Feeders best practices for mantis NO Crickets
Cricket bites: mantis keepers young praying mantis attacked by a small cricket, “her first and last encounter with those awful creatures. They’ve since been tossed outside.” And goes on to explain
The cricket attacked her, chewing off her antennae and the top of her jaw. It also bit her raptors. I was absolutely devastated. After having previously nursed her back from a bad molt, and hand feeding her for weeks. She’s since molted successfully, twice.
Her face was a mess after the attack. She is a fighter and I was holding out hope that she would pull through. Yesterday, she ate. 
picture shows the trauma from the attack. Hoping her face and antennae recover in the next molt.
I always caution against using crickets as feeders, not only for this reason for bites but they can carry nasty bacteria. Often they are fed meat from dog and cat food and carry the bacteria in their exoskeleton that becomes contaminated as it loosens during molting. Salmonella can be found and is extremely dangerous to young children and adults compromised immune systems. Even causing death
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orchid mantis evolutionary research
The orchid mantis (Hymenopus coronatus) transitions from black-and-red to pink-white coloration during development, a shift driven by the Redboy pigment transporter. This transition serves different ecological functions: red coloration helps hatchlings mimic stink bugs for predator avoidance, while the pink-white coloration of older nymphs provides floral camouflage for both predator avoidance and prey attraction. The Redboy transporter, upregulated by ecdysone, facilitates this shift by exporting red pigments in early stages and importing white pigments in later stages.
Evolutionary Basis:
Redboy's Role:
The Redboy transporter, a novel ABCG transporter, arose by gene family expansion and positive selection, specifically to handle the transition from red to white coloration, according to research on Nature.
Hormonal Regulation:
The hormone ecdysone regulates Redboy, ensuring the pigment transition happens at the appropriate developmental stage, according to research on ResearchGate.
Genetic Adaptation:
The evolutionary changes in Redboy have allowed orchid mantises to adapt their body color to different life stages and ecological niches.
Ecological Functions:
Aposematic Mimicry (Hatchlings):
The initial black-and-red coloration serves as a warning signal, mimicking the appearance of stink bugs, which are known to be distasteful or toxic to predators.
Camouflage (Older Nymphs):
The pink-white coloration provides floral camouflage, helping the mantis blend in with flowers and avoid detection by predators.
Prey Attraction:
The flower-like appearance also attracts unsuspecting prey, such as small insects, to their location, enhancing the mantis's hunting success.
In summary, the orchid mantis's body color transition is a fascinating example of ontogenetic camouflage and adaptive evolution, where the color changes throughout the mantis's life serve distinct ecological roles in where the color changes throughout the mantis's life serve distinct ecological roles in predator avoidance and prey attraction.
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Mantis fly Mantispidae, very special insect
Mantispidae, they don’t sting! 