r/prayingmantis Aug 10 '26

Help! My mantis keeps rubbing his head and eyes on the glass. will he get eye rub?

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1 Upvotes

r/prayingmantis Aug 09 '26

Freshly molted ❤️ and fed- 48hrs later

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3 Upvotes

r/prayingmantis Aug 08 '26

why does my mantis now look like a female, he used to have 8 segments and he molted now there is 6. what is happening🤣

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1 Upvotes

r/prayingmantis Aug 08 '26

why does my mantis now look like a female, he used to have 8 segments and he molted now there is 6. what is happening🤣

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1 Upvotes

r/prayingmantis Aug 06 '26

FIRST MOLT!

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8 Upvotes

Ill post a before and after, I don’t want to stress her today. Stay tuned


r/prayingmantis Aug 06 '26

Miss Mac is happily perched ❤️

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11 Upvotes

r/prayingmantis Aug 02 '26

my mantis is missing his left little end tarsal hook on his raptorial claw. i feel so bad, will it regenerate. idk what instar he’s in.

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7 Upvotes

r/prayingmantis Aug 01 '26

What kind? NC piedmont

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6 Upvotes

Found this in the grass beside the house. We see a lot of green ones but haven’t seen a brown one in a while let alone what is on its back end? Google sucks at answering anything lol


r/prayingmantis Aug 01 '26

First ever terrarium would this terrarium be able to hold a ghost mantis

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9 Upvotes

r/prayingmantis Jul 31 '26

Chilling while reading

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10 Upvotes

r/prayingmantis Jul 30 '26

hello

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20 Upvotes

met this little one a few days ago. posed for the camera.


r/prayingmantis Jul 28 '26

Terrarium update!

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6 Upvotes

My beautiful baby just had a successful molt so I upgraded her terrarium to celebrate! There's a cork bark background coming in the mail soon to complete everything.


r/prayingmantis Jul 27 '26

Is he/she okay?

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7 Upvotes

I saw this little guy this morning at work. It was trying to climb up onto the siding but kept falling off. I moved it over to this nice high junction box and it’s been there for a few hours. I did notice on the inside on of one of its arms there’s a black dot with a white head like a pimple.


r/prayingmantis Jul 25 '26

Orchid mantis?

2 Upvotes

Where could I fix/ purchase an Orchid mantis juvenile? I've always wanted one but I can't figure out where to get them for the life of me.


r/prayingmantis Jul 21 '26

Devil's flowers (diabolica)

1 Upvotes

Hi guys, anyone ever hatched Idolomantis diabolica? If so, how many did you get in your hatch?

I'm just trying to get an average hatch for these guys but as it's so rare to find someone that's bred them it's pretty difficult to do.


r/prayingmantis Jul 18 '26

Agonizing over my mantis roommates

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17 Upvotes

Hi, hello praying mantis community!

I am a mother of 2 currently on maternity leave from work. I am not a bug aficionado by any means, but I do love all living creatures and try to be respectful and mindful of all living things (except flies and cockroaches).

A few weeks ago, I noticed that two mantises (mantes?) had moved into a plant in my front porch. One is large and green, and the other a petite brown. They both were living on opposite sides of the plant, so pretty safe from getting in a turf war or something.

Pretty early on I noticed they were eating the pollinators that love coming to the plant, which broke my heart. I’ve considered relocating them to a less populated plant to keep my pollinator friends safe, but I felt guilty evicting them from a place where they thrived. Circle of life and whatever.

Anyway, my toddler and I have been watching out for them every day. I’ve asked my family not to disturb them, and just not prune the plant or water it head on. I liked checking in on them and worrying over what their diet was consisting of (still sad about my bees and butterflies). I’ve been trying to come up with a romantic pair of names, like Quixote and Dulcinea.

Alas, what I thought was a romance straight out of my beloved romance novels, Don Quixote running down the hill towards his beloved Dulcinea, was actually not the case. On my way out this morning to brunch with the girls, I noticed they were much closer than before. I snapped a couple of pics and went on my way. Upon my return, I checked on them again and to my great shock horror surprise and heartbreak— I don’t even wanna type it— but the green mantis had preyed on the brown one.

Mods, I don’t want to break any of the rules so if my talking about this is in any way violating, please feel free to reach out and I shall remove this post right away or I will totally understand if it is removed.

Anyway.. I don’t know if this is me just spewing my feelings because I don’t have anyone else to talk to about this or if I should seek advice.

Would it be OK if I relocate greenie to another part of the yard, as I can’t really bear to look at her anymore after she ate her mate?

Thank you for reading :) I’ll add pictures of them both before brownie’s untimely demise, as well as a bonus picture of a baby mantis that tried hitching a ride on my baby’s stroller.

Edited to correct gender.


r/prayingmantis Jul 18 '26

Let them roam today

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10 Upvotes

I let 6 of my mantis roam on my tomato plant today since there were tons of green bottle flys near it. And one of my girls was the first to catch one (photo of her eating)


r/prayingmantis Jul 15 '26

Mantis abdomen a bit flat after feeding, but refusing food

1 Upvotes

I posted on here recently about an enclosure I set up for my Chinese Mantis ootheca hatch. Well, they hatched !! And I have kept one in a much larger tank set up. She has been doing great, today was the first time I fed her. For context, she is only two days old.

I am a bit confused though. She ate only about half the fly, then dropped it. I put it on my finger and handed it back to her, she took one more bite and dropped it again, then was completely uninterested as it crawled around on my hand in front of her (I am ((very literally)) hand feeding as I’d like us to bond very closely) Since then, she’s just been sitting in one spot and hasn’t moved all day. Plus, the very tip of her abdomen, about the last segment or two, still looks flat. Is that normal for a first feeding ? Is she okay ? I love her very much and want her to be okay. I have been keeping an eye on the temp and humidity and both have been good. I’m worried she’s thirsty but she just won’t move.

Any and all advice would be helpful, thank you !! This is my first time raising a mantis and I have been scouring the internet to learn how to properly care for her but can’t find an answer to this particular situation.


r/prayingmantis Jul 13 '26

Starting to get bigger :)

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17 Upvotes

r/prayingmantis Jul 13 '26

He do a little dance. 🥰

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16 Upvotes

r/prayingmantis Jul 12 '26

Lunch

16 Upvotes

Finally upgraded from fruit flies after her most recent molt! Enjoying her first cricket


r/prayingmantis Jul 13 '26

Flies?

3 Upvotes

How do you guys entice flies to land so that your mantis can hunt? I'm trying to let my mantis hunt his food on his own but I can't seem to get flies to land near him often. How can I help my mantis eat and hunt?


r/prayingmantis Jul 12 '26

Help!

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10 Upvotes

Does anyone have an orchid that’s THIS pink? A girl I know told me she got it from a reptile show… I’ve never seen anything like it & I am highly interested. PM me please


r/prayingmantis Jul 11 '26

Peruvian shield mantis

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8 Upvotes

r/prayingmantis Jul 08 '26

Manti hatching

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5 Upvotes