Mantis update
We named this mantis Brownie because he suddenly turned brown one day. The change was so sudden that we all assumed he was about to roll over and croak. We were wrong! Brownie has not only stayed alive, he’s gotten bigger! He is now the largest of all the mantises we have and, what’s more, he’s suddenly grown wings! Show us your wings, Brownie!
Here you can not only see his wings, you can see him lick what I can only imagine are cricket-guts off his foot. Cleanliness is next to insect-like behavior, Brownie!
There’s a slightly better shot of his wings. It’s hard to hold a mantis with one hand and take a picture with the other. Anyway, he’s gotten huge, as you can see, and he’s ready to take on flying insects! No place is safe from this winged menace!
Heck of a job, Brownie!
I’m guessing it’s just the profile shot, but…
It looks very aloof in the first picture.
Wouldn’t Brownie be a better name for a girl mantis?
I strongly suspect that Brownie is, in fact, a girl, but we couldn’t really know unless we put them all in a box together and see who eats who’s head, and I don’t think Sam is ready for that yet.
🙂
Brownie must be a girl, with the lovely long wings and attention to personal grooming. I hear boy mantises are real slobs!
Girl mantises always eat the cricket from the head first, and never leave the dead legs lying around the Critter-Keeper. Boy mantises eat the cricket’s butt first and then leave the seat up.
On the other hand, the boys always get the short end of the stick at mating time, so.
That’s awesome. My daughter likes walking sticks, and used to bring them home all the time as pets.
Sweet Jesus! Millipedes! Mantises! What kind of a house of horrors are you living in????
Don’t forget the snails and the pillbugs.
Yep, that’s probably a girl mantis. Did you know they’ll drink sugar water out of an eyedropper? It’s pretty fun.