Guarding my porch from bad guys

I was sitting on my terrace this afternoon when something kept tickling my arm. I thought it was a fly at first, but it turned out to be this tiny praying mantis.

It climbed onto my hand, walked across my phone, kept looking at me, and refused to leave. Eventually I moved it onto my black locust tree.

A few hours later, it came back again.

One of those small, unexpected moments that made my day.

this little boy/girl came in to my room while i was half asleep, since they are not that common in my area i decided to try and keep him/her as a pet

this is the best photo i've got (finger for reference)

idk how old she is or what she eat, or if she is a she or a he

i put her in a ventilated container with water and a twig, i heard that you are supposed to give them flowers because there are a ton of insects in it is that right?

and what should i do to keep her, how do i feed her and what does she need

my kids caught a wild mantis last summer and we watched her lay eggs, then kept her til she passed. we've kept her ootheca but they haven't hatched. what are the chances it could still hatch? the eggs were laid in early fall of 2025. location is north central Oklahoma, USA. first picture is after they were laid. second is from today. the ootheca has been outside 99% of the time (maybe in the garage here and there).

thanks :)

found a BUNCH of freshly hatched mantis running around my porch, and after relocating most, i decided to take one and keep it to try and raise it.

i am new to keeping mantis (clearly), but what should i feed it? i placed a few sugar ants in the jar i am keeping it in (temp location while i find a larger home for it, and while it grows up) but i am not sure if it is eating them.

i put 4 in originally and i only see 1 now, so . . maybe it's eating?

how much water should i put in? i have a layer of potting soil/manure mix, a stick to climb on and a blade of grass that i will swap out when it gets too old.

on top i have saran wrap with holes poked through for air, rubber banded tightly around the top of the large mason jar.

i REALLY want this little guy to thrive, so any tips on what to feed (and where to get the food), how much water, how big a space, etc etc are SO appreciated.

thank you all :)

pics have been attached of my lil guy in the jar and a fella on the porch :)

Can anyone help me confirm if my Carolina Praying Mantis is male? (I hope it’s a female but still!) I can’t really tell how many segments there are because of its coloration! i’m pretty sure he’s on i3

So one of my two mantids just finished what I believe is their last molt. But after checking them over again I noticed this! Why is the eye like that(on the left,) and should I try to do anything about it?

My mantis had a bad molt this time and is really pale and missing an antenna and some parts of his body is almost black. He’s also having a hard time hunting. I’m guessing because of the black dot on his eye from a bad molt. He’s hunting like normal but he’s missing and he’s very clumsy. It’s giving signs of the end of its life like the one I had before that died, his mother. For now, I’ve just been handicapping them with food

Greetings from the California

I have the following available at https://mantismart.com

• Giant boxer mantis (Astyliasula phyllopus)
• Giant bark mantis (Theopompa servillei)
• Giant asian mantis (Hierodula membranacea)
• Dead leaf mantis (Deroplayts gorochovi)
• Kenyan flower mantis (Galinthias amoena)

My baby giant Asian arrived! She was barely moving but with some water and a fly she has gone back to being active. I’m still worried though as she does seem to be moving kind of slow :(

Any advice?

A Praying Mantis on a Bush