mantis help

[justinl]

Originally Posted by danlee78

Odontodactylus scyllarus (peacock)

Odontodactylus cultrifer

Neogonodactylus curacaoensis

Hemisquilla californiensis

Gonodactylaceus ternatensis

mainly, i'm looking for a colourful mantis (don't really mind the species)

lol nice list. let's cut it down a bit shall we? you will never find the O. cultrifer (I know of only one) or N. curacaoensis. besides, N. curacaoensis isnt the most active of mantids and can be anywhere from quite bland to bloody gorgeous... it's a crap shoot and according to murphy's law the only one you'll find will be butt ugly. H. californiensis sucks in captivity. they need a temperate waters set up and even if you have that, most will die quickly from some fungal disease. still, they do taste quite good apparently if you're up for that .

So that leaves O. scyllarus (a good choice but you have to consider it's tank requirements and growth) and G. ternatensis. the latter is not the most common nor active of all but is a beautiful species that does well in captivity. If you're liking its red intersegmental lines (that's why i like it) then think about G. smithii. G. smithii sometimes gets the red lines too (not often though). mine does and i *heart* him. G. smithii is also a much more active mantis. it is a bit uncommon though. Both of your last choices have very different requirements so take that into consideration. O. scyllarus needs 30g, G tern needs 10g, G. smithii needs 5g... you couldnt stuff a big peacock into a 10g, but a G. smithii would be lost in a 30g... keep that in mind when you start planning the tank.

not sure if you've found this site...
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthrop...html#directory

bottom line though: most mantids are colour variable. very much so for the most part.

wow justin i didnt know u lived in B.C

lol, well... I do . Im sorry, I dont recognize your username (I assume you know me from another site)?