Pics of an Orchid Mantis that I raised from a nymph

[Brie]

I had this lady for quite a while, until she ended her natural life cycle, which was a very sad day for me. This thing was super spoiled, as I'd had them in the past with little luck, so I was determined to do things right this time around. I bought bluebottle fly pupae, hatched them, gutloaded(fed) them with honey and bee pollen, and were then given to the mantis(sidenote: Doing this mimics what they would get in the wild, as they feed primarily on bees and flies as they visit flowers for their nectar). Was a bit of a process but hey, it was worth it. She thrived and I had her for over a year.

As a nymph.. mmmm flies..

Cleaning her weapons after the meal... I always loved watching her do this.

And photos of her taken the day she molted into her adult form, with wings.

 

[thez_yo]

Omg she's so nice. Great job!!!

 

[swords]

Excellente! I've raised a number of exotic mantid species but never got any Orchids.

I agree 100% with the Blue bottle fly pupae! I spent a lot on postage buying bulk packs of pupae every month but made keeping and feeding them super easy.

 

[Devon]

Stunning photos. It's so cool how it matched the flower almost perfectly.

 

[larry]

Beautiful! I will have one someday. Didn't mate her?

 

[swords]

It's so cool how it matched the flower almost perfectly.

The flower mantids will all change color to adapt to their environment, so you can get almost "whatever" colors you want. I had several "Spiny flower mantids" and they would be white tinted yellow green in tanks with green plants but the one I kept with a deep purple & pink wandering jew plant turned a nice pink/purple color.

 

[ellisonk001]

Beautiful! I had never seen anything like this; thanks for sharing!

 

[petmantis]

How fantastically alien-like! Orchid mantids are up there on my faves list... Very impressive Brie!

 

[MH1]

In a strange way, the nymph was more amazing than the adult- It was like it's made of glass or something! Really amazing animal! Never realised they could be so beautiful. :O

 

[jimscott]

Great photography!

 

[mobile]

Fantastic photography, albeit of a gruesome subject.

 

[D_muscipula]

Beautiful, but deadly, like snakes and poison dart frogs and...

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