KeeprHusbandry You're a Pro? Click here to meet Rex
Atlas / Library / Mantidae / Giant Asian Mantis
BeginnerDiurnal · active now
Mantidae

Giant Asian Mantis

Hierodula membranaceaตั๊กแตนตำข้าว

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: T R Shankar Raman · 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. Giant Asian Mantis is diurnal, so what it is doing changes with the light.

Arboreal · warm · middlingFrom the sheet: 25–30°C, humidity 50–60%

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/hierodula-membranacea

‹ All husbandry guides
Temperature25–30 °C
Humidity50–60 %
Enclosure30×20×30
Diet3–4 days

The numbers

Temperature

152025303540 °C
25–30°Ambient

One ambient band, 25–30°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 states25-30°C

Humidity

50–60%Target RH

The sheet states50-60%

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m8–10 cm
1520100400 cm
8–10 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
Beginner
Commonality
Very common
Adult size
F 8–10 cm; M ~7–8 cm
Lifespan
F ~6–9 mo adult; total ~10–14 mo
Growth rate
Fast (~7 moults, ~5–6 mo to adult)
Activity & niche
Diurnal · Arboreal ambush
Temperament
Bold, voracious; can be defensive
Venom / defense
Harmless to humans; may grasp/pinch with spined forelegs

Enclosure and conditions

Enclosure

substrateclimbing branchwarm hidewater50–60 % RH30 cm30 cm
warm hideclimbing branchwatersubstrate
50100150200 cm
30 × 20 × 30 cmWidth × depth × height
6dm² 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 states30×20×30 cm (H ≥3× body); mesh/gauze top to hang-moult

Temperature
25–30°C
Humidity
50–60%
Min. enclosure
30×20×30 cm (H ≥3× body); mesh/gauze top to hang-moult
Substrate
Coco fibre or tissue; light daily mist
Hides / decor / water
Branches/twigs to perch & moult; mist droplets 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 3–4 dAs an adult
9Meals in 28 days

Twenty-eight days, one row. Each band is a meal window. The sheet gives several ages on one line; this is the adult figure.

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 statesFlies, house/field crickets, roach nymphs (prey ≤1/3 body) · Nymphs every 1–2 days; adults every 3–4 days

Staple food
Flies, house/field crickets, roach nymphs (prey ≤1/3 body)
Feeding frequency
Nymphs every 1–2 days; adults every 3–4 days
Supplements
None; gut-load feeders (veg/fish flake)

Behaviour and handling

HandlingTolerant; will walk onto hand; avoid when pre-moult (hanging)
CommunalNo: cannibalistic; house singly
Defense / stress signsDeimatic rear-up, forelegs/wings spread; flighty if hungry

Reproduction

Life course

Day 0Hatch
0.5–0.8 yrLifespan in care
0.5 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 ~150–250 eggs; hatch 4–6 wk at 26–28°C

Common health problems

Common health issues
SignsMismoult (low RH/space), dehydration, overfeeding shortens life
Red flags / quarantine
SignsLethargy, black-tipped abdomen, regurgitation, tub mould

Good to know

  • Among the largest commonly kept mantids; can seize prey near its own size

What it needs

Enclosure at least 30 × 20 × 30 cmbecause enclosure30×20×30 cm (H ≥3× body); mesh/gauze top to hang-moult
A thermometerbecause temp25-30°C
A hygrometerbecause humidity50–60%

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.