Mantis pictures

[Mr. Mordax]

The money shot is . . . interesting . . . to say the least, Padkison. *weirded-out emote*

To wonderwes, if I understand my Discovery Channel correctly, their primary defense against bats is to tuck their wings in and simply fall. It works pretty well. And that kill rate wouldn't surprise me -- I accidentally dropped a cricket while feeding my Chinese mantis tonight and it caught the cricket as it fell by its face.

Regarding the taxonomy, some entomologists consider cockroaches, mantids, walkingsticks, grasshoppers, crickets and katydids to be separate suborders of order Orthoptera. The main thing they have in common is the wing style -- a straight leathery pair of forewings covering a pair of fan-shaped hindwings.

Padkison, that ghost chowing down on the roach is classic. :clap:

 

[padkison]

I always try and get a "money shot" of all my mantid pairing. Not because I have got some kind of wierd kinky bug fetish. Rather, I like documentation of matings to verify fertile ooths. It does sort of gross me out in some way too, which is why I posted it, of course.

The money shot is . . . interesting . . . to say the least, Padkison. *weirded-out emote*

 

[padkison]

Carolina Mantid pictures

 

[padkison]

European Female

 

[padkison]

Europeans mating

 

[DJ_AlMighty_247]

Sphodromantis (maybe centralis/gastrica...?)

Hierodula membranacea,

Hymenopus coronatus,

Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii,

 

[lychas]

how do you house hundreds of bubs? Pics?

 

[ANTHONY.T]

amazing species

 

[padkison]

Nice pics DJ. I love seeing an ooth hatch.

Ghost female playing dead

 

[dtknow]

you can see the terror on those poor roaches faces!

 

[moose35]

Ghost female playing dead

i had to do this...hope you don't mind

moose

 

[padkison]

She's pretty placid and laid back. Not like the adult Wide Arm female I had who once she started packing it on to lay ooths, would latch on to your finger if you wiggled it in front of her.

i had to do this...hope you don't mind

moose

 

[padkison]

Female European

 

[Mr. Mordax]

That's cool! I've never seen them hold their wings out unless they were doing a threat display.

 

[padkison]

She was reacting to another mantis next to her and I pulled her out for a picture

That's cool! I've never seen them hold their wings out unless they were doing a threat display.

 

[dragontears]

I thought I should share some macro pics I took of my female Chinese Mantid:

Puppy-dog eyes:

Yummy cricket eggs!

 

[Cigarman]

mantis from Maine, US

Found one myself yesterday. Awesome beasties!

 

[johnny888]

Just want to share an old picture of my last surviving Blepharopsis Mendica (taken 2 months ago)

 

[Mr. Mordax]

That is a weird-lookin' mantis there. Sure goes good on the Aloe.

 

[i_like_scorps]

All these photos and species are stunning! I've always been facinated with mantids but never kept them as pets because I heard they only have about an 8 month life expectancy. Is that correct? If not, what is the average life span of mantids?