mantis or pistol?

[justinl]

It is impossible to tell apart mantids and pistols just by the clicks. A mantis could make clicks of a different volume de[ending on how hard it hits and how big the mantis is. The only solid proof is a visual. Staking out the tank one night and one day is a good (only) way. Nothing special, just you and some beer. Red lights are useless here. Another clicking explanation is a snail. Sometimes it will sit in front of a powerhead and the clicks are just the shell banging against the glass.

There are two kinds of mantids. briefly...
1) spearers: have arms almost exactly like a praying mantis and can feed on fish, shrimp, snails, or crabs (they stab them prison shank style)
2) smashers: have arms with a thickened calcified elbow. They use this elbow to smash through shells to get to food. Their main diet is shrimp, hermits, snails, crabs. can prey on fish but most will leave live fish alone.

Bottle trap: get a empty bottle that has had nothing but water in it. no soda bottles, nothing that has ever had soap or organic anythings. Cut off the top third and put it back in the remaining two thirds upside down. You should now have a rough cylinder with a funnel at one end. Glue around the rough edges to make sure the pieces stay in place. bait it with frozen shrimp and weigh it down. Tie a string around the trap so you can pull it up later. Then just throw the thing in and wait. The key here is patience. If it isn't working use different baits (squid, krill, silversides, clam...). This is considered the best way to trap a mantis.

If you're desperate and you know where the mantis' lair is, take out that rock and repeatedly dunk it in normal saltwater. I recommend the bottle trap though.

If any of you guys ever get a mantis out, don't kill it, give me a shout!