently,

.

It appears that Ghost Mantids (Phyllocrania paradoxa)will live communaly and so will the Devils Flower Mantis (idolomantis diabolica).

I have read though that the Devils Flower Mantis' are very hard to keep so it pretty much just leaves the Ghost Mantis' as your option.

I have ordered 5 mantids the other day, 3 of which are Ghosts which I plan on keeping comunaly. They say that as long as the food is available, they will not attack each other, BUT it is not a certanty (sp?) -its just less likely-

If you want ghosts, the only person I have found after days of searching is Martin French at Main
He wont send anything until after monday next week however, he moved house or something.

Hope this helped!

Stuart.

P.S. Cant get the link to show the site, it just keeps showing 'Main'

Having kept both these species I can confirm they will eat other. Maybe if you had them in an area the size of a greenhouse maybe.

I was a little peed off when I had 10 nice and healthy I diabolica who decided they'd develop a taste for their siblings and ended up with 7 and 3 fat mantids.

It'll do none of these mantids any harm to be kept solo. They don't need social interaction or to be kept in groups to be healthy so why risk it?

joe0709 · #5 (**permalink**) 26-03-2008, 03:26 PM

cool thanks. just thought it would look nice to have a little communal set up going but will just keep them alone then.

cheers

stuart89 · #6 (**permalink**) 26-03-2008, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark75

Having kept both these species I can confirm they will eat other. Maybe if you had them in an area the size of a greenhouse maybe.

I was a little peed off when I had 10 nice and healthy I diabolica who decided they'd develop a taste for their siblings and ended up with 7 and 3 fat mantids.

It'll do none of these mantids any harm to be kept solo. They don't need social interaction or to be kept in groups to be healthy so why risk it?

Im doing it for a display tank, there will be plenty of space and each will be fed very well. I know of a few people who have kept them together without the problems of cannabilism (sp?).

But I do agree, that they are not social animals and that it does not eliminate the factor of canabilism. But that some species are less likely to than others under the correct conditions.

Stuart.