Found a female European Mantis on my windowIt looked slim and dehydrated so I picked it upPut her in a shoe box sized transparent boxGonna go shopping tomorrow and work on a terrarium with enough space for herAny tips?
If what you found really is fully-grown, it only has a few weeks to live. It's also likely riddled with parasites.
Update on mantis>picjust chilling in the curtainsalso it's a male mantis>>5152415I'll try to keep it alive as long as I can
>>5153015It's a female. Very apparent in adults by the shape of the last abdominal segment. Males have more of a cup shape where the genitals are visible, and also styli, the two little appendages at the bottom. Females have a more ovipositor-like shape.
>>5153150>It's a femaleoh okI thought if wings longer than body = malemaybe it's just hungry?>picmantis exploring my desk
>>5152385>Any tips?I know you would like to. Don't.
>>5152385Keeping a mantis is simple the absolute minimum is 3 times their height and 2 times their lenght.They have a negative geotaxis aka they like heights, and like to hang upside down.They are visual predators so feeding them is basicaly boils down to "if its not moving its not worth it" so live prey or tweezer puppetering is advised.And because she is and adult female there is a high chance she is gravid and lays an ootheca, depending on what you want you can have new pets...or do nothing.
>>5153369>Keeping a mantis is simpleshe is so chill she does not need a terrarium so farI've a bug net on my window and she hangs out on it most of the time, sometimes she explores the ceiling when its darkbut I guess a terrarium for shedding would be needed in near future>They are visual predatorsI freeze fresh flies for 1 min before putting it in a small box with mantis>picshe had a fresh fly today>high chance she is gravid and lays an oothecahad to google it... she might be pregnant? :OI wouldn't mind taking care of her offspring... or is it a bad idea? how many eggs does she lay?>>5153353>I know you would like to. Don't.dude what? I'm not gonna stick my dick into her
>>5154247Hate to break it to you, but she's probably not gonna need to shed. She already did all the shedding she's needed to. Her only goals now are to get sum fuck, lay eggs, and die. She WILL be dead in a few weeks, and unless you let her go her life will have been wasted. Upside to this is that you can put her in your garden and have a load of cannibalistic children in your garden next year.
>>5154347>unless you let her go her life will have been wasted.This.Taking her out of the breeding pool just for a couple weeks of entertainment is detrimental to the local population and will decrease future enjoyment by denying yourself her offspring.Here's one from my own porch yesterday.Moved it over to a spot in the yard with lots of grasshoppers.
>>5154406Found another one tonight.It was on the side of my shop next to the spigot. Relocated to a bush that grasshoppers hang out on.
>>5154566And this one was a couple days ago.DO NOT leave them on hummingbird feeders. They can kill and eat hummingbirds.Relocated this one to the sunflower field.
>>5154247>how many eggs does she lay?Hundreds. Generally a bunch get cannibalized after hatching though so you won't have THAT many (still a few dozen to a hundred). It's not a terrible thing. It ensures that you get the strongest bunch.
>>5154247This is a typical mantis egg sacEach chamber is a "nymph"Yes, as other anon pointed out they will eat eachother. In the wild they typically dont unless food is scarce.>must studies are in captivity where they hatch in a 10 gallon aquarium.
OP here with the final updateI wanted to keep the mantis, but you informed me it would be cruelso I gave the mantis to a friend with a house and gardenhe also said he has a terrarium and his son is getting interested in insectshere is the last pic from an hour ago... so is she pregnant or not? it does not look like there are 100+ eggs inside
