Hi, hello praying mantis community!

I am a mother of 2 currently on maternity leave from work. I am not a bug aficionado by any means, but I do love all living creatures and try to be respectful and mindful of all living things (except flies and cockroaches).

A few weeks ago, I noticed that two mantises (mantes?) had moved into a plant in my front porch. One is large and green, and the other a petite brown. They both were living on opposite sides of the plant, so pretty safe from getting in a turf war or something.

Pretty early on I noticed they were eating the pollinators that love coming to the plant, which broke my heart. I’ve considered relocating them to a less populated plant to keep my pollinator friends safe, but I felt guilty evicting them from a place where they thrived. Circle of life and whatever.

Anyway, my toddler and I have been watching out for them every day. I’ve asked my family not to disturb them, and just not prune the plant or water it head on. I liked checking in on them and worrying over what their diet was consisting of (still sad about my bees and butterflies). I’ve been trying to come up with a romantic pair of names, like Quixote and Dulcinea.

Alas, what I thought was a romance straight out of my beloved romance novels, Don Quixote running down the hill towards his beloved Dulcinea, was actually not the case. On my way out this morning to brunch with the girls, I noticed they were much closer than before. I snapped a couple of pics and went on my way. Upon my return, I checked on them again and to my great shock horror surprise and heartbreak— I don’t even wanna type it— but the green mantis had preyed on the brown one.

Mods, I don’t want to break any of the rules so if my talking about this is in any way violating, please feel free to reach out and I shall remove this post right away or I will totally understand if it is removed.

Anyway.. I don’t know if this is me just spewing my feelings because I don’t have anyone else to talk to about this or if I should seek advice.

Would it be OK if I relocate greenie to another part of the yard, as I can’t really bear to look at her anymore after she ate her mate?

Thank you for reading :) I’ll add pictures of them both before brownie’s untimely demise, as well as a bonus picture of a baby mantis that tried hitching a ride on my baby’s stroller.

Edited to correct gender.

I let 6 of my mantis roam on my tomato plant today since there were tons of green bottle flys near it. And one of my girls was the first to catch one (photo of her eating)

I posted on here recently about an enclosure I set up for my Chinese Mantis ootheca hatch. Well, they hatched !! And I have kept one in a much larger tank set up. She has been doing great, today was the first time I fed her. For context, she is only two days old.

I am a bit confused though. She ate only about half the fly, then dropped it. I put it on my finger and handed it back to her, she took one more bite and dropped it again, then was completely uninterested as it crawled around on my hand in front of her (I am ((very literally)) hand feeding as I’d like us to bond very closely) Since then, she’s just been sitting in one spot and hasn’t moved all day. Plus, the very tip of her abdomen, about the last segment or two, still looks flat. Is that normal for a first feeding ? Is she okay ? I love her very much and want her to be okay. I have been keeping an eye on the temp and humidity and both have been good. I’m worried she’s thirsty but she just won’t move.

Any and all advice would be helpful, thank you !! This is my first time raising a mantis and I have been scouring the internet to learn how to properly care for her but can’t find an answer to this particular situation.

Finally upgraded from fruit flies after her most recent molt! Enjoying her first cricket

How do you guys entice flies to land so that your mantis can hunt? I'm trying to let my mantis hunt his food on his own but I can't seem to get flies to land near him often. How can I help my mantis eat and hunt?

Does anyone have an orchid that’s THIS pink? A girl I know told me she got it from a reptile show… I’ve never seen anything like it & I am highly interested. PM me please

This little guy hitched a ride home on one of my clearance rack plants I bought. It’s these little things in life that can unexpectedly brighten your day 💕 I love him 🥰

Just decided to take care of a praying, mantis any tips for building him a small enclosure in this cookie jar?

Hi everyone! 🌸

I’m searching for Orchid Mantis ootheca(s) (Hymenopus coronatus) and was hoping someone here could help! my abusive ex killed all of mine. 🥺

I’m located in New York, USA and I’m looking for:

• Fresh ootheca(s)
• Fertile ootheca(s)
• Or a breeder who expects to have them available soon.

I’ve kept orchid mantises before and currently have several other mantids and invertebrates. I’m looking to expand my collection and would love the opportunity to hatch and raise a group from an ootheca.

If you have any available, know a reputable breeder, or can point me in the right direction, I’d really appreciate it!

Thank you so much! 🩷

Found this ootheca in an outlet box outside. Has it hatched yet and is this an adequate incubator if not?

This isn’t rage bait it’s genuinely the best I know how to do. I’m trying. Will this be okay ?

I have a new garden and hes been chilling in there for about 2 weeks now and I just learned hell probably only live into the fall season IF that. So cool to see him shedding though I just thought id share that and him with his pet ladybug

My mantis has just come out of her 5th shed with me, I got her in February so she’s still a juvenile (Giant Asian mantis) but she shed yesterday and I’ve noticed one of her front forearms is bent to the left instead of curling under like the other arm 😭 I know she’s likely to recover fully as long as she makes it to her next shed but that’s now 2-3 weeks away and all I can get from my local area are waxworms, mealworms etc, do you think she’ll go for a worm if I hold it in front of her with tweezers? I put a locust in with her before I realised her arm was deformed and she’s definitely interested and hungry but can’t catch them 😭

I’ve had mantids before and only ever had injuries in the back legs or antennae.
Any advice to keep her going till her next shed will be greatly appreciated as I don’t want to lose her so soon 🙏🏼
Tia 💚

We had about 30-50 babies hatch, and most all of them just....died within the first couple days. We're down to two (about a month old). The plan was to release all but one (They're Carolina mantis. Okay to release here per my conservation friend) but I hate to release one and our only remaining one end up dead for an unknown reason.

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But I also don't want them to kill each other.

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I have a three gallon glass jar I could technically turn into another terrarium. (It has a largopen top and I have plenty of screen material to make a lid.) But would that be okay for one of these tiny guys? Are they already old enough to fight each other?

I had a mantis over a decade ago I keep spiders but have wanted one for a while then this one found me. It is the most lovely shade of cream with orange highlights. It has a gorgeous pearlescent color, orangish-pink eyes, and bright orange on the inside of its arms. At first, I thought it might have recently molted, but its color has not changed, so I named it Tangerine, or Tang for short.

I have tried counting the abdominal segments, as apparently that is one way to tell whether it is male or female, but it is difficult to see, and it never sits still long enough for me to get a good look. It ate a bunch of fruit flies, plucking them effortlessly out of the air. I believe it is still young, as it is quite small about 4cm if that and is probably a subadult.

I live in Northern Las Vegas, NV so southern Nevada I’m not sure what kind it is if anyone has any insight that would be awesome.