Phyllocrania Paradoxa

Sold as unsexed nymphs L5/L6 males

Description:

Origin: Africa                                                    Temperature: 18c to 30c ideally 24c.                      Humidity: 60% to 80%.                                          Lifespan: Females upto 18 months, Males upto a year

Feeding

L1/L2 Nymphs: should be fed on D.melanogaster fruit flies.                                  L3/L4 Nymphs: should be fed on D. hydei fruit flies.                                                                          L5 Nymphs/ adults: should be fed on Green bottle flies and Blue bottle flies.                            Nymphs should be fed every other day.        Adults should be fed every 5 days

Ground dwelling prey is not good for this species of mantis as they prefer to hang upside down

Housing

 like all mantids, house in an enclosure at least 3 times the size of the mantis in hight and 2 time the size of the mantis in width

Size

Ghost mantis usually grow up to 5cm/2 inches long males are abit smaller in size 

Sexing

when it comes to sexing mantids, females have 6 segments on their abdomen where as males have 8 segments on their abdomen.                      Ghost mantis have a few ways to determine sex females have a thicker less crooked crown, where as males also have longer and more crooked crown.                                                        males also have longer and thicker antenna then females males also have longer wings which go past the abdomen.

Moulting

Mantids moult a number of times during their life. Make sure the enclosure has enough vertical space for them to hang during moults. They may refuse food a day or two before moulting.Do not handle them immediately after moulting as the exoskeleton takes up to 48 hours to harden after moulting to prevent mismoults mist at least twice a day.