Oops, Poecilotheria regalis, yup. Adult female. I should have added that.
Anyway, if you take another look at the pic, you may notice the mantid is upside-down. Which is not a natural looking ambush. Yes, the mantis was already dead. So no fear, mantid fanciers-the mantis had already passed on before I dangled it in front of that monster. One sharp puff of air and she released it. The whole affair was for photographic purposes only. Hey, I love mantids too, they're totally neat.
That mantis is approx. 4" long, if that'll give you'z some scale.
john
Hi, john. Anytime I see a beautiful animal "eating" another equally( but dead ) animal it takes my muster not to stop the scene, if you know what I mean. Anthropomorphic tendencies, I reckon.
Your mantis looks like either an Heirodula or Sphodromantis sp...
is it?
I don't know much about Mantids, but I believe the ones that occur in my area, perhaps most of the US, are the Chinese mantis, Stagomamantis Carolina?
This very large female was found inside the plant I work. She was scooped up and brought home for my son to check out. She thrived in captivity, eating and drinking regularly, then died. I believe she was at the end of her life span.
Her bright green body coupled with the black and white of a very large contrasting P. regalis would make a nice pic. To me, it did.
I only stopped the feeding 'cause I don't want my prized P. regalis eating something that actually may do harm (endo-parasites, or whatever).
The mantis is currently pickled amonst a host of preserved specimens. Eternally beautiful, jeez.
john
personally, i'd feed my spiders some people if they were big enough. the spiders, not the people. feeding them big people would defeat the purpose.
like smurfs! now there's a picture we need...
The Chinese is Tenodera sinensis, and the Carolina- is Stagmomantis carolina... it's shame that you weren't blessed with an eggcase before that beauty died.
S. carolina is the Carolina mantid, a US native. The wings of female S. carlina do not extend past the tip of the abdomen, and I think the one in the picture is to big to be a male of that species.
The latin for the Chinese mantid is Tenodera aridifolia, which is what it probably is, based on size. It could also be Mantis religiosa, the true "Praying mantis" which is an introduced European species.
Smurfs are also an introduced European species. Care should be taken when using them as feeders, however, as they have been known to cause T's to vomit themselves to death due to excessive cuteness.
wade, your comment was way funnier than my picture. i almost lost my coffee out the nose.
and anyway, the damn pciture is obviously a forgery! notice how the first set of legs goes OVER the prey item, and the pedipalps do not! come on now, what was this guy thinking?!
Thanks people, for the extra info on mantids.
Also, that smurf thing is a hoot
Smurfs are cute enough to offer as feeders.
But, I keep a whole aquarium full of 'em, for breeding purposes. Though, females are really, really hard to come by.
john
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