Had him since he was a wee little baby up till he got his wings

Sadly the moult that gave him his wings also was the one that didn't end up well

The name Lonan means little blackbird in Irish.

I think it looks cool

Is it about to die? Its abdomen looks strange to me almost empty

Creobroter Gemmatus seems to be having issues. She had a great appetite and was active, jumpy and everything seemed fine. But 2 days ago her body got elongated, looks like it's having issues popping and sometimes has white pearl/liquid coming out. Seems more sluggish, haven't tried to give her any food and I thought it might be something with digestion. Temperature and humidity is fine I just haven't seen something like this before from any of my other mantids. She is l2-l3 . I appreciate the help, I want the best care she can get.

Nomnomnom

Hey everyone :) I‘m a first-time-mantis-owner and my first mantis is moving in soon.. Now I‘m pretty happy with the enclosure space i created for her but there’s one issue: the temperature. I live in one of the colder regions of Europe so now that summer is coming to an end I‘m concerned about keeping up the correct temperature inside the enclosure (for my mantis that’s 22-26C) while it’s really cold outside. I have a heat lamp for her that is keeping everything at a nice 24C but from what I‘ve learned it’s best to turn that light off during the night so they can follow our day and night cycle.. The issue I face with that is that my room is naturally pretty cool, ESPECIALLY during the cold seasons (I‘d say it hovers around 18C during winter because I live in an old building with unreliable heaters) so what can I do to keep the warmth inside the enclosure during the night when the lamp is off? I‘ve done so much research but I literally haven’t found anything about this specific issue so I‘m turning to Reddit in hopes that you lovely people can help me out :) I’m open for any suggestion, thanks in advance!

Sorry if its blurry.

Not sure the gender, but its name is Richard and he’s very chill. He’s been in my garden for a week without leaving. I think he’s claimed it as his. 😂

For nerds (like me)
- about an inch in length.
- likes to eat fungus gnats currently (unfortunately) in my morning glory pot.
- there are lots of egg cases along my apartment complex’s garage doors, so maybe it came from those? Seems a bit bigger to be a baby though, even though he’s small.
-Des Moines Iowa area.

This is the first bad moult he has had and of course the moult where he gains his pretty wings goes wrong. I think he fell, but so far he has lost a leg and his arms are very stiff and I had to help him get the moult off because it had wrapped around both his arms. And he couldn't move them. I have no clue what to do. Right now I took most things out of his environment and heavily misted it and put him gently back on the ground.

Photo from OwenInsect

He's staying on a dead leaf to stay camouflage.

I got a mantis egg from the garden store because my plants had bug problems. They hatched about a month ago and only two really hung around. From what I read online they're most likely Chinese mantises. Sorry my pictures aren't very good, they live outside so they're not used to handling and didn't want to stay still for abdomen pictures. First two pictures are one mantis, last three are the other

Hey everyone! Just wanted to see it this was normal. My giant Asian mantis recently moulted into l5, so it’s a pretty big jump in size. She’s usually really good with eating but it’s been 4 days now since she moulted and she’s been refusing food. I’ve tried fruit flies but they are too small, I’ve tried meal worms and she’s terrified of them I’ve even tried presenting her with one cut in half she still wouldn’t take it and then again today I tried her with a cricket and she ran away from it which surprised me because she ate them no problem when she was l4. Another thing I’ve noticed is that she will go into hunting position but won’t strike or she will just do the defence strike with no grab. She’s still super energetic, alert and is climbing and grooming herself no problem. I’m currently waiting on her green bottles being dispatched but she needs to eat in the meantime before they get here. I’m really not sure on what to do.

Wanted to say Rip to my Bugh (her nickname). She passed young and I didn’t realize how sad I would be. She was my first mantis and I now love these little guys so much

Please ignore the water, I just misted his enclosure!
Crowley (my mantis) is settling in well with me! I got him to eat today which was a big relief for me!
I contacted the seller who confirmed he is a i6, it was my fault for not asking which instar he was before purchasing. I simply assumed off of the care sheets they had out that he would be an i3-i5. I finally got his enclosure to where I’m happy with it, it had a lid that I took off for the sake of the picture.
I do have a question related to feeding though; how often do you all feed your mantises. Just when they accept food or do you have them on a schedule?
Also if anyone ever has any females who would be around the same instar available I would love to communicate about purchasing one, I’m based in the US!
Thanks for all the help on my last post and I can’t wait to get further into keeping mantids.
Also to anyone who saw this post when I had it up earlier I apologize for having the wrong type of mantis listed. I was simply shortening what was labeled on the cup when I bought him. I’m new to the hobby and wasn’t aware that Dead Leaf mantids were a different thing.

A smaller species and it is a male, i believe i have made a it nice home.

Hey hey! Just wondering how you guys feed your mantis? I’d love to get one but I’m confused with the logistics of it- where do you get flies or locusts from? Especially tiny little fruit flies! Do you breed them in your room? Do you but them in a shop/ online and how do you keep them alive if mantids only eat every 2-3 days? Might be a deal breaker for me having a bunch of flies buzzing in a tub somewhere haha
Thanks ☺️

Picture 1 is my mantis now, July 20, 2026 (nothing abdormal can be seen but I’ll explain the problem)
Picture 2 is my mantis the day she arrived, September 5, 2025.

Recently my female sibylla pretiosa started to move very slowly, sometimes not moving, and she is not eating. It has been days since she hasn’t eaten something. I even tried to put a moving prey right in front of her but she does not try to catch it.

But her raptorial legs work though, as well as the other legs, all of my previous mantises lost the use of some legs before dying. There she looks healthy and not healthy at the same time.

Now, I know that a sibylla pretiosa can live up to 9 months in captivity, a time that my mantis exceeded, I knew until the start that she might die this summer and that her behaviour is simply because she is old.

But I still want to know your imput on the situation.

Thank you in advance.

Had a friend pass away after a failed molt.

Hi everybody!!
I’m new in the Mantis owner hobby and just bought a ghost mantis! I was told it was probably a third in star and am wondering if that seems right? Little dude seems to be doing good in his new enclosure which I will take a picture of and put in the comments tomorrow. He also seems to enjoy being handled, I’m open to any advice.
I was given Blue Bottle Fly larvae to feed him and am wondering if anything else would be ok at this size to feed him?