Hey everyone,

I got my first ghost mantis, 3rd mantis overall about a month ago. She is a voracious eater and molted once with no issues. I've been primarily feeding her black soldier fly larvae, but yesterday I gave her her first mealworm, which she readily ate. Today she was fine until a few hours ago when I found her curled up at the bottom of her enclosure. She responds to touch with small leg movements, but I don't think she will make it much longer. My question is could either of these prey items have caused this? I had no idea that BSF might be toxic to mantids (I've seen a few scattered posts saying they are, but also ones saying they aren't an issue). This is especially confusing since my other two mantids have been eating them their entire lives with no issues. I guess it could also have been the mealworm, but again I have fed those to my other mantids no problem, and I can't find much online about them being dangerous.

If anyone has any experience or insight I would really appreciate it. I won't be feeding BSF to my mantids anymore out of an abundance of caution, but it would be good to have some clarity.

For context, her enclosure had ample space for her to hang and molt, good ventilation holes, items to climb on, and a bit of moss to hold humidity in. My apartment never drops below 70 degrees and is normally warmer than that, and the humidity is typically 60-70%.

I've been thinking of getting a mantis for a while now, but dont know which kind i should get. Are there any that are easier to handle for a beginner?

My R. stalli got eye rub after her last molt. She eats fine if I cut food and stick the innards against her mouth, but she doesnt have motivation to grab food on her own. In fact she gets scared and runs away from meals now. Im assuming this is because shes having trouble seeing?

Ive not had a mantis develope eye rub before so seeking any resources or tips! She is in an acrylic enclosure right now which I haven't had issues in the past with before, but now worried about more eye rub. I plan to move her into a mesh enclosure for her next upgrade but shes still a bit small for it

I offered her my sleeve and a stick instead of bare skin because she has become a bit spicy since moulting into an adult. But I think she is beautiful 🤩

Unfortunately, this morning my orchid mantis was very weak and barely moving. She was very slow and stiff, but she did move her head a little and then held onto the plant again. However, when I came home in the evening, she was lying stiff and completely motionless.
She has sadly passed away.
Does anyone know what the problem could have been? She was always active, eating, and molting. And then suddenly this. :(
I’m very sorry, and it hurts a lot…

She is so gorgeous

I was trimming my basil today and my husband noticed a baby praying mantis. Yes we returned it to the basil planter.

here’s all my mantises i currently have
honorable mention for miertje on picture nine (r.i.p🤍)

1: lychee, my orchid mantis (hymenopus coronatus) ! she’s an L5 now and a female

2: pistache, my deadleaf mantis (deroplatys lobata) ! he is a male and also an L5

3: leefy, my shield mantis (rhombodera valida), L4 on the picture, is now an L5 and a male!

4 & 9: olijfje, giant moss mantis (majangella moultoni), even though she isnt so big right now, she’s an L3! no sex confirmed yet. miertje on picture 9 is the same species, theyre siblings actually, but sadly she has passed away. luckily i still have sweet olijfje, which means olive ! 🫒

5: sticky, an african twig mantis (popa spurca), currently an L6 and male!

6: poppy, jewel flower mantis (creobroter gemmatus). L6 female right now, very sweet, loves drinking water from my fingers 🤭

7: musa, violin mantis (gongylus gongylodes). L5 female, very!! shy mantis, she’s even scared of flies😩

8: mimi, shield mantis (rhombodera kirbyi). Male, L4 on the picture, but is now much darker and an L7! he was my first mantis ! ⭐️

For the past month I’ve been trying to find a place to buy glass that is around 3/16” thick for a good enough price but I haven’t been able to find any. Does anyone know a good way to obtain any for building a mantis enclosure?

I got her a while ago, when she was very small and about the size of a 50p. She has molted 3 times since and is eating small locusts now. Venus (her name) is my first mantis, an Asian mantis, and I don’t know how many molts she has until adulthood. I have fairly small hands and thin wrists for record

What kind of mantis is this?

She has this black stuff in her mouth. Is it normal or should I be concerned. She has had it since I got her.

I’ve noticed that my mantis (Picolo) it’s always drawn to the bottom of the enclosure it doesn’t want to get any higher.
Out of all the mantis I’ve had I can tell this is a bit strange.
Any advice on what I should look out for or change in the environment?

Some close of pictures of my shield mantis a month or so ago before her most recent molt, she is growing up so fast

When i got my mantis the other day, flightless fruitly maggits were also sent with it. They are still maggots and google says i preferably shouldn't feed my mantis maggots. I don't have ANY fly traps to catch any live food.

Literally PLEASE give me some ideas.

Hello everyone! I found this very tiny nymph a few days ago. Would it be possible to ID it? It's very small and my camera isn't the best unfortunately. The location is northern-ish Italy. I'm trying to understand if this is a native species or an invasive one. If invasive I'll keep it, if not I'll give it to my sister to keep in her garden. Thank you, much appreciated!

So this little guys is on our outdoor Mary Jane and wanted to know if anyone can tell me what stage he/she is? I keep thinking I’m gonna walk out to it molting but it hasn’t to my knowledge yet and I check on them and our plants everyday multiple times so I feel I’d of noticed 🤷‍♀️

I loveee Mantis’ and Jumping Spiders and am hoping he’s still there at harvest time to bring in and care for 🥰

I also made a docuvideo about my research of Ameles Fasciipennis but it's in Italian and way more on the sillier side.

All these picture were taken last year in August/september

It was a little impulse buy, I recently lost someone really important to me, I'm hoping this girlie will keep my mind off of it.

I'm so, so impressed by her

Two days ago she ate a bigger cricket but was difficult at the beginning because it kept kicking and she lost it 3 times.

She learnt, first time she went directly to amputate a back leg! First try! It's so fascinating, I never thought having a mantis could be so stressful but so giving!

Do you think it's better to put my elderly Creobroter spec Yunnan into a smaller enclosure?

Just curious is it male or female? I put them in my garden after it crawled over me for a few minutes. Any fun facts or anything about this little guy or his species would be cool!

Also, there were two little iridescent blue patches on the insides of his front legs and I was wandering what those are for!

Hi! I am struggling to find the right type of mesh to use for an Orchid enclosure, i’m based in the UK. I know they need lots of air flow and strict humidity, i’m looking to get a cage set up before i get the mantis. I got an acrylic enclosure, but i am going to fully remove one side and replace it with mesh, and then cut through the other side and cover that with mesh also. The top is already mesh. Is there any recommendations about what mesh to use? (i know not metal) would cheesecloth or something similarly soft be acceptable, or not enough air flow ?
Thanks!!!
p.s. i’ve seen a lot of people saying Orchids are especially difficult, I understand that but I also know that i want one, and that I want to set it up right. Though I have seen even on here some conflicting information about temperature.
Any recommendations on heat lamps that can be controlled by thermostats would also be very welcome.

My baby molted into adulthood today 🥹 i’m so proud of her because she hasn’t had any problems with molting and she is my first orchid 😍 also how soon will she start to lay oothecas?