5 different GHOST mantises – close up view (P. paradoxa) [Inferion7]

Phyllocrania paradoxa (Ghost Mantis)

Size: 2 – 2,5 cm (2 cm BL), L4-L5, 3x males, 2x females

1838 (Burmeister)

Class (Insects)
Insecta

Order (Mantises)
Mantodea

Family
Hymenopodidae

Genus
Phyllocrania

Species
P. paradoxa (Ghost Mantis)

This video is about my 5 little ghost mantises known as Phyllocrania paradoxa. I have 3 males and 2 females, the first male is brown, the second one is green-brown, the third one is slightly darker than the first one than I have 2 females – one is very dark brown, almost black and the last one is nicely green. They come from different ootecas (different parents). It's a quite small species and all of them look awesome. The common name is Ghost Mantis that sounds pretty cool but it's very calm species (it's not aggressive). They love eating fruit flies. This species is more expensive than other mantises. They don‘t eat grasshopper or big crickets like Sphodromantis lionela or Deroplatys dessicata (my former mantises).

You can see all of them in this video, notice the details of head – you can define if it’s a male or a female. You can also see that they are moving antennas all the time. There are some feeding parts, handling mantis (the first one), movements and so on.


Equipment

Canon EOS 700D (camera)
Canon EF-S 18-55mm 3,5-5,6 IS STM (lens)
EF-S 58mm (reverse ring)
2x LED light

Next time I’ll try to make a video using even better equipment – hoping for macro lens Raynox 250

Info:
Price: 200 CZK / 8 USD / 7,4 EUR (for this size - 3 - 3,5 cm female)
Locality: wide range across the African continent
Adult size: up to 4,5 - 5 cm (2 inches)

Music was composed by me using MAGIX Music Maker and also my Digital stage piano Yamaha NP-V80 piaggero. I own the rights to any music or shots. I tried to make it sound mysterious and frightening.

Check my profile/channel to find another tarantula or some other interesting and unusual animals/pets. Hope you enjoyed and more videos coming soon.