mantis changing color

[kman]

I caught a mantis and put him in a 10 gal. He was red but now, after not seeing him for some time, he is lime green. Do they change colors or is something wrong?

 

[Shia]

It depends on what kind of mantis you have, but if its behavior is the same as before and is still eatting than it is fine.
Also if you would like to sell or get rid of him I would be happy to take him off of your hands.

 

[Gonodactylus]

Many stomatopods change color depending on the background as well as the ambient lighting. I suspect your beast was a Neogonodactylus wennerae, probably from fairly deep water. While it was red, at that depth, it was probably very dark. Moving it to a tank, probably with strong lighting, caused it to try to match its new lighting and background. Green is a good color to be at shallow depths where there is lots of algae, etc.

Roy