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Atlas / Library / Empusidae / Wandering Violin Mantis
IntermediateDiurnal · active now
Empusidae

Wandering Violin Mantis

Gongylus gongylodesตั๊กแตนตำข้าว

Part of this is not on the page we cite. We opened it on 10 Aug 2026 and some of the degrees above are not stated there. The values above may still be right, but we cannot show you where they came from, and nobody here has checked them against a second source. Anything about a sick animal goes to a qualified exotic vet, not to a page. keepinginsects.com

Photograph: Raja Sekhar Chimirala · CC BY

Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.

14:00
Day

Drag the sun. Wandering Violin Mantis is diurnal, so what it is doing changes with the light.

Arboreal · warm · middlingFrom the sheet: 28–38°C, humidity 40–60%

The way of life is written in this sheet, word for word. The climate words summarise the two figures above them, they do not add to them.

National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/gongylus-gongylodes

‹ All husbandry guides
Temperature28–38 °C
Humidity40–60 %
Enclosure30×30×40
Diet2–3 days

The numbers

Temperature

152025303540 °C
28–38°Ambient

One ambient band, 28–38°C. This sheet states no warm side, no cool side and no night figure, so none are shown. Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet states28-38°C by day (hot); night cooler

Humidity

40–60%Target RH

The sheet states40-60% (dry with airflow)

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m8–9 cm
1520100400 cm
8–9 cmNose to tail, adult

The size the sheet states for a grown animal.

Why

Two drawings, because they answer two questions. The silhouette is at true scale against a 1.75 m person: it says how big this animal actually is, which no number does for someone who has never seen one. The bar under it is logarithmic and shared by every sheet here, so a 2 cm isopod and a 4 m python both stay readable on the same axis and two species can be compared at a glance.

Order / Family
Mantodea
IUCN / CITES
Not evaluated; CITES not yet in our data
Difficulty
Intermediate
Commonality
Fairly common
Adult size
F ~8–9 cm; M ~7–8 cm (very slender)
Lifespan
F ~8–10 mo adult; total ~12–14 mo
Growth rate
Slow (long nymph stage)
Activity & niche
Diurnal · Arboreal ornate ambush (needs heat)
Temperament
Docile, slow, ornate; flying-prey specialist
Venom / defense
Harmless; grasp/pinch; camouflage as dry twig/flower

Enclosure and conditions

Enclosure

30 cm40 cm
warm hidewatersubstrate
50100150200 cm
30 × 30 × 40 cmWidth × depth × height
9dm² of floor
Warm side: not in our dataUVB: not in our data

Drawn from the stated numbers. Only what the sheet states is drawn inside.

Why

The rectangle carries the exact width-to-height ratio of the figures above it, and the ruler under it places that width on the 0–250 cm scale every sheet here shares, so two species still compare at a glance. Nothing is added that the sheet does not name: a lamp drawn on a sheet that never mentions one would be invented equipment. What the sheet leaves out is listed rather than left blank, because an empty tank reads as « none needed ».

The sheet statesMesh/screen 30×30×40 cm; cannot climb glass

Temperature
28–38°C by day (hot); night cooler
Humidity
40–60% (dry with airflow)
Min. enclosure
Mesh/screen 30×30×40 cm; cannot climb glass
Substrate
Dry coco/sand; light mist on plants only
Hides / decor / water
Many twigs (Empusid needs mesh); mist 1–2×/day to drink

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

Diet

Feeding rhythm

every 2–3 dAs the sheet states
14Meals in 28 days

Twenty-eight days, one row. Each band is a meal window.

Why

The windows widen as they go because the interval is a range: four meals after a 10–14 day cycle land anywhere between day 40 and day 56.

The sheet statesFlying prey only — flies, moths; will not chase food · Every 2–3 days; ambush feeder

Staple food
Flying prey only — flies, moths; will not chase food
Feeding frequency
Every 2–3 days; ambush feeder
Supplements
None; gut-load flies

Behaviour and handling

HandlingDocile and slow; handleable; avoid pre-moult
CommunalYes: classic communal Empusid if spacious & well fed
Defense / stress signsSways; freezes; ignores non-flying prey

Reproduction

Life course

Day 0Hatch
0.7–0.8 yrLifespan in care
0.7 yrMinimum commitment
Sexual maturityNot in our data

Read from the lifespan and maturity the sheet states, for animals in care and not in the wild.

Why

The minimum commitment is the low end of that lifespan, and the reproductive window is what is left after maturity: both are subtractions on stated figures, not figures of their own.

Reproduction
Ootheca; hatch ~5–8 wk; slow-growing nymphs

Common health problems

Common health issues
SignsMismoult on smooth surfaces, too-low heat stalls growth
Red flags / quarantine
SignsWon't take flies, lethargy, dark patches

Good to know

  • Its violin-shaped body and leaf-lobed legs make it a living dry twig

What it needs

Enclosure at least 30 × 30 × 40 cmbecause enclosureMesh/screen 30×30×40 cm; cannot climb glass
A thermometerbecause temp28-38°C by day (hot); night cooler
A hygrometerbecause humidity40–60% (dry with airflow)

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation.

Sources

Others in this group

What this sheet states

100%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

Every field this product runs on is stated here. That is not a claim that the values are right: it says what the sheet states, not whether it is true. Whether a human has read it is the badge at the top of this page.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.