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TENODERA ARIDIFOLIA SINENSIS - CHINESE MANTIS
Soon he was a subsubadult. I moved then. I cried, I was depressed. And what comfort did I have in a home that was alien to me? The one thing that was from my home. The one thing that came from the very place I had loved - Tehno. I went to him for comfort, I held him, I let him walk on my hands as I cried. He helped me get through, he helped me when I cried, when I found no strength. And one day, as I came home, he had molted upon the windowsill into a winged adult. Oh, he was beautiful. A nice nutmeg brown. His wings were beautifully dried, not a deformity or malformation anywhere. He was aggressive towards prey and never missed his target. He attacked what he needed to, and whatever I challenged him to hunt. Anything and everything I threw at him he captured and ate. When I handled him he was calm and regal. He wouldn't attack my finger or show aggression to me when I handled him. He was aggressive, yet gentle. Regal, yet fierce. He was my Tehno, my favorite mantis, my joy, the passion that held me together and brought me further, deeper, into the mantis hobby. He encouraged me to find more mantids and to experiment with new species. Yet, he is the one that was the best out of all the exotic, interesting, and bizarre mantids I owned. Yesterday I took him out. He was slowing down and I knew he would be going soon. I placed him on the tree, his tree, his little oasis and his regal palace. He stayed there all through the day and all through the night. Today I found him sprawled on the floor. I breathed out suddenly; I knew what I was going to see: my baby, dying. I picked him up. He didn't move much in my hand. His antenna were stiff, his legs tangled and twisted underneath him in a mass. He lay there pitifully in my hand. What I would give for him to live as long as me... to be with me. You have no idea, Tehno, how much you helped me. You have no idea how much you will be missed. He may be just a mantis, just an insect, but to me, he is just the world. Tehno, I won't forget you. Rest in peace my little mantis.
He is still full of spunk. He catches his meals with a little less accurracy then when he was younger but he can still catch his food which is a good sign. He has stopped flying excessively which means he is starting to slow down. When he was a young adult, he was extremely aggressive and would snatch dragonflies right out of the air! He attacks almost everything that he is supposed to attack and is such a sweetie. I hope he can live long as his days are a bit numbered. I fed him a cricket tonight and watered him. I think my mom forgot about him while she cared for the other mantids while I was on my trip as he was really thirsty when I took him out. He attacked the cricket with a little less accuracy but he seemed to enjoy his meal. He grooms a lot now for some reason and seems a whole lot calmer than before. With age comes wisdom I guess! He is sitting on my shoulder right now, grooming away. He also lost part of his grippy foot on his left forearm, probably from headbutting his cage so much from seeing the other mantids in their cages.
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