baby praying mantis

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I don't mean to hijack this thread but I saw it was about praying mantis and I know nothing about them. I just moved from San Diego to New England and I've never seen a praying mantis before (only on tv and in books). One day I was sitting on my deck in the backyard and my wife screamed and told me not to turn around...DUH! Of course, I'm going to turn around now! I must have jumped about five feet in the air! There was this thing sitting right next to my shoulder. It was several inches in length and just sat there looking at me. My wife grabbed her camera and shot some photos. They are actually kept as pets or are they used as feeders for reptiles? Please excuse my ignorance.

Since then, I have seen them all around in my yard and have gotten rather used to them (if you can ever get used to very large insects around you waltzing around you!)

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That sir, is an adult Chinese Mantid. They make really cool pets and yes I have heard of people using them as feeders.
 
im keeping as pet kinda sad but they are so graceful and amazing so yea but thats cool lucky to have around i live in a semi rural area lots of country and barely see any but chinese mantis are mostly in northeast thanks to the thread earlier.
 
Vicious_Fish;1923194; said:
That sir, is an adult Chinese Mantid. They make really cool pets and yes I have heard of people using them as feeders.
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Chinese Mantid? Are they normally found roaming the woods of New England? Or are these somebody's pet/feeder that they released? BTW, thank you very much for actually identifying them!
 
Never mind, I just answered my own question. Gotta love Google!

The Chinese mantis (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis) is a species of praying mantis. Originating from China, they were first introduced to North America around 1895 as a source of pest control. Since then, the species has spread throughout much of southern New England, and the Northeast United States. The Chinese mantis looks like a long and slender praying mantis, with different shades of brown. The adult has a green lateral line down its wing. It is typically larger than most other mantises, growing up to 10 cm (4 inches) in length, and are the largest mantis species in North America.
 
so these guys are hardy?I just helped 3 of them,little guys,from my bbq to the trees.I always get them this time too,love how they look at you with interest.Somewhat trusting too.I think they dont understand that you are alive,lol.So whats the best way to keep them,and I tried the hatching thing once,no dice,whats the trick on that?By the way,I thought tonight I would take the flash lite out and see if I got roaches bad this year or not,about 10 every 2 feet or so outside in the yard.Argh,I went spray crazy.None in the house,some ppl I know cant say that,VF,lol.
 
well today my stepdad killed it, it was on the lid and he hit it and it got pinched between the lid and bucket i was uber p.oed. but things happen hope to find another one.
 
I could never use these guys as feeders!!! They're too fascinating to watch. That sucks that your dad killed it, I hope you find another one. The ones in my front yard are getting pretty big. One of them willingly jumps onto my hand, it's pretty cool!
 
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