To get a cat or a dog at home is a common thing, which cannot be said about this exotic lodger. The infrequent inhabitant of domestic terrariums becomes a representative of the fauna with the unusual name of an orchid mantis. The article is devoted to the peculiarities of insect life and its care.
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Description and characteristics of orchid mantis
These insects, one of the most beautiful representatives of the genus Hymenopus coronatus, were named after the orchid, because they have a similar color. In addition, due to the special structure of the body of the mantis, the mimicry of form is manifested - they perfectly imitate the flower sitting on a branch.
The body of the female is about 6 cm long, the males are half as much. Males have 8 abdominal segments, and females have six.
Adult insects are painted white with pink, blue and golden hues. The pink orchid mantis is especially beautiful.
Young larvae are painted red-black, which scares away potential predators. Adult insects fly well. Females live longer than males. The hind legs of orchid mantis are flat and wide, in shape they are very similar to flower petals.
Habitat in nature
Orchid mantises in nature inhabit the rainforests of India and Indonesia, Sumatra, Borneo, Thailand and Malaysia.
One of the merits of the mantis is that it is difficult to find them among the branches and grass.
Insects live and hunt among orchids, perfectly imitating flowers due to their unique color.
A careless butterfly or a curious fly, crouching on an insect that is easily confused with a flower, will immediately be grabbed by dexterous forelimbs, similar to two claws with sharp teeth.
Interesting Insect Facts
Mantis living in the home terrarium are interesting to watch.
Knowing interesting facts about insects, it is easier to understand their behavior:
- Praying mantises are often washed to keep numerous spikes on their forelimbs clean. A little dirt left after hunting for insects can cause infection.
- A mantis can turn its head 180 degrees, conveniently observing what is happening behind itself.
- Living surrounded by flowers of a certain color, insects acquire the same colors and shades that are characteristic of plants. This mechanism in nature allows predators to create a unique disguise.
- During molting, praying mantises need high air humidity; they cannot get rid of old skin until it gets wet.
- Males have well-developed wings, they fly very well. Females do this very reluctantly due to their impressive body size.
- For her eggs, the female is building a real architectural work with many compartments - the ooteca. It contains several hundred eggs. The eggs are laid in separate capsules in several rows, and are filled with frozen protein material. They are not afraid of small frosts and even pesticides.
Insects prefer to spend most of their free time hanging upside down from the ceiling of the terrarium.
The content of orchid mantis at home
The home for the mantis must be at least three in height. Its top is made mesh - for ventilation. At the bottom you can place some houseplant. Praying Mantis loves the light, but you can not put his home in direct sunlight.
In order to create comfortable conditions for the pet, a heating lamp is placed in the terrarium. The optimum air temperature is +30 degrees.
Mantis grow rapidly, but their age is short. In nature, they live 50-60 days, and live in captivity from 5 months to 1 year. In food, insects are unpretentious, but voracious. Successful maintenance at home requires two conditions - food must be lively and not exceed half the size of the mantis. Larvae of various bugs, flies are eaten with pleasure. Adult mantis need to be fed once every 2 days. The less they eat, the longer they live.
Insect breeding
Despite the short life span, the average price for one mantis is about 1 thousand rubles. But these insects are very fertile, and the female can bring up to 300 eggs at a time.
The main thing that everyone knows about praying mantises, when mating, the female bites off the male’s head. She needs a lot of protein for bearing eggs, so she dines with her partner. In captivity, a well-fed insect can behave this way only in exceptional cases, most importantly, do not forget to feed it in time.
If pairing is successful, the female Orchid Praying Mantis lays the first ooteca after a week.
Small nymphs appear after 30-60 days at an air temperature of about 30 degrees and high humidity. The warmer, the faster offspring will appear.
Tiny mantis are planted in a separate terrarium and fed with Drosophila flies. In the process of growing up they have to go through several links.
Praying mantis is an ideal pet that will save the house from flies with cockroaches and relieve the owner of stress. Insects are happy to make contact with a person, they are very beautiful and completely harmless.
