The Giant Devil's Flower Mantis, Idolomantis Diabolica (not to be confused with the Devil's Flower Mantis, Blepharopsis Mendica) is a highly sought after species of praying mantis native to Tanzania, well known for being a large and stunning species.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Temperature and Humidity
Being from a hot climate this species is best kept at 25-35c , my reccomendation would be to use a 60W Day-Glo bulb with a ceramic fixture, although a desk lamp can be used for nymphs if you keep them in cups at an early stage.
Humidity isn't needed with this species as they prefer it bone dry, a lot of people say you should never spray them at all but before moulting a light misting of the enclosure is reccomended to bump up humidity and make it easier for the mantis to shed its complex skin structure, I have also experienced then drinking straight after a moult, after not eating for a few days.
Temperatures can be dropped slightly at night but in my experience they do fine as long as the room they are kept in is relatively warm, and heating resumes during the day.
Food and Feeding
This species is strictly flying foods only, and should never be fed anything else.
flightless fruit flies, curlywings , greenbottles , bluebottles, waxmoths etc. are perfect for feeding to this species and they are relatively easy to get a hold of, plenty of online livefood suppliers sell cheap cultures that can last weeks , for bluebottles , buy a tub of maggots , leave them in a well ventilated tub and within 4/5 days you'll have hundreds of them. Waxmoths can be cultured from a tub of waxworms , but take a lot longer to pupate than bluebottles , so best plan ahead if you're thinking of using these.
from L1-L3 they will take fruit flies easily and after L4 they can take on small moths , bluebottles and greenbottles, L5 onwards they'll take on anything bluebottles to large moths.
Housing and Enclosure
From L1-L3 this species can be kept in a small polystyrene cup with tights over the top secured with an elastic band, after moulting to L4 they should be moved into an all-mesh enclosure, Remember - as the mantis grows make sure the netting supplied has large enough spacing between the netting to allow it to hang properly as the number one cause of Idolos dying is slipping during moulting , as the hooks on their feet cannot fit through the spacing.
As for decoration , a few silk plants and a couple of secure twigs on one side of the enclosure are preferred, the mantis will spend most of its time hanging from the mesh but will sometimes climb along twigs and branches.
Sun Jan 31, 2010 5:09 pm
maiksi buhay nila.
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