Yellow Zebra Mantis

[30mini]

This wouldn't be a L. Maculata would it? I have a chance to get one tomorrow, and before I do, I want to see if anyone knows if this is the Maculata or not. I don't have the room to keep one, so I won't get it if it is. Any help is appreciated, and I'll take pictures tomorrow if I can

 

[Gonodactylus]

Suppliers give stomatopods any name that think will make it more likely to sell. Zebra mantis is often used to describe Lysiosquillidae which all have cross banding and are often yellowish with brown or black stripes. Recently, a lot of Lysiosquillina maculata have been coming in from Indonesia. While some are large (30 cm +), I have seen others in the 10-15 cm size range. There are also occasional L. scabracauda appearing from the Atlantic.

Lysiosquillids are sand burrowers and do not do well long term in pvc or in the open. They require a deep sand bed at least 1.5 times their length. Some people (myself included) find them fascinating to keep. Others quickly get bored seeing nothing but poking up through the sand.

Roy

 

[30mini]

About how big do the L. Scabracauda get? If I were to get this guy, I would definately get more sand for him/her depending. Right now, I have about 2.5" in sand bed, but would go get more. Would you think that I would need the whole tank to be that deep, or would I be able to make a section that would just be for the burrow, and the rest for roaming? Or do they not roam much at all?

 

[Thurge]

For the smallest of Lysiosquillids your are going to need at least 6" more. They build a U shaped burrow that in the wild is roughly half again as deep as the animal is long. In captivity I am not so sure they build them as deep.
No roaming, they are ambush predators that sit in their burrow with only the thorasic segments and raptoral appendages out.

 

[30mini]

That would be pretty cool to watch though! I'm sure I can get a 6" deep bed in there, no problem! I'll see which species it is tomorrow hopefully! Anyone havepicturesof the Scabracuada?? That would be nice to see

 

[30mini]

Just got a call from my guy who was getting the mantis for me. It is an L. Maculata, and is a male that is about 7" in length. It is supposedly georgous coloration, and his telson is about the width of a paint stirrer right now. He is being named Monty and will be kept in a 29 with almost 14" of sand for the time being. Maybe he will be moved to a 55 later when he gets bigger. I am still going to hope for him to get me an O. Scyllarus, or a G. Smithii. We will see though... and I'll get pictures of Monty when I go over there sometime in the next few days

 

[LSOC]

beat you to the punch, i think i am going to name this guy hyman and will be my pet. i chose the name cause a bumble bee's scientific name is Hymenoptora apidae, plus its funny I am pretty sure that its a male L. manculata let me know what you think!

 

[DylanE]

wow, beutiful mantis!

 

[30mini]

Yea, georgous! It definately looks like a male to me by how long the Raptorial appendages are. Can you maybe count how many "Teeth" there are on his spear?

 

[LSOC]

thats hard to do when he is digging as fast as he is. this guy is just like me, he will dig hard for about 30 seconds, roll on its side and breath hard, if i listen close i can hear a smokers cough lol

 

[30mini]

HAHA!!! That's great that he is digging though! Already creating a home is a good deal!!

 

[thor32766]

wow gorgeous mantis!!!

 

[LSOC]

alright this is funny....tonight i had a little blue damsel in the tank with the mantis.....the damsel actually swam down into its burrow and chilled out for a min and the mantis didnt do anything....hyman seemed so tired from digging his hole all day that he put a stay on the damsels execution

 

[Baggerhog]

Hyman

Hyman

I was there today and Hyman might very well be a good name as he had no intrest in spearing the damsel. I was disappointed. He is really cool looking. I am going back to get my Lopezi tang from him I hope Hyman is eating the Damsels by then.

 

[Thurge]

7" L.maculatta should be in a 55 minimum, 75 would be better. They are prodigious waste producers and you are going to want the extra volume to help keep up.

 

[30mini]

Any pictures of Hyman in his burrow? I'd like to see the guy sticking his head out, daring anything to come near

 

[LSOC]

theres always one saying that the tank is too small for that guy. i might plumb it in to my 500 gallon system but if i dont i have endless amounts of water for changes, i think it will be alright

 

[30mini]

Why don't you just plumb it into your 500 gallon system? Then you have a skimmer on there at least!!