You want to buy an African Twig Mantis. Good. You picked the single best starter exotic in the hobby. Popa spurca is the species we hand to every first-time buyer who walks in nervous about humidity controllers and misting schedules — because it doesn’t need any of that. It tolerates your house the way it already is, it hunts its own food instead of starving next to a motionless cricket, and it lives close to a full year. No other beginner mantis checks all three boxes.
We breed African Twig Mantises year-round at our facility in Las Vegas. Every nymph ships captive-bred, healthy, and feeding. If you’re searching for an African Twig Mantis for sale from a breeder who actually keeps the species — not a reseller flipping someone else’s stock — you found the right page.
Why Buy an African Twig Mantis
Most mantids are ambush predators. They sit on a perch and wait for prey to wander into strike range. The African Twig Mantis doesn’t play that game. Popa spurca actively stalks and chases its food. That single trait eliminates the number-one cause of death in captive mantises: starvation from refusing stationary prey. Your nymph will eat. Reliably. From day one.
Dry-air tolerant. Forget the misting bottle. This species thrives at 40–50% relative humidity — the ambient range inside most American homes. No fogger, no screen-top condensation dripping into the enclosure, no mold. A light mist once or twice a week for drinking water is all it asks.
Temperature flexible. Anything from the mid 70s to mid 80s Fahrenheit works. Room temperature is fine. A small heat mat on the side of the enclosure handles cooler rooms in winter, but plenty of keepers never bother.
Long lifespan. Females live 10–12 months. Males 8–10. That’s significantly longer than many exotic species that burn through their lifecycle in five or six months. You get more time with the animal and more value for your money.
Hardy. Bad molts, random die-offs, sensitivity to minor husbandry mistakes — those are problems you run into with species like orchids or violin mantises. The African Twig Mantis shrugs off imperfect conditions. Missed a misting? It’s fine. Room dropped to 72 overnight? Still fine. This is the most forgiving exotic mantis you can keep.
Incredible camouflage. Adults develop bark-textured exoskeletons that make them nearly invisible against branches and cork bark. Watching one disappear in plain sight inside its enclosure never gets old.
What You’ll Receive
Every African Twig Mantis ships as a healthy, feeding nymph — typically L3 to L5 depending on current availability. We do not ship freshly hatched L1s. By the time a nymph leaves our facility, it has demonstrated consistent feeding response and completed at least two successful molts.
Your order arrives in a deli cup with ventilation, a climbing substrate, and thermal protection appropriate for current weather conditions. Each container is labeled with species, instar, and hatch date.
Live arrival guarantee. If your mantis arrives dead on arrival (DOA), file your claim at lobomantis.com/claim with a continuous unboxing video recorded within 1 hour of delivery and we replace it — or refund the animal’s price if we can’t restock soon. Priority Overnight orders only. No runaround.
Pricing & Availability
We sell African Twig Mantis as L3 nymphs for $45 — the listing above always shows the live price and current stock. Pricing reflects the weeks of feeding, housing, and labor that go into getting each nymph past the fragile earliest instars before it ships.
Periodic drops. New stock is released in periodic drops; nymphs typically ship the following Monday. Follow us on social or join the waitlist to get notified the moment African Twig Mantises are back in stock. Popular instars sell out within hours — not days.
When stock is sold out, use the waitlist button on this page. You’ll get a one-time email the next time Popa spurca is available. No spam, no newsletter. Just a restock alert.
Shipping
All live mantises ship Priority Overnight from Las Vegas, Nevada. Orders go out every Monday — so your package never sits in a facility over a weekend.
- Ship days: every Monday. Orders placed after the 2 PM PT cutoff go out the next Monday.
- Carrier: Priority Overnight (next-business-day delivery by 10:30 AM to most US addresses).
- Weather holds: We monitor destination forecasts. If temperatures at your location are below 40°F or above 90°F at delivery time, we hold your shipment and notify you. We will not ship an animal into lethal conditions to meet a deadline.
- Heat and cold packs: Included automatically based on the forecast. You don’t need to add them to your cart.
- Shipping cost: Flat-rate — $60 Priority Overnight (live arrival guaranteed) or $30 2-Day (ships at buyer’s risk — no live-arrival guarantee). It covers the insulated box, heat/cold pack, and label; we don’t profit on shipping.
Orders placed before the 2 PM PT Monday cutoff go out that day. Orders placed after Monday’s cutoff ship the following Monday.
Is the African Twig Mantis Right for You?
If you have never kept a mantis before, this is the species to start with. Full stop. It does not demand specialized equipment, it does not require daily misting, it does not refuse food, and it does not die because your room was two degrees too cool on a Thursday night.
If you’re an experienced keeper looking for a low-maintenance species to add to your collection without adding another high-maintenance enclosure to your daily rounds — this also works.
The only scenario where the African Twig Mantis is the wrong choice is if you specifically want a large, flashy display species. At 7–8 cm, Popa spurca is medium-sized and built for camouflage, not spectacle. It’s beautiful in a subtle, textured way — not in a “look at my neon orchid mantis” way.
If you want a second beginner species to keep alongside it, the Ghost Mantis offers communal housing and equally forgiving care. Or if you want something bigger that hits even harder at feeding time, the Double Shield Mantis shares the same low-maintenance requirements but lives up to 18 months and eats like a heavyweight.
Ready to dive deeper into husbandry details? Check out our full African Twig Mantis care guide for enclosure setup, feeding schedules, and molting tips.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does an African Twig Mantis cost? An African Twig Mantis is $45 as an L3 nymph at Lobo Mantis. Check this page for live pricing and stock — it updates with each periodic drop. For a full breakdown of what mantises cost and why, see our guide on how much a praying mantis costs.
Are African Twig Mantises good for beginners? Yes. This is the single best exotic mantis species for a first-time keeper. It tolerates low humidity, eats aggressively, handles temperature fluctuations, and lives close to a year. If you can keep a houseplant alive, you can keep a Popa spurca alive. See how it compares in our guide to the best pet mantis for beginners.
How long do African Twig Mantises live? Females live 10–12 months from hatch. Males live 8–10 months. Compared to many exotic mantis species that max out at 5–6 months, the African Twig gives you significantly more time with the animal.
Where can I buy an African Twig Mantis? You’re in the right place. Lobo Mantis breeds Popa spurca year-round in Las Vegas and ships captive-bred nymphs via Priority Overnight to anywhere in the continental US. Join the waitlist if current stock is sold out.
What do African Twig Mantises eat? They eat fruit flies (melanogaster and hydei), house flies, small crickets, and small roach nymphs. Unlike many mantis species, Popa spurca actively chases prey — so even if a feeder insect isn’t sitting perfectly still on the wall of the enclosure, your mantis will hunt it down.
