Some of my old mantids [DUW]

[The Albino]

Rhombodera sp.




Oxypilus distinctus


Phyllovates chlorophaea






And the king, Idolomantis diabolica. I wish I still had some of these around! This project went horribly wrong towards the end, but I hope to reboot it again someday...probably next spring, if I can get a hold of any.

[Boanerges]

Those are all really cool looking!!! I don't know much about mantids could you explain why Idolomantis diabolica was special/exciting to you? Thanks

[The Albino]

Thanks!
They're hard to get a hold of, and can't be beat in terms of looks. Many consider them to be tricky to raise although I didn't have those problems.
The adult male in my hand is freshly molted and didn't have any of it's adult color yet.

Some links to photos of fully mature adults (not mine)
http://scienceblogs.com/zooillogix/i...diabolica2.jpg
http://img.blog.yahoo.co.kr/ybi/1/19...1181266894.jpg
http://www.mantisanddragons.com/images2/2.jpg

[Derrick13]

Wow those guys in the links look awsome, I hope you can find some.

[2kdime]

AHHHH BUGS!!!

Neat looking for sure!! Very interesting little critters.

Wish I could warn all the potential gentleman callers

[Boanerges]

Thanks!
They're hard to get a hold of, and can't be beat in terms of looks. Many consider them to be tricky to raise although I didn't have those problems.
The adult male in my hand is freshly molted and didn't have any of it's adult color yet.

Some links to photos of fully mature adults (not mine)
http://scienceblogs.com/zooillogix/i...diabolica2.jpg
http://img.blog.yahoo.co.kr/ybi/1/19...1181266894.jpg
http://www.mantisanddragons.com/images2/2.jpg

They are cool looking as juvies but the adults are stunning!!! What went wrong with the project? And thanks for the links of the adults

[thatkindofgirl]

Wow, those are fantastic!!! I miss mine, they are way too interesting for their own good I think....

[The Albino]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

They are cool looking as juvies but the adults are stunning!!! What went wrong with the project? And thanks for the links of the adults

A whole bunch of things...basically, other issues kept me from giving them the care they needed and they died off. I custom built a screen cage for them, five feet tall on a 2.5 foot square. I figure I'll give the mantids another go before I decide to put a few chameleons in there.

[Lucas339]

i really like mantids!! the ones you had are killer!!