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Last November, I was trying to show a Flickr friend how to hunt for Chinese mantises. They're practically camouflage masters, so it's not always easy to find them. It was very late in the season, but I did find one last mantis. It was due to drop below freezing that night, and although that's the usual way Chinese mantises die here, and it's perfectly natural, I decided to manti-nap her anyway because she was Last Mantis Standing. I brought her home and put her in a 5g terrarium; I knew she wouldn't live long, but at least she'd die of simple old age, not freezing. Olena died on Christmas day, and although I was sad, she did spend her last month-plus in a place where she was never cold, never in danger from predators, and always had all the fat crickets, mealworms and waxworms that she wanted, handed right to her because she had one damaged raptorial arm and wasn't so good at catching prey anymore.

This is obviously not Olena. I'd got Olena so late in the season that she'd probably already produced at least four or five oothecae, but that wasn't all she had left to give. In her terrarium, she produced one more, which I moved to a cold spot for winter (I'll watch it for hatching this spring, then release the kids, if any). I missed the second, smaller ootheca, though, and since it wasn't cold and the "days" inside a terrarium are long, it hatched! It was a very small case--just a little blob of "leftovers", really, and since it hatched in January, and I wasn't ready for it, I had real trouble trying to keep the babies fed suitably-sized foods, and in the end, their own cannibalistic tendencies meant I was left with only one..this one. This is 5ive (pronounced like the number, but spelt like the silly 90s boy band because I'm a lunatic), and if I'm counting segments correctly, she's a little girl. The reason for the strange name is that during the moult before the last, she dropped one of her legs, giving her a total of only five (two raptorial legs, three walking legs). She didn't mind a bit, and when she moulted last night--this should be the last one before adult--she had a brand new sixth leg. It's shorter than the rest, but it works just fine, and since 5ive is far out of season, she'll always live with me, and I'll always make sure she has enough to eat. The sixth legs should be at least nearly as long as the rest when she moults to fully winged adult form, but if it's not she certainly won't starve. My apologies for the poor photo, but since 5ive does not have an ideal diet (I can't provide as much variation in prey insects as I'd like because winter selection is limited), and is the only survivor of Olena's "last stand", I don't want to stress her and haven't handled her much at all. Subsequently, she's a bit nervous about being taken out of her familiar enclosure and not at all inclined to hold still.

Anyway, Olena, this is a present for you, from your mantid-namesake, and I hope you like her! :)

Little flannel polka dot pants
Hand embroidered onesie
Reversible baby shoes
(a sore attempt to be like Anniemakeseverything)
Big baby blanket

I forgot to take a picture of the back of the pants, I hand embroidered a piece of pink ribbon with her name "Mattie" and stitched it to the back waste band.
I also made a little size tag with NB and stitched it, like these aren't small enough to remember! :)