Introducing Mad Hatter (There be insect pics within =p)

• 01-02-2010 12:50 AM

  Krissim Klaw Joined on 08-26-2007 Posts 1,014 Points 0

  Introducing Mad Hatter (There be insect pics within =p) Reply Contact Right before the holidays hit I ended up ordering two Euchomonella macrops otherwise called Long Neck Mantises and I thought I would share some pictures of my new buggies, Hocus Pocus and Mad Hatter.  Well technically, Hatter is the only one who's pictures I will be sharing at the moment since he happened to be the one out when I decided to pull out the camera.   First a nice close up of my pretty boy.     Here are some pictures playing with the light and the droplets of water he was standing over.  If your wondering why he is standing in water its because I had misted him with the spray bottle so he could take a drink if he wanted.     Probably wondering to himself why the ground is covered in water.     Close up of that plump little stick belly.     Checking out the TV above him.   And hanging out in the new pretty Eco Terra plant Santa got them for Christmas.  This plant has to be one of my favorite gifts I got over the holidays.  I have it on the edge of my desk and they both love it.  I rotate taking them out each day and they spend a good three to six hours a day sitting in it while I work at my desk.   Hope you all enjoyed the pictures. =3

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• 01-02-2010 12:52 AM

  In reply to Krissim Klaw

  calliecritturs Joined on 09-10-2007 Central Florida Posts 19,480 Points 5,955	Re: Introducing Mad Hatter (There be insect pics within =p) Reply Contact Soooooooooooo, the guy who made Gumby was into insects??? (had TO be!!!  that woulda been his name if he were mine LOL) "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." Helen Keller
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• 01-02-2010 12:56 AM

  In reply to calliecritturs

  Krissim Klaw Joined on 08-26-2007 Posts 1,014 Points 0

  Re: Introducing Mad Hatter (There be insect pics within =p) Reply Contact calliecritturs: Soooooooooooo, the guy who made Gumby was into insects??? (had TO be!!!  that woulda been his name if he were mine LOL) Lawls that would have been a cute name.  I'll have to keep it in mind for future mantises.  I was tempted to call one of them Little Foot (after the Longneck in The Land Before Time series) since they are Long Neck Mantises.

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• 01-02-2010 7:41 AM

  In reply to Krissim Klaw

  goatman68 Joined on 07-23-2009 Posts 83 Points 130	Re: Introducing Mad Hatter (There be insect pics within =p) Reply Contact Amazing pictures and creatures. I bet it is interesting to sit and watch them.  We have an insect here we call the Walking Stick, is this the same, they look kinda of alike.  I always enjoy seeing the Walking Stick on our siding on our house, they change color. Thanks for sharing.   Marilynn, Pella, and Abby
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• 01-02-2010 11:14 AM

  In reply to Krissim Klaw

  huskymom Joined on 09-10-2007 Dryden ON Posts 8,497 Points 715

  Re: Introducing Mad Hatter (There be insect pics within =p) Reply Contact Krissim Klaw: Probably wondering to himself why the ground is covered in water. Ha!  don't kid yourself!  From what you've told us about Mantises, he's likely thinking, "Why does she keep doing that?  Ever heard of a glass, woman?!"  or maybe, "Water?  Again?  What I wouldn't give for a good coffee..." I think they are so cool.  I wish we had them up here.  I'd totally get one. Jez The Prez "To Be An iDogger, One Must First Think Like An iDogger." President of the Bevo and Cher Fanclub

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• 01-02-2010 12:15 PM

  In reply to goatman68

  Krissim Klaw Joined on 08-26-2007 Posts 1,014 Points 0

  Re: Introducing Mad Hatter (There be insect pics within =p) Reply Contact goatman68: Amazing pictures and creatures. I bet it is interesting to sit and watch them.  We have an insect here we call the Walking Stick, is this the same, they look kinda of alike.  I always enjoy seeing the Walking Stick on our siding on our house, they change color. Thanks for sharing.   Although walking sticks do look similar, there is a large divide between them and mantises.  The key difference can be found in their diet.  Walking sticks are herbivores.  Mantises on the other hand are predators that eat mainly other bugs and insects, though they will take down anything they can manage snatching in their claws.  This difference in diet in turn creates an interesting divide in their behavior.  Because mantises are predators they often seem to have a confidence you don't see in a lot of other insects.  They also have very impressive vision and the most mobile head of any insect.  This makes they very fun to observe because they will turn to look back and study you right back.  If you enjoy watching the walking sticks you will have a lot of fun with these guys also. huskymom: Krissim Klaw: Probably wondering to himself why the ground is covered in water. Ha!  don't kid yourself!  From what you've told us about Mantises, he's likely thinking, "Why does she keep doing that?  Ever heard of a glass, woman?!"  or maybe, "Water?  Again?  What I wouldn't give for a good coffee..." I think they are so cool.  I wish we had them up here.  I'd totally get one. Lol you caught me, that is so true.  Usually when I mist them they give me this disdainful look before flicking the water off and moving away from me and my spray bottle of doom.  I'm rather paranoid though when it comes to keeping them hydrated.  They aren't the type of pet that is going to go down to the bottom of their cage to drink out of a bowl.  In the wild they get most of their water from the prey they eat.  They then will occasionally drink up early morning dew or rain droplets.  I've heard in studies that there is something about the way water droplets reflect light that their eyes will key into and let them know there is water.  That is one of the reasons I mist them over offering water to them in a container, which is how I originally did it when I first started off.  Personally... I'm not sure I believe that though.  Seems to me 99.9% of the time they discover the water by accidentally stepping in it then saying, "hmmm... there is water here perhaps I should drink..?"  This species however is not much of a drinker at all.  In the few weeks I've had them, Hatter is the only one who has bent to drink and that was only one time right after I got them in the mail.  Surprised me a bit since the species I usually keep will accept offered water on a regular basis.  Thus out of uber paranoia I make sure when I mist these guys they get little dropplets on their claws so when they go to lick themselves clean I know they had the chance to drink if they wanted to.

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• 01-02-2010 1:07 PM

  In reply to Krissim Klaw

  jennie_c_d Joined on 09-10-2007 Southeast Georgia Posts 13,165 Points 750

  Re: Introducing Mad Hatter (There be insect pics within =p) Reply Contact  So beautiful! How hard are the mantises to keep? Do they eat the standard, small, carnivore pet diet of crickets, mealworms, etc? Amanda & Bevo 2015 Libby's Monkey N The Middle, CGC, RAE, BN, CD (Bean, Chinese Crested, 1/26/08) Fluffy, Cairn Terrier, gotcha 6/10 Gaea's Pandemonium By Request (Chaos, Chinese Crested, 2/14/12) Mischief N Miracles, RAE, CGC, #1 Parson Russell Terrier in AKC Rally, 2009 (Emma, 10/13/03-1/8/10) Jewel, Italian Greyhound, 9/15/01-7/7/12

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• 01-02-2010 4:05 PM

  In reply to huskymom

  georgie4682 Joined on 09-10-2007 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Posts 2,536 Points 430	Re: Introducing Mad Hatter (There be insect pics within =p) Reply Contact Wow those pictures are amazing.  GeorgAnne, Max (GSD/cattledog - 13 years), Benny (pom - 6 years) - CGC, Finn (lab mix) 3 years - CGC, Chief - CGC(Dobe/Husky Mix) - 3 years, Dori (lab mix) 4 mos Buster - greyhound mix - 9/1994-2/7/09 Lady - Beagle/terrier- 1994 - 11/25/09 " border="0" />
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• 01-02-2010 8:05 PM

  In reply to jennie_c_d

  Krissim Klaw Joined on 08-26-2007 Posts 1,014 Points 0

  Re: Introducing Mad Hatter (There be insect pics within =p) Reply Contact jennie_c_d:  So beautiful! How hard are the mantises to keep? Do they eat the standard, small, carnivore pet diet of crickets, mealworms, etc? Mantises are easy keepers.  A few of the more exotic species can be a bit trickier when it comes to getting the right humidity/temperature but for the most part as a species they are a breeze to keep.  Many people will put the adults on a mainly cricket diet when they get older.  Usually if you start out with them as babies however you'll need some fruit flies to use while they are tiny nymphs.  If you have never kept fruit flies they are also super easy to care for and once you get a batch for $5-$15 they keep reproducing so you will have plenty to feed and won't need to restock. When my mantises get older I switch to crickets as my primary food.  Since I live in FL I also do a lot of wild caught insects since I think the variety is good for them.  Moths, flies, butterflies, dragonflies, silverfish, stinkbugs, spiders, and just about any other insect I happen upon that looks like it will make a tasty meal.  When I was up at college however and was more worried about there being bugspray I fed primarly a mixture of crickets and mealworms.  It's interesting since I feed my crickets the same dog food Kirby eats so in a second hand fashion the mantises kind of eat the same thing Kirby does.  Some people prefer to culture flies, or cockroaches over the crickets since they are cleaner.  Yes, you heard me say it, roaches are cleaner than crickets.  Don't make any noise either. =p

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• 01-02-2010 8:10 PM

  In reply to georgie4682

  Krissim Klaw Joined on 08-26-2007 Posts 1,014 Points 0

  Re: Introducing Mad Hatter (There be insect pics within =p) Reply Contact georgie4682: Wow those pictures are amazing.  Thank you for the compliment.  I was surprised I was able to get such good pictures.  The camera I use doesn't really have that great of a lens for taking zoomed in pictures and I don't have a seperate flash so everything has to be head on but somehow the way the light reflected off the water and the table I had him on turned out lovely.

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• 01-02-2010 8:46 PM

  In reply to Krissim Klaw

  huskymom Joined on 09-10-2007 Dryden ON Posts 8,497 Points 715

  Re: Introducing Mad Hatter (There be insect pics within =p) Reply Contact  I laughed when you talked about using fruit flies.  EVERYONE up here had them last year.  Even my niece had them in her Salon, and she's the cleanest neat freak you have ever met.  They were everywhere.  Mantis Nymph heaven!  Jez The Prez "To Be An iDogger, One Must First Think Like An iDogger." President of the Bevo and Cher Fanclub

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• 01-02-2010 9:04 PM

  In reply to Krissim Klaw

  IrishSetterGrl Joined on 05-19-2007 Posts 975 Points 110	Re: Introducing Mad Hatter (There be insect pics within =p) Reply Contact He's an interesting bug, for sure. You take great photos! I must say I will only be admiring these creatures from afar...I am squeamish around any type of insect. But, I did enjoy reading about them in the replies. Their heads kind of remind me of E.T. :P ~ISGrl and the Irish setters, Cadie (11 yrs) and Riley (4 yrs)
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• 01-02-2010 10:22 PM

  In reply to Krissim Klaw

  Moonlight Joined on 01-09-2008 NC Posts 1,029 Points 210	Re: Introducing Mad Hatter (There be insect pics within =p) Reply Contact They are fascinating!  When I was a kid, I used to go outside, and watch insects sometimes.  Really mesmerizing to watch them do their own little thing. Amber, Chloe (crestie), Kya (chihuahua), and River (crestie)
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• 01-02-2010 10:39 PM

  In reply to Moonlight

  jennie_c_d Joined on 09-10-2007 Southeast Georgia Posts 13,165 Points 750

  Re: Introducing Mad Hatter (There be insect pics within =p) Reply Contact  Roaches are NEVER gonna happen, here! LOL Crickets, I can do, if I don't have to touch them, much. Mealworms are better, LOL.   Cleaner than crickets. Ugh. Amanda & Bevo 2015 Libby's Monkey N The Middle, CGC, RAE, BN, CD (Bean, Chinese Crested, 1/26/08) Fluffy, Cairn Terrier, gotcha 6/10 Gaea's Pandemonium By Request (Chaos, Chinese Crested, 2/14/12) Mischief N Miracles, RAE, CGC, #1 Parson Russell Terrier in AKC Rally, 2009 (Emma, 10/13/03-1/8/10) Jewel, Italian Greyhound, 9/15/01-7/7/12

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• 01-05-2010 5:12 PM

  In reply to huskymom

  Krissim Klaw Joined on 08-26-2007 Posts 1,014 Points 0

  Re: Introducing Mad Hatter (There be insect pics within =p) Reply Contact huskymom:  I laughed when you talked about using fruit flies.  EVERYONE up here had them last year.  Even my niece had them in her Salon, and she's the cleanest neat freak you have ever met.  They were everywhere.  Mantis Nymph heaven!  Certainly would have been!  Next time that happens you need to get yourself a nice swarm of mantises to take care of the fruitflies for you. =p   jennie_c_d:  Roaches are NEVER gonna happen, here! LOL Crickets, I can do, if I don't have to touch them, much. Mealworms are better, LOL.   Cleaner than crickets. Ugh. Heh, yep they are often considered cleaner.  Can keep more of them in the same space than crickets without getting any smell or the tank becoming completely disgusting.  I feel bad for roaches though since they have such a bad rap.  There is only a minuscule amount of roach species that act as pests and invade our homes.  Another fun fact is it is now believed that mantises descended from the same family as roaches.  If you ever gave them a chance though you might be surprised that they aren't near as shudder worthy as first imagined. Also don't let the skittishness of the prey items scare you off mantises either.  I have discovered surprisingly there is a good portion of people who keep mantises that get the willies from crickets and other creepy crawlers.  You will have nothing to fear though cause your mantis will be glad to protect you.

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