Giant African Mantis 

Sphodromantis kersteni is one of several species in the sphodromantis genus with the common name Giant African Mantis. They are a large, robust species hailing from Kenya, Tanzania, and Sudan.  They are a fairly easy species to keep are very active hunters making them very interesting to watch. 


Giant African Mantis Care

Housing:

Mantises don’t require much space but the cage or container needs to be able to accommodate them as they grow. Generally the container must be 3x the mantis length and 2x for the width. It must be well ventilated to prevent the growth of mold

This species can be cannibalistic and should not he housed together after L3.

Temperature:

They prefer temps from 75-86 F but are very forgiving and can go lower or higher. However anything lower than 70 can be dangerous. Room Temperature is fine for them. 



Humidity:

They prefer humidity from 40-60%. Misting every day to every other day can meet these requirements.

Water:

Mantises do not require standing water to drink and receive most of their moisture from their food. They will however drink water drops from misting. Good ventilation is required to prevent mold growth from higher humidity

Feeding:

These mantis will eat just about anything they can catch. As nymphs fruit flies are the ideal food source and increase to house flies and blue/green bottle flies as they get larger. This species is a very strong hunter and in the wild can take down dragonflies and large butterflies. They also will enjoy moths or other harmless flying insects. It’s recommended that the size of the feeder insect does not exceed 1/2 the mantis length.

They can also eat crickets or roaches however they don’t often climb up high enough to where the mantis is hiding and go uneaten.  Most pet stores sell fruit flies and wax worms that can be grown into moths. Larger flies can found easily from online suppliers or sometimes from bait shops.