Mantises Info Sheet

Mantises are deadly hunters. Being stealthy, armed with large 1 claws, and capable of lightning fast movement, they are the scariest predators you could imagine—if you were the size of a cricket! More than 2400 of occur world wide, and are distributed across the tropical, subtropical and warm temperate areas of the world. They are ambush predators that rely on to hide themselves. Most species are coloured to match their surroundings, with greens and browns being the most common colours, though some even mimick bright flowers! They catch butterflies, moths, grasshoppers, crickets, , beetles, flies, and cockroaches, but the largest species in the Americas are known to catch small hummingbirds and frogs. Mantises are armed with formidable claws capable of stretching out and grabbing victims. With serrated edges and large spines that penetrate and grip their prey, these extraordinary structures extend and retract in a fraction of a second, drawing prey towards powerful mandibles that are capable of quickly dismembering victims. The world’s mantises come in a spectrum of colours and forms.

Image 1: Indian , Creobroter pictipennis; Image 2: Dead Mantis, , threat display; image 3: a pair of Violin Mantises, Gongylus gongylodes.

2 3 Hymenopus coronatusimage 6:Orchid Hymenopus Mantis . 5:SpinyImage Flower Mantis, wahlbergii; Flower 4:Jeweled Image Mantis, Creobroter gemmatus; For more information, see the kept aloneinseparate enclosures. young mantises shouldbe Allbutvery housed inasmalltank. 1to 4days.mantis every willgenerally hunt anewinsect areprey placed into otherday. theenclosure every Your than the mantises themselves. is recommended It that 1 or 2 garden. Prey items fed to mantises shouldalways besmaller caterpillars, locustsandothersmallinvertebrates from your fruit flies from many pet stores, flies, or crickets, collect moths, onlyeatMantises live insects. You canpurchase live or crickets can easilybeachieved by usingadedicated heat pad. from theday 20–28ºCduring andslightly lessat night. Heating enclosure lightly afew timesaweek. of water canbeprovided by simplyspraying theinsideof plants, orthesidesofenclosure. twigs Sufficient amounts water, preferring to water drink of droplets from thesurfaces enclosure withyour mantis. rarely Mantises from drink standing of theenclosure. You donotneedto putawater bowl inthe hunting, so provide several that reach twigs almostto thetop in aswell assheditsskin. will ensure that ofspace themantis hasplenty to move around 3 timesaslong, wideandhighasthelength ofyour mantis. This shouldbeat least The It size oftheenclosure isimportant. large boxes plasticjars, collapsible meshbutterfly or terraria. of enclosures, includingsmallfishtanksmadeofglassorplastic, to oneyear. Adult mantises canbekeptsuccessfully inavariety makefascinatingMantises pets, andsomespecieswilllive for up page Mantises chapter intheWeird andWonderful Pets book. are interested in keeping mantises, please refer to the sixteen the information theseexquisite to lookafter creatures. you If The anddoesnotincludeallof following isabriefsummary How tokeepamantis Mantises will attackMantises and eat other mantises, especially if ofmantises requireThe majority relatively warmconditions, forA goodperch moulting, isalsoimportant asitisfor to discover thebiology, ecology, diversity Buy theWeird Wonderful and Pets book www.weirdandwonderfulpets.com and how to keep mantises. To order your copy visit: Weird andWonderful Pets book.

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Mantises INfo Sheet