#mymantisacat

[lutiaskokopelli]

I sometimes heard that at least some mantises liked honey. They’re still carnivores and need actual meat in order to survive of course, but legend has it that they maybe can enjoy some occasional honey if they are given the chance to taste it.

Well.

I think I have found Soph’s catnip

#mymantisacat

[onenicebugperday]

Hi!! Just wanted to share my two new babies who arrived in their new home just yesterday. Their names are Sophocles and Abigail because they're Sphodromantis lineola and because I always wanted to name one Abigail for some reason. But everyone just calls them Soph and Abby.

they're the adorablest teenage dorks already and i love them so i thought that maybe ud love them too >:3 More photos and infos are in my blog in #mymantisacat if any of yall wanna see adorkable mantis stuff uwu

Either way I follow your blog eagerly every day and every post and bug of yours is precious!! Just so you know bc we can't say it enough uwu

What beautiful children you have!!! Please tell Soph and Abby that I love them. Ohhh jeez I love mantis eyeballs and the way they follow you around. If I had one wish it would be to know what’s going on in that tiny tiny brain of theirs. Bet it’s absolutely wild. Please feel free to share more of these babes as they grow!

#animals #insects #bugs #submission #praying mantis

[lutiaskokopelli]

IT GETS BETTER

ALL HAIL APPLE JUICE

(no but seriously that tongue tho)

#mymantisacat #bugs

[lutiaskokopelli]

So much drama has happened while I was away

From curiosity, to worship, to absolute disrespect

#hollow knight #mantis #mymantisacat #hornet hollow knight #hornet hk

[lutiaskokopelli]

#bugs #mymantisacat #mantis #mantids #cat shaming

[lutiaskokopelli]

more Soph shenanigans

#mymantisacat #bugs #mantis

[lutiaskokopelli]

Let me in

LET ME IIIIIIIIIIIN

#mymantisacat #bugs #mantis #hollow knight #mantids #shitpost

[lutiaskokopelli]

Alright guys, I am wheezing.

You see, I was working at my desk like I had all day. But then, all of a sudden my light went out. I thought it must have burnt out somehow, but just a few seconds later, it turned on again at minimum power. Then, a few more seconds after, at medium power. Then, maximum power. And out again.

Turned out Scarlette had her gigantic abdomen sitting on the light switch

#mymantisacat #shitpost

[lutiaskokopelli]

MAH GIRL

Creepy crawly sweetie getting her wings just for halloween this is just perfect

#mymantisacat

[lutiaskokopelli]

#bugs #mymantisacat #mantis

[lutiaskokopelli]

THEY ARRIVED

I started calling the first one "Frisky" on instinct because she had molted during the transport, she's by far the most mobile, and she secretly tried to escape when I wasn’t looking. Also her antennae go vrrrrrrrrr

Scarlette is Scarlette because gORGEOUS RED LOOK AT THAT

And Garfield because. Garfield. I dunno he's just super chill.

#mymantisacat

[lutiaskokopelli]

s t r e t c h

"dont mind me im just a very normal dead leaf hanging from a very normal tree branch"

#mymantisacat

[lutiaskokopelli]

March 6 - September 12, 2020

So... I knew it was coming. For the past week and a half, to be entirely honest, one should have been blind to not see through it. Abby was tired; she would refuse to eat or drink, not constantly but just enough to show that she was way less hungry than she used to. Her feet especially... became fragile. Brittle. I never knew how she broke some of them; maybe her body had just become too heavy for them. She would fall, and hardly respond at all. If she were upside down, she would attempt to move her legs in her back and push herself back, but she would soon give up and stop moving altogether until I came to her help; hardly a week ago, she would have flailed all her legs and wings at once until the problem was solved.

But hey... six months of being a fully grown adult is an insanely long time for a mantis, even for a female of her species. Abby was now a very old, tired grandma. It was her time.

For all I know, she died in her sleep, as peacefully as it could be. For the past few days I would set her up on a fluffy hair band which kinda seemed like a comfy couch of sorts to her; she wouldn't move from it, and I'd just sometimes try to shift her body a bit when it seemed like she might have slipped a bit and I thought I could set her in a more comfortable position.

Either way... May she rest in peace.

I have already ordered new mantises to adopt; I had for a long time now been set on the idea that, yeah, even if Abby and any other mantis isn't meant to live for long and that each new bug is never gonna be a replacement of the previous ones, this is still an experience worth living; and I can't wait to start again. I'm still sad over the loss of Abby obviously, but in all honesty? I'm glad things went the way they did. Abby died as peacefully as a bug ever could, I believe; maybe she felt pain in her legs during her last days... that I shall never really know. Maybe I'm a bit sad that she died barely two days before my oral exam and it may or may not have partially ruined part of my day and stopped me from working fully. But still... she made it so much further than I thought she would have. Six months as an adult is huge. I hope it's because I was a good bug mom and because Abby had a good time.

So... I have no regrets. I'll never forget you, Abby. May I make you the metaphorical godmother of my soon to come new babies? I have yet to find good names for them, but I can't wait to meet them. I'm already reminded of how much of a scaredy cat you were in the beginning, and how much you've grown since... There is nothing more I can say apart from the fact that life is a marvelous miracle and an invaluable gift.

#mymantisacat

[lutiaskokopelli]

mantis_fail.mp4

B O N K

#mymantisacat

[lutiaskokopelli]

It's summer, let's all stay hydrated!

... and fight the water??

#mymantisacat #bugs

[lutiaskokopelli]

What a gorgeous pattern you have, little buddy <3

I'm spending the week-end at my grandparents' cottage, so sadly it'll be hard for me to draw before Monday. However, nature will always have wonderful living art for us all :D

#bugs #stink bug #mymantisacat