Reptile Forums banner

my first praying mantis

2K views 44 replies 7 participants last post by  Mr Mister 
#1 ·
Hi guys got myself a cute little mantis... it was pretty agressive when I got it lol now it just happily walks out when I open the lid lol... just wondering if any of you guys know what type it is as it was sold to me as a devils flower mantis.... with it being my first one I have no idea what type it is... thank you









Sorry they arnt great pics but its so hard to get one :lol2:
 
See less See more
4
#10 · (Edited)
Yeah, actually that's a Blepharosis mendica. "Devil's flower mantis" is the common name for two species: B. mendica and Idolomantis diabolica.

They like it hot, well ventilated and dry. They get a lot bigger than wahlbergiis, at that size wahlbergiis are pre-sub or subadult.

They cannot climb smooth surfaces well and need mesh of the right size or they risk losing their feets (that whole family, the Empusidae, are a complete bugger in that respect).

You will want a cage with at least two of the sides fully meshed and a small incandescent bulb for it to bask under. Depending on where this ones ancestors are from it may have a dormant phase at subadult in which it'll just chill about for a couple of months, not eating, and needing to be cooled to like 10-15 degrees. Otherwise it'll just keep growing until it's an adult (Tenerife vs. North Africa/Middle Eastern strains respectively).

It will need flying prey exclusively, things like crickets and locusts tend to not agree with them.

Very good care sheet: Blepharopsis mendica (Thistle Mantis, Devils Flower Mantis)

Edit: these are not really a beginner species, but good luck.
 
  • Like
Reactions: snowgoose
#11 ·
Yeah, actually that's a Blepharosis mendica. "Devil's flower mantis" is the common name for two species: B. mendica and Idolomantis diabolica.

They like it hot, well ventilated and dry. They get a lot bigger than wahlbergiis, at that size wahlbergiis are pre-sub or subadult.

They cannot climb smooth surfaces well and need mesh of the right size or they risk losing their feets (that whole family, the Empusidae, are a complete bugger in that respect).

You will want a cage with at least two of the sides fully meshed and a small incandescent bulb for it to bask under. Depending on where this ones ancestors are from it may have a dormant phase at subadult in which it'll just chill about for a couple of months, not eating, and needing to be cooled to like 10-15 degrees. Otherwise it'll just keep growing until it's an adult (Tenerife vs. North Africa/Middle Eastern strains respectively).

It will need flying prey exclusively, things like crickets and locusts tend to not agree with them.

Very good care sheet: Blepharopsis mendica (Thistle Mantis, Devils Flower Mantis)


Hmm now I need to change some things lol ive been told to spray it and keep at room temp..

Ill stop the spraying but how will it drink sorry if thats a stupid question

Its in a plastic tank with vented top the kind I read to keep it in on eco earth with leaves also a branch I read it should have

Its been eating small crickets from tonques it also catches its own ever 4 to 5 days..

Any help would be aappreciated as I now know what species it is
 
#12 ·
Hrmm, well to be fair, there's a lot of misinformation about wahlbergiis out there, which also should be kept hot and dry (everyone always says how delicate they are, truth is they just don't like humidity really).

You lightly mist mendicas like once weekly, that care sheet I posted should give you all the info you need. That forum in general is amazing for mantis stuff. But yeah, mendicas basically don't need to drink anyway, they're adapted to this stuff.
 
#20 ·
Get a sweet jar.

Vent it.

Put something in mantis can hang from.

Make sure that thing is secure.

Put mantis in. Room temps are fine unless your house is esp freezing.

You don't need flying prey.

You can also melt a hole in jar + plug it. For putting food in.

Feed once a week. A few water droplets do no harm.

That's really about it.
 
#23 ·
Sounds fine.

It's not the hardiest of species, depending what stage it is at now it will last about a year. I used to love them. Had dozens, but I would buy one from each species. All I did was what I have suggested and what you are basically doing. It worked out fine. The only reason I don't keep them now is you can pay £10 for the Mantis, £7 for the postage + it does not live very long.

Get a breeding pair of the same species.

More interesting and worth it then.
 
#26 ·
To be honest it does look like a devils flower nymph. If it is, how the f did you manage to get hold of one?!


They're rare as rocking horse droppings!

Notoriously hard to breed so they are extremely hard to come by.

If you could get some pics in better lighting I'd like to have a better look.

Please do not feed it crickets! These are well known to be bad for most mantis!

Flower mantis diets should consist of flying insects. Curly wings, blue or green bottle flies, moths etc. variety is key.
We also occasionally feed our mantids honey which they love (small amount on a cotton bud or something)

Even if it's not a devils flower, it may be a spiny flower and these should be fed similar.



Oh and HI Mitch ! :)
 
#29 ·
Actually, retract my previous post -

It looks more like a thistle mantis, same sort of care.
These can also be known as a devils flower....

But in my eyes the devils flower is the idolo

Thistle Mantis - Blepharopsis mendica | Keeping Insects
It's 100% a mendica, aka thistle mantis, aka "Devil's flower mantis", though no one calls them that usually as that's indeed pretty much taken to mean idolos (this is why common names suck...)

A Wahlbergii would have different antennae, different shield shape on the thorax, a shorter thorax, different shaped head and different lobes.
 
#31 ·
Well currently we have -
adult Asian
adult orchid male
2 sub orchid males
1 sub orchid female (my favourite !)
adult female spiny
adult male spiny
Sub male spiny
adult female egyptian
Female dead leaf (one of my favs!)
Peacock unsure of gender
Adult female gongy
Sub female gongy
Sub male gongy
And 11 orchids at L3 that we had from babies

We also have 11 scorps and about 15 Ts



This all started when my boyfriend asked if we could have a gold fish!
I said no I wanted something cooler lol.
 
#43 ·
Sorry for getting you all confused

If you ever struggle for flies you can get maggots from a fishing shop (not the dyed ones) and wait for them to caster and hatch.

A lot of people will wait for them to caster then put the caster in the enclosure so once it hatches, voila, mantis has some food:)

To stop them all hatching at once you can store maggots in the fridge (not very appetising I know!)
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top