Creobroter urbanus
family Hymenopodidae Giglio-Tos, 1919
Sub-family Hymenopodinae Giglio-Tos, 1919
genus Creobroter Serville, 1839
species Creobroter urbana (Fabricius, 1775)
There are many species of mantis from Creobroter genus. There are found in Asia, mainly on tropical region. Mantis of Creobroter
species is pretty common among mantis hobbyists. This species are easy to keep and breed. The mantis of this species is quite
aggressive towards its prey and fun to watch, which makes this species a popular species to keep as pet.
The latest species of this genus in my collection is Creobroter cf. urbanus (IGM 174). Actually I have already bred this species for 2
generations but never have the chance to fully describe this wonderful species. I was first introduced of this last year when Shaik from
Singapore sent me an ootheca of this species. About 2 dozen hatched out after few weeks under 80-85F/50% with misting every other
day. The hatchling is very reddish and resembling an angry fire ant. The mimicking pattern is obviously trying to fend off any possible
predator thinking it is a fire ant.
While most Creobroter spp has ‘eye’ spot on the wing, this species does not grow a clear ‘eye’ on the wing but rather appear like a
band across the wing, similar to the Banded flower mantis (Theopropus elegans). Adult male has light green wings and able to fly very
well.
the new born grow quickly with plenty of fruit flies. The red appearance disappears soon after first molt and develops towards greener
hue as it grows.
This species is not picky about food although it is preferable to offer flying insects. Most of the diets I provided are different type of flies,
but they will gratefully accept butterflies, and moths too. So far pairing up has been easy. However, only the first few oothecae are fertile
for some reason. I have not seen an explosive hatching of more than 50 nymphs either so more effort need to be given to improve the
breeding for this species. It is important to keep the adult male for a longer time if possible.
