The Thailand Boxer Praying Mantis is a small Mantis - the front arms have a red/brown-banded affect.
This is a lovely small specie of mantis growing to an adult size of 25-33mm. Nymphs are dark brown, some being almost black in colour. They have banded legs and tiny lobes are present, this being more noticeable when larger Nymphs. Looking very carefully (mainly seen on adults), small spikes run along the Mantids neck. Their front arms are mainly a red/brown-banded affect and red is shown on the inside of the arms as a defense threat.
When females turn sub-adult, you can generally see what colour they will turn out to be. Some Nymphs will have green along the back, on the un-opened wings and a green/yellow tip on the end of their abdomen. The adult colours for these Nymphs are generally light green/grey colour. The wings have a bright green stripe down each side and some "V" markings are present.
The other sub-adult colour is a very dark brown, almost black throughout the body apart from the front arms. When adult, the females are mainly grey, almost silver along the neck and the wings have a slight tint of cream/brown on them. No green stripe is present, but the "V" marking is still there.
The Males are similar to the latter females colour, but have darker bodies and the wings are a green/yellow colour. The males are also slightly smaller then the females, with long antennas.
This species is found in Thailand and possibly Malaysia. The temperatures of both countries are very high and the lowest temperature I found was 22C and the highest 36C. Therefore I would say that this species loves the extra heat, so a heat mat would be needed unless you have a very warm room. I have kept these at room temperature and this didn't seem to affect them, just took them longer to grow - so this is possibly too.
Thailand can have quite a lot of rainfall in a month, the most being 300mm and the least 5mm. For humidity, I would say they need spraying approx. 3-4 times a week for an average 60-80% humidity - more often while young Nymphs, to prevent shedding problems.
Yes, so far this species seems to be hardy and easy to keep. I have kept them at room temperature and higher temperatures, both with no problems. They feed very well, even when newly hatched Nymphs. They will take large fruit flies, but to be on the safe side, small fruit flies should be offered. As they grow, increase their food size - I have mainly fed mine on crickets with no problems, but they love flying insects, so provided them with these for a variety.
Habitat should have plenty of sticks and bark with some artificial plants. They like to squash themselves against the bark to appear not there - but we know they are!
We kept my Nymphs from hatchlings all the way up to nearly sub-adult. The only reason we separated them was just to be on the safe side. Our feeling is these could live together if plenty of food and space is provided, but adults we can't be sure of.
