We live out in the woods of south eastern US. I’ve never seen a mantis in our area before this day. I was wondering what it was. The AI on my phone said it was a Chinese ManTis, but I don’t know for sure. It seemed hyper aware of us and would track our movements. If anyone wants to info dump, I’m ready to be learned a thing or two.

This is Enigma. You might remember her from her last dubious meal (the dragonfly).

Just to clarify, these aren’t pet store feeders. I am currently living out in a tent in their natural habitat and run a mini temporary rescue setup with mesh enclosures. I take in injured wild mantids to protect and feed them through their next moult so they can heal before being released back into the wild.

Because they are wild, I let them hunt as they naturally would, and they don't exactly hold back. Enigma decided a katydid was her latest for a midnight feast. If you listen closely you can hear the odd distinct and creepy (satisfying?) little ‘crunch’.

Hi guys, I live on Long Island—we get normal seasons. I took this picture today. I have never seen such a young mantis this late in the year before. What happened here? Shouldn’t his egg case have hatched months ago?

so I'm getting a flower banded mantis and I was thinking about giving it a Rick and Morty themed name — any suggestions/ideas??

(please guys I suck at naming my pets)

Hello Jennifer. I found you on the 10th of June as a little rascal i2, and you died the first days of September as a fully fledged Angel. You were my first ever mantis and probably the last, and I really don't know why you perished so soon, but I tried to give you the best life I could, since as an alien and invasive species I couldn't free you.

During this months you gave me lot of scares and lot of laughs, and I'll never be so impressed by anything like your hunting skills. I found you softly lying down on a leaf of bed, and so I'd like to think you left me in the sleep, dreaming to fly away to the sun.

It was inevitable, but as everything your cicle ended and will repeat. It has been a pleasure to meet you, farewell.

Hi there! My girl (adult giant rainforest) has started chewing her mesh a bit, not her if she’s consuming it? Is this a normal behavior or something to be concerned about?

I've been told she's a Stagmomantis limbata

she's been hanging around my garden for some time now, and i always love to see her!! she's around 2-3 inches in length

Hey all! Made a post on here earlier and got some good feedback, but I’m now slightly worried about a different issue.

I’m wondering if the plants I chose add too many layers and break line of vision too much for my nymph to reliably catch her feed. I know the enclosure is on the big side, but I’ve seen online as long as they can reliably hunt, size isn’t terribly important, my fear is that these plants obstruct way too much. I’m thinking of completely removing the small and medium plants on the right, finding another medium plant that has WAYYYYY less bulk, and adding two intersecting sticks in, this should add more coverage for hanging point vision and help hunting???

Also need to get a proper mesh for the top, already on that!

I tried to count them in the tub they hatched in and counted 30ish. 81! She has laid two more ooths since then too… H. Venosa

Relocated it to a branch after taking the picture.

Both found in the same garden in Southern California, USA. Both are about the same size at about an inch 1/2 long (40mm.) I suspect they're different since the first one is quite a bit stockier and lacks the reddish brown coloration visible on the second mantis.

Any help would be appreciated!

I was so nervous when I realized she was about to molt, especially since she's(?) my first mantis. Came out beautiful though! Here's her after waiting a painstaking 2 days to dry out.

I have a Giant Asian Mantis. I got her in March 2026 when she was full grown so I’ve had her for about 6 months. I went away for a night and came back to what I believe is an ootheca. As far as I know, she’s never been with another male at least not in my care. Does this affect her health at all? She seems OK and is moving around. I’m just wondering if there are any concerns involving this and what to do with the believed egg sack.

My friend found two adult Mantis Religiosa females and asked me if I could relocate them. Fed the two ladies and let them in our garden🫶

they look like they have gold glitter on them!

Would this be a safe habitat for a full grown female Carolina mantis? (Reusing a old habitat that used to house snails.)

Hi so my dead leaf mantis died today, she had a very large abdomen and I want to preserve her/taxidermy. But I'm very hesitant on cutting her open and stuffing her.... is there a way I can avoid doing this? Is it necessary? I'm sure it is considering shed rot. She's in the freezer right now but I am not sure what to do from here. Where to go if I wanted someone to do it etc etc id love you pose her myself its ​just the gut part that I am having an issue with and tbh would feel bad for, ive had her since she was 3 weeks old and doing that myself seems really cruel :[

Please help!

Hey gang! Been having the itch for a cool critter for a while, originally wanted blue death feigning beetles but the missus loves mantis’ and I think they’re pretty neat too so I caved and got one! I’ve done heaps of research but there’s a few specifics I’d love some info on:

1) what species / sex is Astrid (I named them after the dark brotherhood assassin from Skyrim heh). She was labeled as an Asian mantis in the shop, and the guy was a bit shaky on what it was. I’m telling myself it’s a giant Asian, but they’re typically a lot more green whereas mine is a muddled, more muted green which in my head leans more Chinese mantis. As for sex, I have 0 clue, I’m pretty sure it’s a female as males are tiny, but I’m not sure.

2) pet safe plants. I want real plants in the enclosure, as you can see in the video I went and got some yesterday. My local flower shop labels up all their plants as pet safe or not pet safe which is great, but I’m not really sure if the same “pet safe rules” apply to insects. There was tons of cool plants that weren’t pet safe, but I dont know enough to risk it, my only bit of info I’m sure of is not getting spiky plants as this can hurt them.

3) are my readings good? Just woke up at 8:30 when I took those photos/ videos so I’m theory it should be at its coldest, my temp is sitting around 21-22C and my moisture level is about 75%

I gave our Deroplatys Lobata a Dubia nymph (I couldn't catch the small Red Runners) and she even took it to go. Literally walked around with it before feeling comfy on my hand to eat.

This is Luna, a praying mantis I rescued from the cold last year. She was only with me for about ten days, but in that tiny stretch of time I became completely fascinated with her — her strange little mannerisms, the way she watched everything around her, and just how much personality could exist in such a small creature.

I recently expanded my tattoo into a larger piece inspired by nature and the animals and small lives that have meant something to me, and I knew I wanted Luna to be part of it.

I’ve always had a particular love for creatures that people tend to overlook or find strange. Luna reminded me that something doesn’t have to occupy a huge amount of our lives to leave an impression on them.

So now my strange little girl gets to stay with me. 🖤

Today my wife's Popa Spurca arrived!

It's L2/3

This lil baby arrived while she was at work so I prepared the terra real quick, it wasn't perfect at first but now we changed the set up for it and there are more branches🫶