# My new hobby (image heavy)



## Myke (Sep 2, 2012)

hi Y'all. Most of you probably have no idea who I am but know that I have been here off and on for a veeeery very long time. Mostly in the art section. I just wanted to show you guys my new hobby. Raising and breeding exotic mantids! =) I already have a zoo at home with 14 reptiles 8 amphibians, 2 fish tanks and a whole buttload of feeder insects I raise, but funny enough the mantids are my favorites
here's some pix of my babies.
this is a threat pose of a _Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii_ AKA spiny flower mantis. it's male and adult





sadly he died today but he lived a good long life. he died of old age
this is what happens when a mantis dies in my house




this is a threat pose of a femal _Popa spurca_ AKA african twig mantis




this is a _Phyllocrania paradoxa_ AKA ghost mantis female adult. the green ones are rare




this is another female ghost mantis threat posing




this is my brown ghost mating




this is the same brown ghost laying an ootheca (eggcase)




this is a _Deroplatys lobata_ nymph AKA dead leaf mantis




this is a _Sybilla pretiosa_ aka cryptic mantis nymph munching on a fly




this is a _Blepharopsis mendica_ AKA thistle mantis nymph




this is an _Idolomantis diabolica_ AKA Giant devil flower mantis these guys get huuuuge




this is a _Hymenopus coronatus_ AKA orchid mantis nymph




this is the same orchid mantid shedding to adulthood




this is the same orchid mantis as an adult after shedding and her wings are open




this is a fertile _Popa spurca_ ootheca (eggcase) should get around 20 to 50 babies out of it




any my ghost mantids when they were still subadult being goofy. these guys don't eat each other. they can live together.





I also own _T. sinensis_ (chinese giant mantis), _Metallyticus splendidus_, _Metallyticus violaceus_ (these guys don't have normalnames just look them up on google), _Deroplatys dessicata_ (another type of dead leaf mantis), and a pair of _Hypsiocorypha gracilis_ which apparently nobody owns in the us so yay for me. I just don't have pictures in hand for these guys. if interested google them. Except for the _gracilis_, that one is so rare even google shows you the wrong mantis.
hope you enjoyed my little show and tell. =)


----------



## Rydian (Sep 2, 2012)

Reactions, in order.

GAH BUGS EW EW EW
Hey they look pretty cool.
Wow, there's a wide variety.
Holt crap how can you find them when they're standing still in sticks and stuff?


----------



## The Catboy (Sep 2, 2012)

I am not going to lie, I want that collection.
They are so pretty!


----------



## Bobbyloujo (Sep 2, 2012)

I'm curious... where the heck do you get rare praying mantids? Is there like a black market for praying mantids? The first one is freaking cool looking.


----------



## jonesman99 (Sep 2, 2012)

Pretty cool collection, but seeing as how I am afraid of bugs, I think I'll stick to Scyther and Scizor, lol.


----------



## mrtofu (Sep 2, 2012)

deleted


----------



## Alex221 (Sep 2, 2012)

Can you take a picture of your _Hypsiocorypha gracilis_?


----------



## Gahars (Sep 2, 2012)

Your army of man-eating insects personal zoo is really quite impressive.


----------



## Vulpes Abnocto (Sep 2, 2012)

Of course the real question is "Have you injected yourself with mantis DNA yet? And if not, why not?"


----------



## Myke (Sep 2, 2012)

Rydian said:


> Holt crap how can you find them when they're standing still in sticks and stuff?



with a keen eye  sometimes they hide really well. Especially the ghost mantids. thats how they got their name.



Bobbyloujo said:


> I'm curious... where the heck do you get rare praying mantids? Is there like a black market for praying mantids? The first one is freaking cool looking.



indeed there is a black market for them. Owning exotic mantises in the US is kind of a grey line in terms of legality. Most of the ones I have are captive bred here in the us which technically doesn't make them illegal. The illegal part is the importing of them from outside of the us. which still happens from time to time (and obviously they had to make it into the US before they were US bred). the feds have better things to do than bust exotic mantis owners. It's kind of a don't ask don't tell sort of thing. you are technically supposed to have a permit for them, but if you apply for it it's just like a flag to the feds saying hey look at me I have mantises! and they will come and squish all your bugs. They are considered a pest because they eat other insects. Importing them is illegal because they are afraid the same thing that happened with snakes in florida, will happen with mantids in the us. However if you release these mantids into the wild here, they won't survive for long because they are mostly tropical and require quite a large amount of humidity, and where it's really humid here in the US it's also too hot for them. they simply wouldn't survive other than a few species.



Alex221 said:


> Can you take a picture of your Hypsiocorypha gracilis?



I will as soon as it gets lighter. it's 6 am and everyone is sleeping.



Vulpes Abnocto said:


> Of course the real question is "Have you injected yourself with mantis DNA yet? And if not, why not?"



hellllz yeahhhh! I now enjoy hanging upside down from the cieling, my arms have become raptorial like the mantis, and I stalk my prey. My girlfriend thinks it's creepy, but last time we mated she almost bit my head off. Watch out for her! I think she might have done a little injection herself.


----------



## Vulpes Abnocto (Sep 2, 2012)

Those of you who volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA, I've got some good news and some bad news. 
Bad news is we're postponing those tests indefinitely. 
Good news is we've got a much better test for you: fighting an army of tattooed mantis men. 
Pick up a rifle and follow the yellow line. 
You'll know when the test starts.


----------



## Ubuntuの刀 (Sep 2, 2012)

Reactions in order:

WTF? 
Whoa more bugs!
Is this photoshopped? D:
OMG MORE BUGS!
I think this guy is obsessed with bugs to the fullest extent


----------



## Myke (Sep 2, 2012)

I am definitely obsessed with Mantids. I do like other bugs too but mostly my mantises. I don't really collect other bugs unless you consider my feeder roach bins where I breed them for food for my reptiles, as part of my collection.
Bring on the rifle men! I will take them all down by myself! As soon as my Girl Lays an ootheca, there will be more of us! bring it!


----------



## Myke (Sep 8, 2012)

mantis frankenhouse I just built.  cheap.


----------



## Myke (Sep 14, 2012)

woohoooo! My new species have arrived!
_Metallyticus splendidus_. Ultra rare, from the island of Sumatra




_Metallyticus violaceus_, just as rare, still from the island of sumatra





AAAAnd a _Hypsiocorypha gracillis_. Even less is known about these guys. New species, even to europe which is huge in the mantis hobby. In all of the US I'm the only owner of these. I intend to mate them and hopefully spread them in the hobby here in the us
sorry for the crappy pic. I'll try to get a better one soon. I was just excited to get them so I snapped a quick one


----------



## Densetsu (Sep 14, 2012)

Myke said:


> My girlfriend thinks it's creepy, but *last time we mated she almost bit my head off*. Watch out for her!


Yikes, she's not supposed to _*take*_ head! 

Sorry, bad joke 



Myke said:


> AAAAnd a _Hypsiocorypha gracillis_. Even less is known about these guys. New species, even to europe which is huge in the mantis hobby. *In all of the US I'm the only owner of these.* I intend to mate them and hopefully spread them in the hobby here in the us


Very fascinating.  The fact that even Google doesn't even have a picture of it is pretty awesome.  How do you know that you're the only one in the US with one of these?  It's not that I don't believe you, but I'm just curious as to how you would go about finding out.  If you really _are_ the only US owner of _H. gracilis_, I hope you'll do the _responsible_ thing.  



Spoiler



Mate them until it breaks our ecosystem, then unleash them upon _"the man"_ 


Oh, and more high-res pics of them, please!  We need to get these to show up in Google!


----------



## Lanlan (Sep 14, 2012)

I was doing some work for a lady once and I saw this little guy on her deck. I snapped a few pictures of him. I'm not a photographer at all but I love how this came out. And if it's a female I'm sorry.


----------



## omgpwn666 (Sep 14, 2012)

Insects are so amazing. When seeing them close up like this it makes me realize how weird Earth is. Nice pictures, and amazing collection!


----------



## JsdMaNintendo (Sep 14, 2012)

This is wild to me. I used to think general insect collecting was just BS made up for TV and movie scenarios and crap, and they always made it look so.. Weird. I just thought that was how it was. But these are so amazing looking.... It's really opened my eyes.. People actually do this, and it's not a game. Looking at the insects amazes me. Seeing them up close like this, it's not like, "Oh, hey, it's a bug." It's more along the lines of, "Holy crap! That thing is a living creature!? o_o" Haha
Really good stuff.


----------



## Myke (Sep 14, 2012)

densetsu, I plan on breeding them LOL but I don't encourage releasing them in the wild for that exact reason. I don't want to help ruin the ecosystem. (btw not a bad joke  I collect them breed them, help the hobby out and once they die I bugpin them. I have a better pic of the hypsocorypha. I'll post it up in a second. I gotta upload it first. As for me knowing I'm the only, The mantis hobby in the US is very very VERY small. It's easy to connect with everyone on the upper tier farely quickly. Nobody has ever bred that species here in the US, not to mention nobody has ever imported them in the US...This is normally a europe only mantis. Not many people take their chances importing mantids because of the W&F Comes through and checks the box of if the FDA does it, they are just going to squish the bug there and then. So nobody really orders from europe if hardly at all. I took the chance, and I got lucky I guess =). She ate the male though in transit. The breeder decided to take the slowest shipping route and they took me 2 weeks to get here. I'm surprised most were still alive! one metallyticus dead and the male of the hypso. He's going to replace them. As far as I know I have also been told I'm the first to own them here in the US. I'm sure there is a chance that a few other people have or had them, but if they are serious about it they would be breeding them here, and nobody is which is a sure sign that nobody or better...only a few people in the us have them. I have also been informed by the european breeder that they haven't been in the US yet.


Lanlan, that's a gorgeous pregnant, very female, Stagmomantis Californica. Or california mantis. nice find =)

quick hypsocorypha snapshot still crappy but better than my previous. I only have a cameraphone.


----------



## Myke (Sep 20, 2012)

hypsocorypha better pictures. still a bit out of focus but you can tell what it looks like now.


----------



## Yumi (Sep 20, 2012)

Those are beautiful!

I thought they could cut you with their mini-scythes?


----------



## pyromaniac123 (Sep 20, 2012)

How pissed off would you be if you accidently stood on one of these?


----------



## FAST6191 (Sep 20, 2012)

An impressive collection- most people I met that collected them were more into the truly exotic snakes, spiders, stick insects and rare butterflies but several of those did have a handful of the more common mantis types and they were great little things.


----------



## Myke (Sep 20, 2012)

Yumi, Their scythes are too small to cut you. Some can prick but the big species only. Also their mouths are too small to bite us

Pyromaniac123 I would be royally upset at myself that's for sure

Fast6191 all these mantids are exotic I do have a couple of native caught ones. But I mainly deal with exotics. The gracillis I just posted isn't even in culture in the us yet. I got it from europe.


----------



## Myke (Sep 20, 2012)

Idolomantis Diabolica munchin on a moth


----------



## Veho (Sep 20, 2012)

It looks so cool. Amazing


----------



## Cyan (Sep 20, 2012)

your collection is amazing.
You have a lot of species I didn't know (not that I know them, just know the most common ones).
Some of them are very small, like that hypsocorypha.

it's his adult size, or it's just a new born?


----------



## Myke (Sep 20, 2012)

Cyan said:


> your collection is amazing.
> You have a lot of species I didn't know (not that I know them, just know the most common ones).
> Some of them are very small, like that hypsocorypha.
> 
> it's his adult size, or it's just a new born?



he's a nymph. He's gonna be bigger.


----------



## Rydian (Sep 20, 2012)

What do you usually feed them?

Do they seem to have preferences based on individuals, or just species?


----------



## Myke (Sep 21, 2012)

all species have different preferences. My house is a zoo. on top of my 14 reptiles 7 amphibians 2 fish tanks and all the mantises I breed  my own food for them. I have 4 different species of roach colonies going, mealworms, fruit flies, house flies, firebrats  and blue bottle fly cultures. I used to raise crickets, but roaches are far better and far less work.  Most mantises will readily eat flying food. Some won't even look at stuff like roaches and crickets, even turn their noses at them, and a few species turn their nose at flying stuff and prefer low dwelling scurrying creatures.. When they are young they are typically fed fruit flies as they get bigger they move on to houseflies, and then blue bottle flies. They can hunt them all by themselves. If you want them to eat crickets and roaches, some species will hunt them, but others will ignore them. For these species you have to hand feed them by waving the bug in front of them with tweezers. Then there's the metallyticus. they are low to the ground and scurry around. They ignore anything that flies, they are pretty much built to hunt roaches on the barks of trees. Ironically enough though the biggest mantis species in the world can only eat fruit flies because their raptoral arms are soooo tiny.

as for flying prey it doesn't stop there. you can feed them wild caught moths, spiders, wasps, bees. any bug really as long as it's not poisonous. if it stings or bites I would remove the stinger or teeth first.

as far as individuals having certain preferences within their species, I believe it exists. I have two adult ghost mantises one won't even look at a roach or cricket. she only likes flies, while the other readily jumps at roaches.


----------



## Icealote (Sep 21, 2012)

Wow those look awesome.

Some reason it reminded me of tempura cooked food. Great... hungry.


----------



## ZAFDeltaForce (Sep 22, 2012)

This is actually really cool, and that's coming from a guy that mercilessly kills insects on sight.

Some times it's awe inspiring to see how beautiful these creatures can be


----------



## Myke (Sep 22, 2012)

I woke up to this today!!!!!
this is a ghost mantis egg case that hatched overnight. It will keep hatching for the next week or so. I have 3 more eggs of these species waiting to hatch.
so this is what a newly hatched mantis looks like =)


----------



## Bitbyte (Sep 22, 2012)

Awesome collection man!


----------



## gamefan5 (Sep 22, 2012)

Impressive. You have piqued my interest.
Says the one who has Entomophobia. XD
Then again, I love studying animals and their behavior, even if it goes against my phobia. I like researching animal species, it's interesting. I see you have a thing for mantises, and I'm sure you have other species of insects as well. 
*Myke *Will you be collecting other species like beetles?


----------



## FAST6191 (Sep 22, 2012)

Myke said:


> I woke up to this today!!!!!
> this is a ghost mantis egg case that hatched overnight. It will keep hatching for the next week or so. I have 3 more eggs of these species waiting to hatch.
> so this is what a newly hatched mantis looks like =)
> [picture]



Were I not the owner of a pair of testicles that would probably elicit a squee.


----------



## Master Mo (Sep 22, 2012)

Wow, those look like little Aliens


----------



## Myke (Sep 22, 2012)

gamefan5, I don't really collect other insects although my interest is starting to peak with Beetles. And sadly as weird as this sounds, Roaches. I'm amazed at how many roaches are out there that look so different and behave so differently. They even have social communication behaviors. The only reason I say roaches is because I have a few colonies of different species that I use to feed my reptiles and mantises. Seeing how they interact in their bin made me think of getting more different species of them. If I don't like them I can always feed them all the way to my reptiles


----------



## gamefan5 (Sep 22, 2012)

Myke said:


> gamefan5, I don't really collect other insects although my interest is starting to peak with Beetles. And sadly as weird as this sounds, Roaches. I'm amazed at how many roaches are out there that look so different and behave so differently. They even have social communication behaviors. The only reason I say roaches is because I have a few colonies of different species that I use to feed my reptiles and mantises. Seeing how they interact in their bin made me think of getting more different species of them. *If I don't like them I can always feed them all the way to my reptiles*


LOL that part made me laugh.
Actually I don't find it weird at all about roaches. Very few of them are considered pests. They can be very interesting. I like the fact that they can adapt to a lot of environments and they are hardy too.


----------



## andy26129 (Sep 22, 2012)

Pff those bugs are nothing, rare my butt, I got myself a Lv 2 Caterpie.


----------



## Rydian (Sep 22, 2012)

The day I learned the american cockroach could fly (firsthand) was a day I lived in fear.


----------



## Myke (Sep 24, 2012)

a couple of metallyticus violaceus videos I made also my sybilla pretiosa molted to adult today.

showing mobility of the m violaceus on bark


m. violaceus threat post


s. pretiosa adult male


----------



## Myke (Sep 26, 2012)

woohoo Some photos I took of my mantises are going to be published in a mantis rearing and breeding book that's going to be coming out in a few months =)


----------



## Myke (Sep 28, 2012)

okay not really mantids...but some of my other pets. these three are new aquisitions.

tokay gecko





costa rican zebra tarantula





2 red eyed tree frogs (so cute!)





I also own 3 long tailed grass lizards (one baby), 2 leopard geckos, 2 crested geckos, 1 dumpy tree frog, 6 fire belly toads, 2 guinea pigs, 1 bearded dragon, 2 fish tanks.
for feeder animals I breed/culture: 4 species of roaches, crickets occasionally, mealworms, fruit flies (hidey and melanogaster), houseflies, and blue bottle flies.


----------



## Rydian (Sep 28, 2012)

How big do you let the roaches get?  I swear I just killed one in my room* that was an inch and a half long, but I assume those are full-grown and some of the smaller species might have trouble eating one?


* - The back door is a few inches away from my bedroom door, and since the temperature's nice people are leaving that door open, so my room's been buggy...


----------



## Myke (Sep 28, 2012)

did it have wings? adults have wings. nymphs don.t but they can get that big. my dubias can reach 2-1/2 to 3 inches, the red head tanzanian stay at 3/4" to 1" as adults, the lobster roaches are about 1 1/2" to 1 3/4" and my banana roaches are 1" to 1 1/4" as adults


----------



## Rydian (Sep 28, 2012)

Apparently I can't guess sizes... pulled out a ruler, it's about 2.5 inches, and yeah they can fly (the fact that they fly is what caused me to go measure).  Those things are huge, man.


----------



## Myke (Sep 29, 2012)

yeah those are probably standard american cock roaches. not sure though. you are in Virginia so you guys have gnarly bugs.
metallyticus splendidus
a bit out of focus sorry


----------



## Rydian (Sep 29, 2012)

Yeah they're the american cockroaches I was referencing in an earlier post of mine.  The first one that flew at my friend and I still haunts our dreams...

And holy crap, I had a stinkbug infestation one time.  That was not fun.


----------



## Myke (Oct 3, 2012)

hypsocorypha better pic and violaceus better pic


----------



## RodrigoDavy (Oct 3, 2012)




----------



## Myke (Oct 3, 2012)

you guys have lots and LOTs of different roaches in brazil. Here is what my roaches look like:

Panchlora Nivea, or Banana roaches. so pretty.




Oxyhaloa Duesta or Tanzanian red head roach




naupheta cinerea or Lobster Roaches




Blaptica dubia  aka dubia roach/ orange spotted roach/ guyana spotted roach
male




after a fresh molt (so pretty! I wish roaches could stay like this)




female




after a fresh molt (again super pretty)


----------



## Vulpes Abnocto (Oct 7, 2012)

I think this belongs n a thread about mantids and the possibility of mating them.








Any idea what kind that is, Myke?


----------



## Cyan (Oct 7, 2012)

Your roaches are so huge   
I didn't know it could become this big.


----------



## Myke (Oct 9, 2012)

Vulpes - LMAO!
Cyan- yeah roaches can get pretty big. The madagascan hissers are huge.

my metallyticus male decided to molt to adulthood just now. hopefully the female will follow suit soon so I can mate them and make some chaching.


----------



## Myke (Oct 12, 2012)

my ghost mantis eggs are halfway hatched. I'm only on my 3rd ooth ( I have 4 more) and I already have around 70 babies. If anyone wants some pm me


----------



## Coto (Oct 12, 2012)

Hahahahahahah. Vulpes, the fuck??!

-

Such nice insects. Roaches I don't like them too much, but i've seen some of them lately, could be related to environmental temperature? ...


----------



## Myke (Oct 12, 2012)

Coto Roaches are everywhere. they are one of the most hardy insects. some roaches can survive nuclear blasts. It's possible that maybe it started raining more in your country lately and the humidity is making the roaches rise. But trust me they were always there to begin with.


----------



## Myke (Oct 17, 2012)

Idolomantis diabolica nymph threat posing.


----------



## ShadowFyre (Oct 17, 2012)

I'm completely ignorant in this field so just to ask.. If a mantis escaped, could it potentially damage the ecosystem?


----------



## Myke (Oct 17, 2012)

probably not. They would have to escape en masse, and even then the climates required for them would just kill them. not to mention they would be picked off by other bigger predators. They are mostly tropical species.even if they did spawn and survive from spring to fall, the fall and winter will just kill them off. they can't handle those temperatures at all, and if they laid eggs, the freezing will kill the ootheca because they aren't used to cold temps. the possibility is still there, but in terms of ecosystem damage I don't think it would. Mantids are use as natural pesticides everywhere. all mantids seem to eat the same stuff, other than a few specific species that tends to focus on roaches. if they escaped we would just have more exotic looking mantids that would behave the same way as the ones we have native to us. But again most liketly they wouldn't survive the climate. now Phasmids, those are a real problem.


----------



## Myke (Oct 17, 2012)

also vulpes. sorry I didn't answer your question about the mantis who's making the flies kiss. That is a nymph of an orchid mantis. Hymenopus Coronatus. mine died recently. but I raised her from a baby. I miss her. I'm in the process of receiving some parimenopus davisonii. They are like orchid mantids but smaller, and come in yellow or green.


----------



## DaggerV (Oct 17, 2012)

This is pretty boss haha. Might be something I'd be interested in when I get my own place.


----------



## DCG (Oct 17, 2012)

I normally hate bugs, but mantids are prety cool 
Wonderfull collection you've got there.

But, when importing mantids, who's got the most risk?
Seller, or buyer?


----------



## Dynastid (Oct 17, 2012)

Ooooh! What an exciting new hobby! I've been into entomology since I was about 6. I have a small collection of preserved arthropods if you're interested in seeing or hearing what I have! I am mostly into beetles (hence my username "Dynastid"), but I adore all types of bugs. Those mantises are beautiful, I have to admit I'm jealous!


----------



## Myke (Oct 17, 2012)

yeah Dynastid. Tell me all about your arthropods =) do you bugpin too? I pin my mantids when they die. DCG as far as importing them, it is Illegal. Most of the mantids I have are exotics but they have been bred here in the US so technically they aren't imported.
there's a grey line when it comes to the legality of the exotic mantis hobby. To have exotic mantids you need to have a permit, which they don't give you. If you ask them for a permit it's just grounds for them to come and inspect your insects which they will then stop on in front of you. So it's better to not deal with that permit. It's a small hobby and the feds have better things to do than to bust a bunch of kids with bugs. I think they know that mantids aren't really much of a threat.  as far as who has the most risk when importing, As far as going to jail, neither have risk. the more risk would be the buyer though because you are spending a bunch of money to have a mantis shipped to you from europe or wherever else, and it can take some time, and they might not arrive alive. This isn't the seller's fault if the buyer didn't chose to ship EMS. If it's shipped EMS usually there's a live arrival guarantee, and if it arrives dead in this case the breeder will replace the specimen. if it gets stopped in customs, and your box never arrives, you can pretty much expect that the Feds opened the box, found the mantis, and most likely just killed it. Never heard of getting fined over it. Even major breeders, the worse that happens is they never get their box.

DCG I just noticed you are in europe! you have the upper hand! the mantis hobby in europe is huuuge! you guys have so many specimen and it's not illegal to import or order from country to country =) have fun! check out ukmantisforums.co.uk that is the european hub for mantis hobbyists to discuss buy and sell.


----------



## Rydian (Oct 17, 2012)

I just thought to ask... do you pet them?

On a serious note, they don't seem adverse to your hand.


----------



## Dynastid (Oct 18, 2012)

I sure do pin! I don't think I'd really have to worry about licensing. I catch my own, though I've only collected from Arizona (where I live) and Wisconsin (where my dad lives). I'm not an expert, and I haven't taken the time to identify everything I've caught, but if I have some untagged and you know what they are, just let me know. One of my bigger hobbies is more art-related, but I do share your interest in bugs. 

So here it is!:



Spoiler



There is a dime placed in each image for size comparison.
I'm really sorry about the photo quality. I don't have a decent camera, just my lame camera phone, so please bear with me! xD







Image 1 Listed: 

White Tail Dragonfly (2-Stripe, Female)
White Tail Dragonfly (4-Stripe, Female)
Neon Green Damselfly (Male)
(Unidentified sub-species) white leaf-mimiching moth
Variegated Meadowhawk
Platycerus Stag Beetle (Male)
Six-Spotted Tiger Beetles
Tiger Beetles
Dobsonflies
(Unidentified sub-species) Hummingbird Hawk Moth
Painted Lady Butterfly
Blind-Eyed Sphinx Moth
Diurnal Tiger Moth; Ctenucha species
Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly
Eyed Brown Butterfly






Image 2 Listed:

In this image, the first bugs that were pinned were damaged due to my brother dropping my case. Some of them were so severely damaged, they weren't worth keeping.

Harnessed Tiger Moth
(Unidentified sub-species) large Longhorn/Root Boring Beetle
Tarantula Hawk Wasp
(Larger) Stripe-Tailed Scorpion
(Smaller) Arizona Bark Scorpion--this little guy blew his cover by stinging me. xD
Wind Scorpions (One male, the other female)
Glorious Beetles
(Unidentified sub-species) clear-winged moths
Palo Verde Root Boring Beetles (One male, the other female)



As for mantises, we only get Disambiguation, or Praying mantises where I live. I would be incredibly excited if I saw anything like what you have!


----------



## ichidansan (Oct 18, 2012)

this is a really amazing collection. I see 1 or 2 of the, I guess, "common" kind during the summer. I've even had one hitchhike on my shoulder. had a freakout for a second cus I thought it was a spider at first. I really like the spiny flower mantis that you have.


----------



## DCG (Oct 18, 2012)

Too bad I have arachnaphobia...
I can't realy touch any insect like animal.... it's something like a instinct -.-"


----------



## Myke (Oct 19, 2012)

woo lots of replies.
Dynastid, Awesome collection! I wish I could help you identify but I pretty much only do mantises and the occasional tarantula. Also you will never see any of the mantids I have in the wild here in the US. All the ones I have except for my carolina mantis and the two males, are exotics. You have to order them and they are not to be released in the wild. although we do have some pretty interesting looking mantids native to the US. For example look up the Texas Unicorn Mantis. You do art eh? My job is Art. I tattoo for a living. my sketchbook link is on my sig.


Rydian, not really. They don't like to be touched from the back. they tend to scurry, though I do have a couple that will let me do it. Anything from the back to them is a predator trying to eat them. No they don't mind being handled at all. if anything they like it. They don't really see us as  predators. We are far too big for them for that. If anything to them we are another taller tree for them to perch on and get closer to the light which is where they wait for their prey. What I do to play with them is wiggle my finger in front of their arms, this makes them extend their arms and wiggle them with my finger because they are trying to get a hold of it to climb higher. It looks like a mini slap fight lol. Another thing you can do, but you must treat it like candy is feed them honey or a smooshed piece of banana from your hand. You can also get them to drink water from your hand as well. Or the normal feeding them by tongs and just watching them eat. When they are eating it almost seems like the whole world around them doesn't exist any more. you could probaly poke them and they woulnd't react. for the ones that do cool threat poses, I do piss them off once in a while just to see it. THey are gorgeous with their wings open.
and here's my last example of a threat pose, probably the coolest one in the mantis world
here's my idolomantis diabolica posing
TOUCHDOWWWWWWWWWN!





ichdansan: thank you =) He's one of my favorites too, too bad he died a couple of months back and he's now bug pinned. I couldn't find him a mate =(

On a lighter note, I have around 200 ghost mantis babies now.

I'm gonna just start throwing random mantis facts from here on:
Mantis random fact #1 Did you know that mantids have 1 ear and it's located in their abdomen? This ear can specifically hear the ecolocation the bats use to "see" where they are going. This is their way of protecting themselves from bats which are pretty much their main predator. Some species now have this ear as a vestigal ear. These mantids are more desert dewlling runners. So they have no more need for it.

Random mantis fact #2: Did you know that mantids have 3 eyes? The two on the sides give them a 360 degree view, if you look closely at their head you will notice a third tiny orb on their forehead. That's their third eye. That's used for them to see distance and depth.


----------



## Myke (Oct 19, 2012)

sorry for the double post, but I figured I would add, if there are any redditors out there and want to see more from other people too, I made a mantis reddit it's r/mantids
see you there =) I'm petoly on reddit. if this is considered advertisement then I'm sorry feel free to delete.


----------



## Myke (Oct 30, 2012)

new picture dump and a video
popa spurca: twigging, creeping, and looking scary












Hypsiocorypha Gracillis going WTF do you want?




M violaceus looking nice an shiny





Video of M Violaceus doing what apparently being terrirorial with each other. I have great reason to believe that instead of being a petty squabble, this might be some sort of mating dance.


----------



## suppow (Oct 30, 2012)

control issues


----------

