All you can eat?

Milly the Orchid Mantis deciding to stuff her face (again). I had read that mantis species are capable of capturing multiple items of pray at one time but I wasn't expecting to see this from my L3 instar mantis Milly. She caught 3 flies in quick sucession. Unfortunatly this picture only shows 2, the one in the left arm (her right) is still alive and caught in a deadly headlock. She had 2 in the right arm (her left) and you can see that she's made light work of them both. Very surprised at how efficient she is at killing things and how voracious her appetite is!

Capturing fly 1/3 (Pity I couldn't get her capturing all 3!)

Having a clean following her stuffing her face.

comments (9)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

Fantastic detail on this post, Stuart, truly entertaining as well as educational. How does the color of this species work, does it take on the color of its environment, or is it a sex/age thing? Posted 9 years ago
1. Stuart
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks Ferdy :) - As far as I'm aware, this particular species of mantis can change it's colour depending on the environment in a matter of days. External factors such as light/heat/humidity can also bring about the change. I have noticed that mantis species eyes change colour too. In the morning, when I wake up, Milly's eye are noticeably darker with a distinct red tinge. Then as the day goes on and the light levels increase, here eyes go back to the usual white colour. I suppose that does make sense given the fact they don't have pupils (despite the fact in pictures, it does look like their eyes have a distinct black spot) so darker eyes = more light entering the eye . I'm curious with 'Milly' as at the moment she is white with an ever so slight pink hue but in her enclosure, she has both white and pink orchids. She seems to favour the white orchids at the moment but whether that changes in the future, time will tell. Posted 9 years ago

RMFelix

Lion

Perfect! And the title of the post so hilarious ;D Great work! Cheers* Posted 9 years ago
1. Stuart
  
  Lion
  
  Ha ha cheers buddy - I do find her hilarious, everything about the mantis is intriguing to me. From the mantis 'yoga' when cleaning their feet to stuffing their faces with food. Definitely my favourite insect I think. Posted 9 years ago

Patomarazul

Lion

Amazing and very beautiful! How long do they live, these mantises? :-) Posted 9 years ago
1. Stuart
  
  Lion
  
  Thank you very much. This particular species only lives around 8 months. I'm going to make sure she's utterly spoilt in her relatively short life. Posted 9 years ago
2. 1. Patomarazul
    
    Lion
    
    This is a nice amount of time to study their behavior, although I am sure you grow fond of them and get sad when they die. Cute and very interesting pets! Posted 9 years ago
  2. 1. Stuart
      
      Lion
      
      Absolutely - I was upset when my old mantis died. I suppose it gets like that when you invest a lot of time and effort into caring for something and looking after it. I can highly recommend them as pets though if local laws allow and you have the space/time/etc to ensure they have a great quality of life. *Warning* - you can lose hours of your life watching these interesting little aliens :) Posted 9 years ago
    2. 1. Patomarazul
        
        Lion
        
        I am sure these are hours worth to spend! :-) Posted 9 years ago

The Malaysian Orchid Mantis

''Hymenopus coronatus'', also called ''H. bicornis'', is a mantis from the rain forests of Southeast Asia. It is known by various common names including ''walking flower mantis'' and '' orchid mantis''. It is one of several species known as flower mantises from their resemblance and behaviour.

Info 53 6

Similar species: Mantises

Species identified by Stuart