HELP How to catch a mantis?

[tcmfish]

So I bought a piece of carribean live rock and it is not cycled and has lots of raw life forms on it. One of them is this tiny mantis maybe an inch long. From what it looks like it is brownish and tiny. I don't know how big it will get but it lives in the rock it has its little hole its in. It is a carribean or florida species, I'm almost positive. Any ideas to lure it out of its hole or to catch it or anything? Maybe even an I.D.?? Thanks.

Tim.

 

[tcmfish]

Bump nothing??....

 

[CaptainCoral]

May I tag along? I need some help too.

I have one too. It's been in an aquacultured Florida rock for 9 years and I finally found out which rock. I have tried the bottle trap many times without success, but I have strombus snails that breed in the tank and it has (had....more on this soon) an endless food supply. So recently, I wanted to add some peppermint shrimp and a more diverse supply of snails, so I decided that the mantis must be found. (my daughter won't let me get rid of him if he's pretty) I decided to pick the tank apart one rock at a time until I discovered which rock he was in. I inadvertently moved "the rock" into a different tank with two other rocks about a year ago, so by process of elimination I tried those three rocks first. I have a 40breeder tank for a refugium that I used to isolate the rocks. Then I just waited until lights out to listen. He is in the second rock, so it only took two nights. Phew......re-aquascaping would have been necessary after that.
So anyway, I need some help too. I'm currently starving it out (two days now) in an old Red Sea Salt bucket temporarily fed and draining via the tanks sump. I want to start baiting the trap again. Should I be concerned with it breaking out of this little prison during this ordeal, and flooding my apartment? Is there a better way to get it out of the rock without harming it or the rock? I still don't know which hole it is in.

 

[CaptainCoral]

Oh Tim, I forgot to ask. Since the rock yours is hiding in is cycling, is it separate from your tank still? I can shoot and post a photo of the bottle trap I made if you like. It has caught many peppermint shrimp, but never any mantis.

 

[tcmfish]

No I only have my ten gallon. It is an established tank though and I recently took my old rocks out and moved them into the lab and picked up a new piece from the LFS and tonight as I was observing my fish and rock I noticed that there was this tiny mantis. It is now the only rock in the tank so I had no problem identifing the rock or the fact it was a mantis, but would maybe like an I.D. and a way to get it out. It is this tiny maybe an inch brown carribean or florida mantis.

 

[CaptainCoral]

Are you going to keep it?
I'm going to give mine away or make fish food if it's not pretty enough.

 

[tcmfish]

IDK I know a kid here who is really into mantis's who might keep it but I also have a little 2.5 gallon and I would for sure kick around throwing it in there. They are very interesting.

 

[CaptainCoral]

I guess I should consider doing that as well regardless whether it's brown or not. After all, I've never seen it, only heard it. Maybe I'd change my feelings for it if I could actually watch it do it's thing.....hehe, I do have an endless supply of snails.

 

[CaptainCoral]

Tim, I'll edit this in a moment. I'm digging up a link to a trapping method you may be interested in.

In here is the trap I'm referring to and what I'll try if my trap doesn't work within a week. (by then it ought to be very hungry) It's about half way down.

I'm going to re-read the article again myself. I just read in it I can cover the bottom of my temporary prison with 1/4 acrylic to ease my mind of it smashing its way out.

 

[Pea-brain]

http://www.stomatopod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=71

That is a pretty good guide about how to get around bottle trapping. At one inch that mantis can't break much more than a nassarius snail. Even the largest N. wennerae (One of the most common Carribean mantises) couldn't break a 2.5 gallon without a ton of effort, if at all. Also, if it is N. wennerae, it would likely turn green regardless of its current color.

Dan

 

[ShootMe]

You can just take the rock out of the tank and put it in an empty pot, bowl, or pan and pour fresh RO water in whatever hole he is in. The mantis will come running out and drop into the bowl then you can put him in a container of salt water you have standing by. That's how I got mine out of the display. He surived no problem and I handed him off to a LFS.

 

[CaptainCoral]

That's pretty much what I made, except instead of cutting a removal hole in the side, I just remove the inverted cap. I glued a flat diy (cycled) rock to the side of the bottle to hold it down. poked small holes in it and tied a fishing line to it.

Also, if it is N. wennerae, it would likely turn green regardless of its current color.

Nice!

 

[Jazmine18]

stab it with apitch fork??

 

[gharner]

did you catch em???

 

[tcmfish]

So I tried the bottle... it had no interest. Took the rock out and squirted the inside of his hole from multiple angels/openings with freshwater and he never came out like he was suppose to and looks to be dead today. I kinda wanted to keep him it kinda sucks but at least my fish will be fine.

 

[CaptainCoral]

Sorry to hear about that tcmfish.
I'll consider it a bonus if I catch mine alive. I had the trap set last night, and I didn't hear a single click. I hope it didn't escape down the drain and into a mak4 impeller. I'm going to make a live strombus snail suffer as bait tonight. I'll keep the trap in the bucket 24/7, but only bait it when I'm able to attend it. Sooner or later, it ought to prefer entering the trap for a meal, to starvation. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I'm putting a strainer on that drain to rule out escape, if it hasn't already.

 

[CaptainCoral]

Click

I'm running out of the patience needed for this. Over a month in seclusion in its rock without food and I haven't heard anything lately, I put the rock back in the display.

Click click click

This is apparently a species that rarely comes out of its burrow. At least I know where he'll be when I grab my hammer and chisel tomorrow.

Click click click click

My story is going to have a smashing ending.