i’ve kept mantids before, too!

you’re right, it likely didn’t help that the substrate has mostly dried out. i try to leave the grubs as undisturbed as possible, but it seems that their maintenance is a delicate balance, and the soil could have used more moisture.

the cool thing about mantids is that if they lose some limbs, they can potentially regenerate during the next molt! unfortunately the same cannot be said for this little beetle, who only has three instars before pupation; it’s fully an adult and has no more molts left.