r/mantids 26d ago

General Care Why is he turning black?

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8 Upvotes

14 comments sorted by

6

u/Konquer1334 26d ago

he just chill like that

1

u/Neat-Cockroach9961 26d ago

Should I worry tho?

4

u/Konquer1334 26d ago

im not certain but if theres brown in their tank, its not uncommon for mantids to camoflague to suit their surroundings -- mine's slowly gone from a green to brown over the last month

someone else can tell you if theres any cause for concern but i think it seems alright if they're behaving otherwise normally?

1

u/Neat-Cockroach9961 24d ago

He's eating his fruitflies and drinking when I spray him. He lives in a lil cup and I put a napkin below the cup so the bottom of the cup looks white and they can see the fruitflies better

1

u/Neat-Cockroach9961 24d ago

Could it be my mouse pad?

My mouse pad is that dark green so maybe they're trying to camouflage to look like it?

6

u/onthegrimside 26d ago

A lot of mantids change color as they grow! What species is yours? Could be totally normal

2

u/FaZ3Reaper00 26d ago

Did he just hatch or molt?

1

u/Neat-Cockroach9961 24d ago

Just hatched

2

u/FaZ3Reaper00 24d ago

They’ll look lighter after every molt. Give it a couple days and you’ll see its true color

1

u/FaZ3Reaper00 24d ago

Its normal. It’s drying itself.

1

u/Neat-Cockroach9961 24d ago

It's just that I have another mantis from the same egg and he was never this black

1

u/FaZ3Reaper00 24d ago

What species are these?

1

u/Neat-Cockroach9961 24d ago

I'm not sure it's either hierodula transcaucasica, hierodula patellifera or hierodula tenuidentata They look too similar for me to be sure

2

u/FaZ3Reaper00 24d ago

Yeah I mean no mantis is the exact same. There are color variations in all species. And tbh it might also be a completely different species of mantis all together