#Hierodula Venosa

[creepincrawl]

I wanted to share this miraculous survival story of my pet mantis (Hierodula venosa) named Banana that I had a couple years ago!

She unfortunately had a mismolt pretty early on in life where she fell on the ground while molting, and because I missed it early it resulted in her back hardening at a strange curve. I was able to carefully get the rest of her molt off so she could at least walk around (the only parts left attached were at the very tips of her back legs) but I didn't have much hope she would live. Due to the strange back curve of her back forcing her face and arms down, she couldn't capture prey at all on her own.

However, I made sure to give her a fighting chance! (Warning, gross) I would use tweezers to rip a cricket in two and put the wet part up to her mouth to entice her to eat, which actually worked! I fed her like this a few times, and after a couple weeks she molted again and, miraculously, didn't mismolt this time!! I really thought she would mismolt again due to her legs being injured from the mismolt as well, but she managed to not fall again. It didn't fix her back completely, but it improved it! And as time passed, with each new molt she was getting back to normal(though I continued to feed her by hand early on when she still was having trouble).

By the time she reached adulthood, she was completely healthy! (Though she did have something happen to her eye while molting to adulthood, which I still have no idea how it happened! However it didn't seem to effect her vision much at all, as she was able to catch prey perfectly and keenly notice me whenever I approached her cage!)

Interestingly enough though, her mismolts early on in life must have caused her subsequent molts to be smaller, because she ended up so tiny compared to other pics of adult female hierodula venosa that I've seen online! So it was like I had a mini version lol. She also didn't turn out entirely yellow like some hierodula venosa's do, but she still had this beautiful yellow color on her underarms and chest(?) area!

I still really like these pic I got, the texture on her wings are so cool!

But yeah, that's Banana's story :] I'm so proud of her, and happy I never gave up on trying to feed and take care of her. If you ever have a pet mantis have a bad mismolt, just remember that sometimes there is still hope!

[onenicebugperday]

@masterkfox submitted: BB all grown up and now a fully fledged banana! They still like to hang out on my desk and watch Star Trek and YouTube. I managed to get a focused enough picture to see their three ocelli!

What a beautiful babe!!! I think female as far as I can tell from that middle photo? Although maybe I’m not counting the abdominal segments correctly from that angle. Either way very precious. And VERY nice ocelli! I’m glad they are still doing well!

[bugsandnaturethings]

Pics of my 4 new babies!!! Top two are H. membranacea (Giant Asian Mantis) and bottom two are H. venosa (Giant Golden Mantis)

[mantismiyuki]

hierodula venosa female  💖

[simon-newman]

Not so big Mantis update

Hello to yet another animal related post.

As I’ve mentioned before it’ll be about my new Praying Mantis additions.

So - without further delay.

I’ve ordered another Hierodula Venosa “golden” mantis as an intended mate for Athena (or more likely Atum).

Not to pay for a purchase that’s worth less than the shipping fee I also ordered some mantis-keeping cups and a culture of flightless fruit flies.

To make it better - the shop would add two random Praying Mantis from their offer and while I’d love to get Hymenopus coronatus (pictured below) I kinda didn’t expect them to send me one that’s worth 1/2 of what I already paid.

So the package arrived and as I’ve already mentioned I didn’t receive two mantids for free.

I received four!

With the one I actually ordered the total of five. here they are.

1) Hierodula Venosa (female!!!!???????)

Ok. This is the one I ordered and it is supposed to be female L4-5 just like my first mantis...

But take a look.

It’s so freaking tiny!

I have no idea how they determined if it’s female or not... And now the offer for L4-5 is not available so... I guess they ran out (I guess they sent me more other ones as a compensation?).

The sad part is that IF my original mantis is really a male he probably won’t live long enough to mate with this one.

My last hope is to go to an expo and find one for him...

2) ????

Ok. I have no idea what this is.

I guess another Hierodula species but... what exactly is that second letter? v? b?

Is this another Hierodula venosa to make it more plausible I got the female? No idea - still waiting for the shop to contact me on that matter.

3) Hierodula sp. “Blue”

Ok - meet the Blue Gang.

I mean... I got 3 of those tiny monsters that use every damn opportunity to run away.

Rehousing them yesterday was a huge pain.

Feeding them today was a huge pain as well.

Lets just say I ended up just letting them run onto the table and placing a plastic cup on each. Getting them all back inside was much more difficult.

This is why I’ll keep them like this until they molt and then separate them.

For their own good - believe me.

This species is not suitable for communal enclosure past L3. I assume those tiny, tiny creatures are L1 and will molt within one week.

Oh and did you know why they’re called blue?

Because adults look like this:

All pictures excluding the first and the last were made by me.

The exceptions are from the shop’s site.

I have mixed feelings about this package - on one hand I received more than I expected while on the other I didn’t get the most important thing in the way I wanted it.

I’ll make another update on Saturday and then another during the week (I’ll see if I can do a small recording on the expo that’s taking place on Sunday).

[taemilicious]

Baby Mantis greets you~ <3

[fangsandforests]

New Additions: H. venosa Mantids

I have loved mantids for as long as I’ve loved tarantulas. But because of how fragile and short-lived they are, I haven’t been brave enough to try keeping them . . . until now! 

I’m starting out with a hardy species: the Hierodula venosa, or golden giant Asian mantis. After agonizing for so long over where I should get them from, I chose PanTerra Pets for two primary reasons: 1) they are very knowledgeable, experienced, and have built up a great reputation among buyers; and 2) they’re not terribly far from where I live, so I knew shipping would be faster and safer. (Also, their website is by far the best among mantis breeders!) 

My two little ones are about 3rd or 4th instar now, so they’ve still got a lot of growing to do. I named them Java and Jakarta after the native locale of this species (Southeast Asia). 

I’ll do a basic care guide at some point, but I will say that if you’re interested in keeping mantids, this is a great species to start out with. My two are still tiny, but they are so trusting, friendly, and curious. One is more hesitant than the other and really wants to check things out before venturing somewhere new. The other one is ready to explore as soon as I let it out (this is the one featured in the photos). 

I can’t wait to watch them grow and develop!  

[kamakiricollection]

Hierodula venosa

[mantismonarch]

Hierodula venosa (red armed mantis) L6 nymphs will get an enclosure upgrade this week. #hierodulavenosa #hierodula #redarmedmantis #hierodulagolden #mantodea #mantis #prayingmantis #gottesanbeterin #mantiden #mante #insects #insekten #insectos #insekten #arthropoda #invert #wildlife #nature #animals #science #entomology #biology #alien #exotic #pets #photography #mantismonarch #theygrowupsofast https://www.instagram.com/p/B5iX2x1BG66/?igshid=244vd37ch6ti

[fimbry]

Do you know what species the "Golden Hierodula" are?

As far as I’m aware, none of the golden Hierodula have been identified down to the exact species. Some people guess that they are H. venosa, H. vitrea, etc. but Hierodula sp. would be the most correct name at this time I believe. A taxonomist would have to look at what we’re keeping in the hobby.

[onenicebugperday]

@masterkfox submitted: I put my hand up against the glass and BB tried to jump to me!! ;o;

Happy birthday! Meet one of my hierodula venosa mantises, Banana “BB” Bread. This was a while ago; they recently molted into their wings! Also forgive their sparse enclosure as I was in the middle of cleaning/rearranging it. 

Thank you! I was NOT expecting the speed of that jump lol. What a delightful video. Please tell Banana Bread that I love them deeply and I’m very impressed with their jumping ability and also their new and beautiful wings even though I haven’t seen them :)

[simon-newman]

Full Update

Hello there again all those fascinated by arthropods or animals in general.

It’s been a while since I made a larger update regarding all of my animals and TBH I was feeling kinda down since Athena’s untimely death as she was the first animal I’ve got in two years (that is after my Red-eared slider turtle passed away at an age of about 25 years).

Something I failed to mention before in those posts - I’ve been keeping animals pretty much my entire life as I received the turtle from my parents when I was just a toddler and...

Well.. The last 2 years after it passed away made me realize that animal keeping really puts me at ease and without an animal to look after I am really feeling bad.

So I decided to stop putting everything “for a better time” and got a few arthropods to keep (they require far less effort than a reptile so I can keep more of them at once).

Here’s the (I think) complete list of animal posts so far:

1. Athena

2. Ants I want to keep

3. First molt

4. Lvl 5

5. Princesses Acquired

6. Tarantulas I want to keep at some point

7. Praying Mantis Additions

8. Ants video

9. Expo report

10. Big (late) update

11. Sad update - Athena’s passing

(Now I can limit the number of links in the followup posts)

Now. WIthout further delay I’ll cover all animals in order - Praying Mantises first, Ants second - according to numbers I gave them (most of them don’t have names as I don’t know if they are male or female yet).

I’ll finish with a new addition.

1. M002 - Hierodula Venosa “Golden” (!!??)

Ok. I’ve ordered this Mantis in the online shop so that I could compare it to Athena.

In the end the specimen that arrived was younger than desired and... Well... See for yourselves:

It doesn’t look like Hierodula “Golden” AT ALL.

She molted 3 times so far and is now older than Athena was when I received her so... Yup - it is not the species I ordered.

Perhaps it’s the same species as...

2. M003 - Hierodula Sp.

I didn’t receive any answer from the shop when I asked them to clarify which species it is. So I still have no idea.

This one didn’t want to pose at all - even within the cup that already causes the camera to lose focus.

I did however manage to take a photo of it eating a roach there.

She/He is doing well - just like M002.

They look similar but this specimen has a slightly blue hue of it’s abdomen.

I guess it MIGHT be Hierodula Sp. “Blue” just like the nymphs I got as a bonus from the same shop...

3. The Blue Gang - hierodula Sp. “Blue”

Ok - I’ll cover all 3 of them in one post.

All of them molted 3 times and I am expecting them to molt again soon.

I numbered them as well mostly for safety measures as now I know what to expect from each of them.

M004:

The most hyperactive, bolty Praying Mantis in my collection.

It refused to eat on camera and jumped out of the container after I took this picture - it turned into another chase on my floor...

I only saw him/her eating the roaches I left in her cup a few hours later.

M005:

As you can see this one is far more cooperative - it stood still while I took the picture and then ate without causing any trouble.

M006:

The most docile of the three - was not interested in posing for me and just waited for food.

I didn’t let him down.

And I say “him” because looking at the pictures above I think I can risk saying that it’s a male.

4. M007 - Hierodula Sp. “Golden” (Atum)

The intended mate for Athena - now a lonely older Praying Mantis in my collection.

He’s eating well but I try not to overfeed him.

He was on the same diet as Athena before so if she really got poisoned by something he could also be affected. So far he seems to be doing just fine - blissfully unaware of his future wife/executioner’s untimely passing.

I think I’ll follow the advice of the keepers at the expo and when he matures I’ll post a request on the forums to find a mate for him anyway.

Apparently mature males are quite in demand in the Mantis-keeping community.

We’ll see in the future. As of now it’s been almost a month since his last molt and he’s still accepting food.

I expect the next molt to be the semi-final one...

Which means that bast case scenario Atum has some 4-5 months to live.

Ok. Time to update on my Ant “colonies”.

5. A001 - Manica Rubida

Behold the stunning beauty of Her Royal Highness!

She made a pose like a JoJo character. Isn’t she fabulous?

Well - as you can see SHE is doing fine, but WAIT!

Do you see that thing among the larvae? (just under the queen’s abdomen)

No?

Here’s another photo:

Do you see those weird thingies now? There are at least four of them!

Those are pupae.

Yes - we have our first worker ants preparing to mature.

I guess it’s going to take about 2 weeks and we’ll finally be able to call this “a colony”.

So... How’s the other queen doing?

6. A002 - Manica Rubida

She’s doing fantastic but she’s not willing to pose for me.

As you can see she also has some pupae in there.

In fact the last time I counted she had 7 of them... Not sure where she stuffed the remaining 5 but she’s a crafty one - I guess she could even hide them under the cotton (I wouldn’t want to disturb her too much so turning the test tube to see is out of question).

Anyway - I’d love to provide more pictures of her but the sun started to do some weird shit and messing with my camera’s ability to focus.

I’ll just put this picture here:

Do you see this pupae? She has those cute, tiny eyes!

It’s hard to believe she’ll become one of the most hated ants in my country...

And with this we covered all the animals you knew I had.

But I did tell you that I’ll be visiting an expo last week.

I did.

I mostly intended to try and get some orchid Mantises (Hymenopus Coronatus) but...

Well - with Athena’s death I started doubting my ability to care for a more fragile species.

I am putting those on hold for now.

I went to ask about the possible reason of Athena’s death and three different keepers all had the same theory.

Pesticides.

She was kept the same as other Mantises in my care and fed the same food items.

She was the only specimen I kept on my window for display purposes.

All it took was for someone to spray their garden in the area and she might have gotten poisoned as well...

How... unfortunate.

Still - just to be sure I didn’t  buy any new mantises.

The thing is - I convinced a family member who lives with me to go as well.

I was kinda surprised when she suggested I get something else instead.

Something to put on a display where my empty fish tank stands now (I’ll wait for 2 more years before re-establishing it).

Something... Different from the animals I am keeping now. Different and longer-living but still fairly easy to care for.

I am proud to introduce:

7. T001 - Brachypelma Vagans

Hard to see it down there but there’s a tiny little spider hiding in the burrow.

How tiny? Well - it was the size of my smallest fingernail.

It molted already a few days ago and now is the size of my index finger nail.

“I never saw it leave the burrow and it’s really hard to take a picture of it as it sits down there - this is the best I could do” - was the thing I intended to write here as I started this post yesterday.

Lo and behold.

As if it knew and wanted to become famous - in the evening it left the burrow to hunt down the roach I left in there during the initial photo session.

The last roach roommate stayed alive for two days and disappeared overnight.

I guess this one refused to share expenses and had to go.

Yup I got my first tarantula.

Umm... Well...

8. T002 - Chromatopelma Cyaneopubescens

I got two actually.

This one is far more active as it’s idea of a burrow is a trench around the center of the cup.

It also actively responds to feeding roaches and takes them down instantly.

I guess it doesn’t want a roommate

Or she doesn’t want a roommate...

Most people don’t even attempt to determine if a small sling is male or female (that’s why they are quite cheap) but I am me and I have this Pocket Microscope I bought for $2 which can magnify stuff 60 times...

The problem here is that I am a complete amateur and the microscope can’t take pictures so despite getting quite a clear view I can’t tell for sure myself.

I give it 75% chance it’s a female tho.

We’ll see how good I am at it.

So yeah...

I have tarantulas now.

Two so far.

From what I’‘ve learned there are two types of Tarantula Keepers out there.

First type - the ones who keep 1-5 tarantulas.

Second type - the ones that own more than 100.

There’s no in-between.

For now I’ll stay at 2 - I’ll think about more when I am able to have a proper animal room... Perhaps in a few years...

Anyway - this post grew quite long, didn’t it?

Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

I’ll keep updating - preferably every 2 weeks. I might also make more videos.

See you.

[taemilicious]

My cute little baby mantises~ >v<

[ghost-mantis]

Sunset, my H. venosa female is one pretty lady.

[mantismonarch]

"Green as the day he was born" Hierodula venosa (red armed mantis) L4 nymph. #hierodulavenosa #hierodula #redarmedmantis #hierodulagolden #mantodea #mantis #prayingmantis #gottesanbeterin #mantiden #mante #insects #insekten #insectos #insekten #arthropoda #invert #wildlife #nature #animals #science #entomology #biology #alien #exotic #pets #photography #mantismonarch https://www.instagram.com/p/B1mu6EfhR-G/?igshid=y7m24sonr1u0

[simon-newman]

Sad update

So yeah.

I want be completely honest with you so I’ll report this right away.

My first Praying Mantis has died tonight.

Unfortunately.

I am kinda aware of what killed her but I have no idea what caused it in the first place.

But lets start from the beginning.

I bought Athena on the 31st of March and fed her fruit flies for a week before she stopped eating completely.

I was kinda worried back then but after taking her sweet time she molted on the 12th of April.

Since my fruit flies had mostly died off by then I fed whatever was left of them to her and then switched to houseflies - as she was now barely large enough to manage them.

In the end she ate 2 houseflies and one larvae and molted again around the 4th of May.

In the following week I got some other Praying Mantises and new fruit flies.

I’ve been feeding smaller mantises fruit flies but Athena and Atum (her intended future mate) were still fed houseflies.

Keep in mind - those are feeders from the shop/cultured by me - not wild captured ones. I avoided wild bugs as feeders not to bring in parasites or pesticides home.

Well.

All looked great - all mantises were eating well and molting regularly.

Except Athena - while she ate regularly and greedily she didn’t molt and I expected her to do so by the end of May.

Around that time I also noticed she was producing some strange, foul smelling liquid instead of regular poop.

It’d seem she suffered from some bacterial infection that affected her digestive system.

I have no idea how this happened but I followed the advice I found on the forums to keep her at higher temperature, a bit more dry than usual and feed regularly but in moderation.

After a week things were looking good and I noticed she started producing regular poop as well so I was sure she recovered.

On last Wednesday she ate only half of the fly I offered to her and discarded the rest - keeping in mind the improvement so far I assumed she will finally attempt to molt as Praying Mantises tend to stop eating before this happens.

Unfortunately it wasn’t so.

On Thursday she started pooping liquid again. She kinda emptied herself completely by Friday.

She was visibly weak and barely able to hold onto the lid of her cup...

This morning I found her lifeless body on the bottom of it.

Sadly the infection has ultimately killed her.

I am kinda frustrated because I have no idea what caused it in the first place.

I kept her exactly the same as other mantises and they are doing just fine.

Well. She was doing fine as well until like 2 weeks ago...

I won’t be providing any pictures because it’s too sad of a sight to look at.

I am sorry guys - I failed.

I’ll ask Mantis Keepers on tomorrow’s expo if they know what could have caused it.

Perhaps one of the fly larvae I got was already infected?

Overfeeding?

Too much humidity?

I need to know to prevent such things from happening to my other pets.

See you next time.