Halloween pet

[Scorpendra]

i was just sitting there with my friends at my freind's house minding my own buisness, when what do i see? an impressive looking mantis standing on the window screen. naturally, i run home and fetch an unushed KK. capturing it was surprisingly easy. some time ago, i tried to catch a nymph and it even flew to escape me. but this was very easy, so much that i even set up the tank with it inside. i'll have pics in a while.

 

[Jaygnar]

Nice find! Now get those pics up!

 

[Scorpendra]

no pix yet . in the meantime, i'll report that i moved her (?) into an open air enclosure (it's all mesh screening, so its really lucky i found something to put in there) and the KK now holds my A. purpurea. i also found that the reason she never tried to escape from me was that her wings are damaged. not severely, but she certainly can't fly.

 

[Scorpendra]

they were taken on my phone, so they're not in the best quality. but she was certainly easy to photograph, she even posed for me on my arm

 

[lucanidae]

some time ago, i tried to catch a nymph and it even flew to escape me.

Nymphs wouldn't have wings . It was either a small male or possibly a Carolina mantis which are smaller and sometimes found in NY.

 

[Scorpendra]

i'd guess the former. either way, that one escaped and i caught this one. her name is Lucky.

 

[Scorpendra]

and she's the first of my inverts i've ever handled.

 

[Scorpendra]

just a full view of her cage:

 

[lucanidae]

Unfortunatley mantids caught outside this time of year in New York will only last another month or so in captivity. She might lay an eggmass though, and you'll have hundreds on babies in a month if you keep it just above room temp.

 

[Scorpendra]

eh, better a month than nothing. i'm not so sure if she's gravid, but it would be cool to watch an ootheca hatch.

 

[lucanidae]

From your pics she looks thick enough to produce another one. She's almost definitley mated, just feed her well and see if she produces another before she passes.

 

[Scorpendra]

you think so? sounds like i'm going to be in for some fun

come to think of it, i'm already having fun. she may be a time bomb, but she's one hell of a time bomb. never before have i actually allowed one my my inverts to roam outside her enclosure.

 

[Aunt Ant]

Hey my dad went to play golf over at Bethpage on the 31st and said he saw a huge mantis walking across the tee box! Interesting coincidence, no? I wonder what the reason for them wandering about Long Island at this time is. Do they seek shelter for the winter? Do they survive NY winters?
I guess I have to learn about mantids now!

Very cool catch Molitor! I'm gonna look out for them here, but I've never seen big ones in Queens. Just bitty ones. Maybe those can grow large?

 

[Louise E. Rothstein]

Dear Molitor:

Mantid eggs hibernate.Please learn how to hibernate them. If you do get an eggsac you may need to know how.

Mantids tend to turn cannibal.
You may have few separate spaces.
Other fanciers may be happy to separate some.
But those you do keep will need food.
And their food should start small.

The smallest mantid hatchlings need springtails.
Yours may be a little bigger:but not that much.
Please find small foods for them BEFORE THEY HATCH.

Good luck there!!!

 

[Scorpendra]

yes, i believe all that went without saying.