Praying Mantis
- Thread starter aldermat
- Start date
trickedoutbiker
Avid Member
You could raise them to feed to your chameleon, sure. The most common type that are available are the Chinese mantids because they are cheap and non-invasive. Raising mantids is a very time consuming process though, keep in mind. It takes a lot of time, food, and space.
When the mantids hatch, you have to separate the ones out that you want to raise and feed off, and this is because your most important rule is, for the ones you plan to raise, you have to keep EACH ONE in a SEPARATE container or else they will end up killing each other from cannibalization (or you could let them eat each other for a few days and reduce the count down to a manageable number, then move the remaining ones that you plan to keep to separate containers). I myself am currently raising some which hatched from an ooth (egg sack) that my buddy down the road had, and I have had them for about 4 months. Got them when they were just a week or two old. At this current moment, I now have 7 in my possession and am trying to raise these ones to full sized adults.
When they hatch, you have to feed them little tiny fruit flies because these things are incredibly small when they hatch and they grow pretty slow. For reference, the picture I attached here is of one of my mantids a few weeks ago. Keep in mind, this thing is around 4 months old, and only about 2 inches long (they have all molted once more since then, so they are a tad longer by now and I can take another pic when I'm off work if you want to see the most up-to-date of one). The Chinese mantids can get up to around 4 inches when fully grown. It will typically take between 4 and 6 months to reach maturity (if you are feeding it consistently), and when adult, it will live for another 3 to 8 months. When keeping the mantids relatively cool and not feeding them a lot, their lifespan can be greatly increased because they are growing slower. They can go up to 2 weeks without food but this is not recommended. I feed mine every other day. Keeping the temperature TOO low will result in death, but a good temp around 70-80 Fahrenheit is ideal. As the mantids grow, you have to give them bigger food and bigger food. This is why they are such a time consuming insect. You are basically getting/raisings insects, to feed to your mantid insects, to feed to your chameleon. And the process takes months (if you want them to get to a size that is actually worth feeding to your chameleon, unless your chameleon is a juvenile, in which case it would love the smaller mantids!). As they grow, you have to make sure that the mantids are getting a food size that is appropriate to the size of their body. Example, you wouldn't give a full grown roach to a newly hatched mantis, and you wouldn't give a fruit fly to a fully grown mantis. Even though most mantids are known to attack prey twice their size, you want to keep the size of your prey items reasonable. Don't give the mantis live food that is bigger than it or your mantis might be the one that gets eaten. Praying mantises will also not eat dead insects.
As a baby mantid, feed them Melanogaster fruit flies or Hydei fruit flies. I'd personally start with the Melanogaster fruit flies because they are smaller for the newly-hatched mantids, then get the Hydei fruit flies as those new mantids start to grow a bit because the Hydei fruit flies are a bit larger. As they mantids grow a bit more, you can give them tiny ants, aphids, very small roach nymphs, pinhead crickets, any real small insect basically..... As the mantids get a bit larger, you can give them bigger insects such as a bit larger roach nymphs, a bit larger crickets, mini moths.... Then the mantids grow a little more.... give them bigger ants, maybe a slightly bigger moth you may find outside, small flies. Then the mantids grow more.... give them house flies, bigger roaches, bigger crickets..... You get the idea. Just jeep giving them bigger food as they grow, but keep the food size consistent with the body size of the mantids. The way you tell if the prey item is too big or too small is quite easy. If the insects you are feeding to your mantids are too big, the mantis will grab onto it and not be able to hold on because it is too big to hold onto, or the mantis may not even attack it at all. If the insects you are feeding are too small, then the mantis might not be able to grab it because it is so small, or the insect will escape once it grabs it because it is too small to be held by the mantis' hands and the small insect is escaping in between the little spikes in their hands. So you gotta make sure you watch it a bit and use your best judgment so that way you have happy healthy mantids! As the prey insects become larger, if you want, for extra nutrition, you can dust them with some bee pollen to add that boosted nutrition to them, which in turn will get passed on to your chameleon down the road! That's what I'm doing.
On to hydration....Mantids require humidity so that they can properly shed. To achieve this, you will want to LIGHTLY SPRAY the walls of whatever you have them in once a day, or spray them every other day if you still see water on the walls. Don't spray the mantids directly as this could harm them when they are so small and fragile, and it could also harm them when they are molting because it could cause them to fall, which in turn could result in them losing a leg, or even dying (It is possible for them to grow a leg back after they molt a few times, but it's not guaranteed, so just be careful and don't risk it). Another option besides spraying, is to provide a small bottle cap with water at the bottom of their contiainer, but you will want to make sure that this is not too deep or else they could get in it and drown when they are still tiny mantids. I personally prefer to spray a quick shot of water on the walls because it's quick and easy and I don't have to reach into a container to grab a bottle cap and disturb the mantis. No matter which option you choose, both will also provide drinking opportunities for your mantids.
On to molting.... A few days before molting, the mantis will hang upside down and will not eat. Sometimes a white film-like layer can be seen all over the body of the mantis. This is the skin becoming more loose. It is important to not disturb the mantis at this time. Do not put any food in the container and do not spray the container during a molt or the next day after a molt because anything that disturbs the mantis may cause it to fall, and that could have some bad outcomes as mentioned in the paragraph above. Their bodies are EXTREMELY fragile during a molt and the day after, so it's very important not to disturb them. It would also be a wise choice to remove any uneaten feeders during this time if you are able to do it without disturbing the mantis so that way they don't knock the mantis off of it's branch from a molt. A good way to avoid having to do this, is to just watch your mantis daily. If you see it hanging upside down and not eating for a couple days, then stop feeding it and get the food out of its container before the molting even starts. Problem avoided. The molting will take about a day. Make sure that whatever you are keeping them in has some branches or something to hang upside-down on, as this is important for molting. Depending on how big you want them to get, you need to choose a container size accordingly as well. The general rule of thumb for housing a mantis is to provide an enclosure that is three times the length of the mantis in length and at least twice the height of the mantis in height. However, a mantis who is not yet an adult will need plenty of room for molting or you will run the risk of molting problems. For a mantis who is not yet an adult, you will want a vertical height of about three times the length of the mantis. For an adult, height is not as important, but for your mantis' comfort, it should be at least twice the length of the mantis in height. When the mantis is becoming subadult or becoming adult, you can see that the wing buds (location where the wings grow when the mantis is still a nymph) are swollen. For the Chinese Mantis (and most mantis species) it is easy to see if you have an adult mantis or not - adult mantids have wings while nymphs never have wings. A mantis will typically go through around 7-9 instars, or molts, before it becomes a mature adult.
I think I pretty much covered everything here for you to save you some time. The only other thing you have to really do is clean their housing once in a while. Mantids aren't the tidiest of diners and they'll leave behind all manner of debris including legs, wings, chewy or hard bits they didn't like, etc., and you need to remove these daily or every other day. When this debris piles up, the praying mantis will sometimes stress out and won't cope well in their environment. When cleaning out the leftovers from their meals, also remove your praying mantis' fecal matter (pellet shaped).
And there ya have it. I hope that is of some help to you and if you have any questions feel free to message me or post a reply here. Myself or many others would be glad to answer your questions.
When the mantids hatch, you have to separate the ones out that you want to raise and feed off, and this is because your most important rule is, for the ones you plan to raise, you have to keep EACH ONE in a SEPARATE container or else they will end up killing each other from cannibalization (or you could let them eat each other for a few days and reduce the count down to a manageable number, then move the remaining ones that you plan to keep to separate containers). I myself am currently raising some which hatched from an ooth (egg sack) that my buddy down the road had, and I have had them for about 4 months. Got them when they were just a week or two old. At this current moment, I now have 7 in my possession and am trying to raise these ones to full sized adults.
When they hatch, you have to feed them little tiny fruit flies because these things are incredibly small when they hatch and they grow pretty slow. For reference, the picture I attached here is of one of my mantids a few weeks ago. Keep in mind, this thing is around 4 months old, and only about 2 inches long (they have all molted once more since then, so they are a tad longer by now and I can take another pic when I'm off work if you want to see the most up-to-date of one). The Chinese mantids can get up to around 4 inches when fully grown. It will typically take between 4 and 6 months to reach maturity (if you are feeding it consistently), and when adult, it will live for another 3 to 8 months. When keeping the mantids relatively cool and not feeding them a lot, their lifespan can be greatly increased because they are growing slower. They can go up to 2 weeks without food but this is not recommended. I feed mine every other day. Keeping the temperature TOO low will result in death, but a good temp around 70-80 Fahrenheit is ideal. As the mantids grow, you have to give them bigger food and bigger food. This is why they are such a time consuming insect. You are basically getting/raisings insects, to feed to your mantid insects, to feed to your chameleon. And the process takes months (if you want them to get to a size that is actually worth feeding to your chameleon, unless your chameleon is a juvenile, in which case it would love the smaller mantids!). As they grow, you have to make sure that the mantids are getting a food size that is appropriate to the size of their body. Example, you wouldn't give a full grown roach to a newly hatched mantis, and you wouldn't give a fruit fly to a fully grown mantis. Even though most mantids are known to attack prey twice their size, you want to keep the size of your prey items reasonable. Don't give the mantis live food that is bigger than it or your mantis might be the one that gets eaten. Praying mantises will also not eat dead insects.
As a baby mantid, feed them Melanogaster fruit flies or Hydei fruit flies. I'd personally start with the Melanogaster fruit flies because they are smaller for the newly-hatched mantids, then get the Hydei fruit flies as those new mantids start to grow a bit because the Hydei fruit flies are a bit larger. As they mantids grow a bit more, you can give them tiny ants, aphids, very small roach nymphs, pinhead crickets, any real small insect basically..... As the mantids get a bit larger, you can give them bigger insects such as a bit larger roach nymphs, a bit larger crickets, mini moths.... Then the mantids grow a little more.... give them bigger ants, maybe a slightly bigger moth you may find outside, small flies. Then the mantids grow more.... give them house flies, bigger roaches, bigger crickets..... You get the idea. Just jeep giving them bigger food as they grow, but keep the food size consistent with the body size of the mantids. The way you tell if the prey item is too big or too small is quite easy. If the insects you are feeding to your mantids are too big, the mantis will grab onto it and not be able to hold on because it is too big to hold onto, or the mantis may not even attack it at all. If the insects you are feeding are too small, then the mantis might not be able to grab it because it is so small, or the insect will escape once it grabs it because it is too small to be held by the mantis' hands and the small insect is escaping in between the little spikes in their hands. So you gotta make sure you watch it a bit and use your best judgment so that way you have happy healthy mantids! As the prey insects become larger, if you want, for extra nutrition, you can dust them with some bee pollen to add that boosted nutrition to them, which in turn will get passed on to your chameleon down the road! That's what I'm doing.
On to hydration....Mantids require humidity so that they can properly shed. To achieve this, you will want to LIGHTLY SPRAY the walls of whatever you have them in once a day, or spray them every other day if you still see water on the walls. Don't spray the mantids directly as this could harm them when they are so small and fragile, and it could also harm them when they are molting because it could cause them to fall, which in turn could result in them losing a leg, or even dying (It is possible for them to grow a leg back after they molt a few times, but it's not guaranteed, so just be careful and don't risk it). Another option besides spraying, is to provide a small bottle cap with water at the bottom of their contiainer, but you will want to make sure that this is not too deep or else they could get in it and drown when they are still tiny mantids. I personally prefer to spray a quick shot of water on the walls because it's quick and easy and I don't have to reach into a container to grab a bottle cap and disturb the mantis. No matter which option you choose, both will also provide drinking opportunities for your mantids.
On to molting.... A few days before molting, the mantis will hang upside down and will not eat. Sometimes a white film-like layer can be seen all over the body of the mantis. This is the skin becoming more loose. It is important to not disturb the mantis at this time. Do not put any food in the container and do not spray the container during a molt or the next day after a molt because anything that disturbs the mantis may cause it to fall, and that could have some bad outcomes as mentioned in the paragraph above. Their bodies are EXTREMELY fragile during a molt and the day after, so it's very important not to disturb them. It would also be a wise choice to remove any uneaten feeders during this time if you are able to do it without disturbing the mantis so that way they don't knock the mantis off of it's branch from a molt. A good way to avoid having to do this, is to just watch your mantis daily. If you see it hanging upside down and not eating for a couple days, then stop feeding it and get the food out of its container before the molting even starts. Problem avoided.
The molting will take about a day. Make sure that whatever you are keeping them in has some branches or something to hang upside-down on, as this is important for molting. Depending on how big you want them to get, you need to choose a container size accordingly as well. The general rule of thumb for housing a mantis is to provide an enclosure that is three times the length of the mantis in length and at least twice the height of the mantis in height. However, a mantis who is not yet an adult will need plenty of room for molting or you will run the risk of molting problems. For a mantis who is not yet an adult, you will want a vertical height of about three times the length of the mantis. For an adult, height is not as important, but for your mantis' comfort, it should be at least twice the length of the mantis in height. When the mantis is becoming subadult or becoming adult, you can see that the wing buds (location where the wings grow when the mantis is still a nymph) are swollen. For the Chinese Mantis (and most mantis species) it is easy to see if you have an adult mantis or not - adult mantids have wings while nymphs never have wings. A mantis will typically go through around 7-9 instars, or molts, before it becomes a mature adult.I think I pretty much covered everything here for you to save you some time. The only other thing you have to really do is clean their housing once in a while. Mantids aren't the tidiest of diners and they'll leave behind all manner of debris including legs, wings, chewy or hard bits they didn't like, etc., and you need to remove these daily or every other day. When this debris piles up, the praying mantis will sometimes stress out and won't cope well in their environment. When cleaning out the leftovers from their meals, also remove your praying mantis' fecal matter (pellet shaped).
And there ya have it. I hope that is of some help to you and if you have any questions feel free to message me or post a reply here. Myself or many others would be glad to answer your questions.
Last edited:
aldermat
New Member
Omg! Thanks so much for all the information!!!!!!!!!!You could raise them to feed to your chameleon, sure. The most common type that are available are the Chinese mantids because they are cheap and non-invasive. Raising mantids is a very time consuming process though, keep in mind. It takes a lot of time, food, and space.
When the mantids hatch, you have to separate the ones out that you want to raise and feed off, and this is because your most important rule is, for the ones you plan to raise, you have to keep EACH ONE in a SEPARATE container or else they will end up killing each other from cannibalization (or you could let them eat each other for a few days and reduce the count down to a manageable number, then move the remaining ones that you plan to keep to separate containers). I myself am currently raising some which hatched from an ooth (egg sack) that my buddy down the road had, and I have had them for about 4 months. Got them when they were just a week or two old. At this current moment, I now have 7 in my possession and am trying to raise these ones to full sized adults.
When they hatch, you have to feed them little tiny fruit flies because these things are incredibly small when they hatch and they grow pretty slow. For reference, the picture I attached here is of one of my mantids a few weeks ago. Keep in mind, this thing is around 4 months old, and only about 2 inches long (they have all molted once more since then, so they are a tad longer by now and I can take another pic when I'm off work if you want to see the most up-to-date of one). The Chinese mantids can get up to around 4 inches when fully grown. It will typically take between 4 and 6 months to reach maturity (if you are feeding it consistently), and when adult, it will live for another 3 to 8 months. When keeping the mantids relatively cool and not feeding them a lot, their lifespan can be greatly increased because they are growing slower. They can go up to 2 weeks without food but this is not recommended. I feed mine every other day. Keeping the temperature TOO low will result in death, but a good temp around 70-80 Fahrenheit is ideal. As the mantids grow, you have to give them bigger food and bigger food. This is why they are such a time consuming insect. You are basically getting/raisings insects, to feed to your mantid insects, to feed to your chameleon. And the process takes months (if you want them to get to a size that is actually worth feeding to your chameleon, unless your chameleon is a juvenile, in which case it would love the smaller mantids!). As they grow, you have to make sure that the mantids are getting a food size that is appropriate to the size of their body. Example, you wouldn't give a full grown roach to a newly hatched mantis, and you wouldn't give a fruit fly to a fully grown mantis. Even though most mantids are known to attack prey twice their size, you want to keep the size of your prey items reasonable. Don't give the mantis live food that is bigger than it or your mantis might be the one that gets eaten. Praying mantises will also not eat dead insects.
As a baby mantid, feed them Melanogaster fruit flies or Hydei fruit flies. I'd personally start with the Melanogaster fruit flies because they are smaller for the newly-hatched mantids, then get the Hydei fruit flies as those new mantids start to grow a bit because the Hydei fruit flies are a bit larger. As they mantids grow a bit more, you can give them tiny ants, aphids, very small roach nymphs, pinhead crickets, any real small insect basically..... As the mantids get a bit larger, you can give them bigger insects such as a bit larger roach nymphs, a bit larger crickets, mini moths.... Then the mantids grow a little more.... give them bigger ants, maybe a slightly bigger moth you may find outside, small flies. Then the mantids grow more.... give them house flies, bigger roaches, bigger crickets..... You get the idea. Just jeep giving them bigger food as they grow, but keep the food size consistent with the body size of the mantids. The way you tell if the prey item is too big or too small is quite easy. If the insects you are feeding to your mantids are too big, the mantis will grab onto it and not be able to hold on because it is too big to hold onto, or the mantis may not even attack it at all. If the insects you are feeding are too small, then the mantis might not be able to grab it because it is so small, or the insect will escape once it grabs it because it is too small to be held by the mantis' hands and the small insect is escaping in between the little spikes in their hands. So you gotta make sure you watch it a bit and use your best judgment so that way you have happy healthy mantids! As the prey insects become larger, if you want, for extra nutrition, you can dust them with some bee pollen to add that boosted nutrition to them, which in turn will get passed on to your chameleon down the road! That's what I'm doing.
On to hydration....Mantids require humidity so that they can properly shed. To achieve this, you will want to LIGHTLY SPRAY the walls of whatever you have them in once a day, or spray them every other day if you still see water on the walls. Don't spray the mantids directly as this could harm them when they are so small and fragile, and it could also harm them when they are molting because it could cause them to fall, which in turn could result in them losing a leg, or even dying (It is possible for them to grow a leg back after they molt a few times, but it's not guaranteed, so just be careful and don't risk it). Another option besides spraying, is to provide a small bottle cap with water at the bottom of their contiainer, but you will want to make sure that this is not too deep or else they could get in it and drown when they are still tiny mantids. I personally prefer to spray a quick shot of water on the walls because it's quick and easy and I don't have to reach into a container to grab a bottle cap and disturb the mantis. No matter which option you choose, both will also provide drinking opportunities for your mantids.
On to molting.... A few days before molting, the mantis will hang upside down and will not eat. Sometimes a white film-like layer can be seen all over the body of the mantis. This is the skin becoming more loose. It is important to not disturb the mantis at this time. Do not put any food in the container and do not spray the container during a molt or the next day after a molt because anything that disturbs the mantis may cause it to fall, and that could have some bad outcomes as mentioned in the paragraph above. Their bodies are EXTREMELY fragile during a molt and the day after, so it's very important not to disturb them. It would also be a wise choice to remove any uneaten feeders during this time if you are able to do it without disturbing the mantis so that way they don't knock the mantis off of it's branch from a molt. A good way to avoid having to do this, is to just watch your mantis daily. If you see it hanging upside down and not eating for a couple days, then stop feeding it and get the food out of its container before the molting even starts. Problem avoided.
I think I pretty much covered everything here for you to save you some time. The only other thing you have to really do is clean their housing once in a while. Mantids aren't the tidiest of diners and they'll leave behind all manner of debris including legs, wings, chewy or hard bits they didn't like, etc., and you need to remove these daily or every other day. When this debris piles up, the praying mantis will sometimes stress out and won't cope well in their environment. When cleaning out the leftovers from their meals, also remove your praying mantis' fecal matter (pellet shaped).
And there ya have it. I hope that is of some help to you and if you have any questions feel free to message me or post a reply here. Myself or many others would be glad to answer your questions.
View attachment 160705
Most thorough write up on Mantis care I have seen. And heck, I founded Mantisplce.com in 2005!
Great job!
This should be a sticky on the forum...
CHEERS!
Nick
Great job!
This should be a sticky on the forum...
CHEERS!
Nick
Nursemaia
Chameleon Enthusiast
I have a soft spot for mantids. I don't think I'd have the heart to use them as a feeder.
trickedoutbiker
Avid Member
From the master himself, wow. Thanks! I feel honored! I had no idea you founded Mantisplace.com -- would of never guessed, because your profile says you are located in Puyallup, Washington and Mantisplace.com is located in Olmsted, OH.
The only thing I really left out is how to sex the males and females, but that is only needed if one is breeding them, which is a whole process in itself I also did not touch on. But since I forgot to mention how to sex them, and might as well have it to add to the other info I provided, here goes.... You can distinquish males and females in a few simple ways. The first way is by looking at the length of the antennae. Males generally have longer and thicker antennae than females do. This can be seen most clearly when the mantis is an adult, but as the nymph grows to become an adult it steadily develops the longer antennae. When comparing male and female nymphs you see that the female has thin hair-like antennae while the male has thick antennae. The next way to tell the difference in sex is to count the abdominal segments on the bottom of the mantis (can't count them from the top). The segment counting method can be used for all praying mantis species that are older than L4 (fourth instar). Female mantids have 6 abdominal segments while males have 8. The final segment of the female is much larger than the others while the male has several small segments towards the end of the abdomen. Another way to tell the difference in male and female is by looking at the length of the wings. This method can only be done with adult mantids though. The wings of a male praying mantis are longer than those of the females. The wings of the females reach to the end of their body or even do not reach that far, while the wings of the male are never shorter than the body. The wings of the male usually reach past the end of their body, sticking out a bit from the back. This is because male praying mantises will fly to find a mate, while females generally are too heavy to fly.
You can also sex the males and females by looking at the body size and build (females are significantly larger in length and girth than a male of the same age) but the first 3 methods I mentioned, in my opinion are quite easier.
They are absolutely NOT invasive. Where-so-ever did you get a silly idea like that? You may want to double-check your source...... They are ORIGINALLY from China and other parts of Asia, as well as some surrounding islands, as that is there native land. The Chinese Mantis was accidentally introduced to the United States around 1890 and it was discovered that the insect was very efficient at killing native pests. Around 1895-1896, the species was purposely brought to North America by the thousands, specifically with the intentions of letting them loose for pest control. There are about 20 different mantids that are native to the United States, with about 7 of them being super common and the rest are scattered about. Two of those species, the Chinese Mantis and European Mantis, were purposely introduced into the U.S. in the late 1890's to control pests in farms and gardens, and are commonly found throughout the country. There are some “illegal” mantids that carry restrictions in the United States though..... They are the Spiny Flower Mantis, Orchid Mantis, Wandering Violin Mantis, Ghost Mantis, Devil's Flower Mantis, and the Egyptian Mantis, among others. These species became restricted under the Non Native Invasive Species Act of 1992. The Chinese Mantis however, falls under none of these categories and they are perfectly fine to use. There are actually a lot of gardening centers and floral shops that sell Chinese Mantis oothecas right before spring that way they can be hatched out and put into your yard and/or garden right in time for the warm weather.
Last edited:
Spyro
Avid Member
From the master himself, wow. Thanks! I feel honored! I had no idea you founded Mantisplace.com -- would of never guessed, because your profile says you are located in Puyallup, Washington and Mantisplace.com is located in Olmsted, OH.
The only thing I really left out is how to sex the males and females, but that is only needed if one is breeding them, which is a whole process in itself I also did not touch on. But since I forgot to mention how to sex them, and might as well have it to add to the other info I provided, here goes.... You can distinquish males and females in a few simple ways. The first way is by looking at the length of the antennae. Males generally have longer and thicker antennae than females do. This can be seen most clearly when the mantis is an adult, but as the nymph grows to become an adult it steadily develops the longer antennae. When comparing male and female nymphs you see that the female has thin hair-like antennae while the male has thick antennae. The next way to tell the difference in sex is to count the abdominal segments on the bottom of the mantis (can't count them from the top). The segment counting method can be used for all praying mantis species that are older than L4 (fourth instar). Female mantids have 6 abdominal segments while males have 8. The final segment of the female is much larger than the others while the male has several small segments towards the end of the abdomen. Another way to tell the difference in male and female is by looking at the length of the wings. This method can only be done with adult mantids though. The wings of a male praying mantis are longer than those of the females. The wings of the females reach to the end of their body or even do not reach that far, while the wings of the male are never shorter than the body. The wings of the male usually reach past the end of their body, sticking out a bit from the back. This is because male praying mantises will fly to find a mate, while females generally are too heavy to fly.
You can also sex the males and females by looking at the body size and build (females are significantly larger in length and girth than a male of the same age) but the first 3 methods I mentioned, in my opinion are quite easier.
They are absolutely NOT invasive. Where-so-ever did you get a silly idea like that? You may want to double-check your source...... They are ORIGINALLY from China and other parts of Asia, as well as some surrounding islands, as that is there native land. The Chinese Mantis was accidentally introduced to the United States around 1890 and it was discovered that the insect was very efficient at killing native pests. Around 1895-1896, the species was purposely brought to North America by the thousands, specifically with the intentions of letting them loose for pest control. There are about 20 different mantids that are native to the United States, with about 7 of them being super common and the rest are scattered about. Two of those species, the Chinese Mantis and European Mantis, were purposely introduced into the U.S. in the late 1890's to control pests in farms and gardens, and are commonly found throughout the country. There are some “illegal” mantids that carry restrictions in the United States though..... They are the Spiny Flower Mantis, Orchid Mantis, Wandering Violin Mantis, Ghost Mantis, Devil's Flower Mantis, and the Egyptian Mantis, among others. These species became restricted under the Non Native Invasive Species Act of 1992. The Chinese Mantis however, falls under none of these categories and they are perfectly fine to use. There are actually a lot of gardening centers and floral shops that sell Chinese Mantis oothecas right before spring that way they can be hatched out and put into your yard and/or garden right in time for the warm weather.
It's not a silly idea. They run the same course as a plant called Kudzu. Pushes out the natural/species to favor its own, this is referred to as invasive. My sources are here at the University I work at.
trickedoutbiker
Avid Member
For anyone who IS interested in breeding mantids and want to try your luck at is here is a good bit of info to get you started....
To breed praying mantids, you need a male and a female (obviously). The male and female should mature at roughly the same time to ensure that both partners are able to mate. An old male is often not capable of properly mating with the female. For most species, such as the Chinese Mantis, getting a pair that is a few weeks different or less in age will do to ensure adults that can be mated, but for other species this does not hold. This is because for some other species of mantids, such as the Orchid Mantis, there are big developmental difference between males and females. Male and female Orchid Mantids from the same egg case will mature at different times, sometimes months apart. The male will already die of old age before the female is mature. But since we are talking about Chinese mantids here at the moment, this is not an issue.
For cannibalistic species of mantids, such as the Chinese Mantis, you can follow these steps to encourage mating:
There is no way you can tell if the female has been fertilized or not. She will produce egg sacs (ootheca) even if she has not mated. When the female processes the spermatophore of the male, you can find a small white spermatophore leaving her body a few hours or a day after mating. If you see this, mating was probably successful, but even then you cannot be 100% sure. When a female has mated, she will remain fertilized all of her life. Even if a male is killed during mating, the female can still become fertilized. In one ootheca of a Chinese mantis you can find between 30 and 300 eggs. She will produce 3-7 egg sacs in her life if she has enough food. When the female produces an ootheca, you have to make sure not to disturb her. Around 3-5 days after she has laid the ootheca, it has hardened enough to be removed from the enclosure. It is recommended to remove it, because the female will eat the nymphs when they hatch if she is housed with them.
Place the ootheca in a container that is more than 15 cm high and more than 8 cm wide to ensure there is enough space for the nymphs when they hatch. A large deli cup or something similar sized or a bit larger will do just fine for this. Space isn't that big of a deal because you won't be keeping them in this container for very long, as you will want to separate them out into individual containers as soon as you can to prevent them all from killing one another. You just need enough space to give the newly hatched nymphs room to get out of the egg sac and walk around a bit. The sooner you separate them after they hatch, the less deaths you will have, and this is recommended to do unless you want them to eat each other and reduce your numbers as talked about in one of my posts above. The container should have plenty of ventilation, either through a mesh screen or by punching holes in the container. It should also be stored at about the same temperatures and humidity levels as you would for the live mantids of that species. For the Chinese Mantis we are talking about mainly here, your temps should be 70-80 °F and you'll want to keep humidity in your container around 50% or so, just as you would for the live mantids, to prevent the egg sac from drying out as you are waiting for it to hatch.
As for placement, put the ootheca on the inside of the lid of the container. Attach the ootheca with double sided tape. Be sure to cover all the sticky-ness of the tape that is showing with something, because any leftover tape will kill nymphs that try to walk on it as they will become stuck to it. You can also use a needle to attach the ootheca, but you can only put the needle through a part of the ootheca that has no eggs in it. This is generally the edge of the ootheca. Put a small hole in the ootheca with a needle, and weave a small piece of string or thread through the hole and hang the egg sac from a branch of some sort. If you need visual help with how to do this, there are a few good Youtube videos out there that show you how to do it.
Some species of mantids need a diapause, but others such as the Chinese Mantis do not. A diapause is a pause in development in winter, making it possible for the mantis to produce its eggs in fall and have the nymphs hatch in spring. Low temperature will slow the development of the ootheca and higher temperatures will trigger the development. Species that have a diapause in nature, for example the European Mantis, need to get this pause in captivity too. To do this, keep the ootheca cooler, around 45-55 °F, for at least 8 weeks. After that you can keep the ootheca in the same conditions as your live mantids would need and the eggs will hatch in 6-8 weeks. Tropical mantis species don’t experience seasons in nature, so they don’t need a diapause in captivity.
To breed praying mantids, you need a male and a female (obviously). The male and female should mature at roughly the same time to ensure that both partners are able to mate. An old male is often not capable of properly mating with the female. For most species, such as the Chinese Mantis, getting a pair that is a few weeks different or less in age will do to ensure adults that can be mated, but for other species this does not hold. This is because for some other species of mantids, such as the Orchid Mantis, there are big developmental difference between males and females. Male and female Orchid Mantids from the same egg case will mature at different times, sometimes months apart. The male will already die of old age before the female is mature. But since we are talking about Chinese mantids here at the moment, this is not an issue.
For cannibalistic species of mantids, such as the Chinese Mantis, you can follow these steps to encourage mating:
- The male and the female should be at least 2 weeks mature.
- Both partners, but especially the female, should be very well fed beforehand to discourage cannibalism.
- Place both partners in a very large enclosure, the largest you can find (this is so the male can get away from female afterwards).
- If possible, make sure the female is not facing the male but make sure the male can see her.
- Feed the female with a large prey item, like a cricket, to distract her from the male while he begins his advance.
- Do not disturb them.
- Watch if the female is not behaving agressively, like turning around, moving towards or striking at the male. Watch if the male is running or flying away or moving franticly. If one of these things happen, remove the male and try again the next day.
- When the male has mounted the female, it can taking many hours until he starts mating. Just leave them. Do not disturb or feed them.
- When the male dismounts from the female, remove him from the enclosure immediately to prevent the female from eating him.
There is no way you can tell if the female has been fertilized or not. She will produce egg sacs (ootheca) even if she has not mated. When the female processes the spermatophore of the male, you can find a small white spermatophore leaving her body a few hours or a day after mating. If you see this, mating was probably successful, but even then you cannot be 100% sure. When a female has mated, she will remain fertilized all of her life. Even if a male is killed during mating, the female can still become fertilized. In one ootheca of a Chinese mantis you can find between 30 and 300 eggs. She will produce 3-7 egg sacs in her life if she has enough food. When the female produces an ootheca, you have to make sure not to disturb her. Around 3-5 days after she has laid the ootheca, it has hardened enough to be removed from the enclosure. It is recommended to remove it, because the female will eat the nymphs when they hatch if she is housed with them.
Place the ootheca in a container that is more than 15 cm high and more than 8 cm wide to ensure there is enough space for the nymphs when they hatch. A large deli cup or something similar sized or a bit larger will do just fine for this. Space isn't that big of a deal because you won't be keeping them in this container for very long, as you will want to separate them out into individual containers as soon as you can to prevent them all from killing one another. You just need enough space to give the newly hatched nymphs room to get out of the egg sac and walk around a bit. The sooner you separate them after they hatch, the less deaths you will have, and this is recommended to do unless you want them to eat each other and reduce your numbers as talked about in one of my posts above. The container should have plenty of ventilation, either through a mesh screen or by punching holes in the container. It should also be stored at about the same temperatures and humidity levels as you would for the live mantids of that species. For the Chinese Mantis we are talking about mainly here, your temps should be 70-80 °F and you'll want to keep humidity in your container around 50% or so, just as you would for the live mantids, to prevent the egg sac from drying out as you are waiting for it to hatch.
As for placement, put the ootheca on the inside of the lid of the container. Attach the ootheca with double sided tape. Be sure to cover all the sticky-ness of the tape that is showing with something, because any leftover tape will kill nymphs that try to walk on it as they will become stuck to it. You can also use a needle to attach the ootheca, but you can only put the needle through a part of the ootheca that has no eggs in it. This is generally the edge of the ootheca. Put a small hole in the ootheca with a needle, and weave a small piece of string or thread through the hole and hang the egg sac from a branch of some sort. If you need visual help with how to do this, there are a few good Youtube videos out there that show you how to do it.
Some species of mantids need a diapause, but others such as the Chinese Mantis do not. A diapause is a pause in development in winter, making it possible for the mantis to produce its eggs in fall and have the nymphs hatch in spring. Low temperature will slow the development of the ootheca and higher temperatures will trigger the development. Species that have a diapause in nature, for example the European Mantis, need to get this pause in captivity too. To do this, keep the ootheca cooler, around 45-55 °F, for at least 8 weeks. After that you can keep the ootheca in the same conditions as your live mantids would need and the eggs will hatch in 6-8 weeks. Tropical mantis species don’t experience seasons in nature, so they don’t need a diapause in captivity.
trickedoutbiker
Avid Member
Then please explain to me why they can be purchased everywhere? Why would they be sold all over the United States FOR THE PURPOSE OF setting them free in your garden or yard for pest control? Is the government somehow magically blind to the fact that this is happening? Why were Chinese Mantids PURPOSELY introduced to the United States to be set free in the wild for pest control? Why are they not listed as an invasive species for North America OR for the United States? They are not on the Invasive Species list for either one. They can be found in the wild all over North America. They are quite common in, though not limited to: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec..... and that's just North America. Their native region is China and parts of Asia and some of the islands in that area.
Sure, the Chinese Mantis is the biggest species in North America and sure, it can overpower a lot of other insects; all praying mantis species can. That's what they are built for - killing. That doesn't make them "invasive" as your University may classify them, because they are not wiping out other insect species in favor of their own.
Now, I'm not going to say the University you work at is wrong per say... but I WILL state this: either they are the ONLY ONES I've ever heard of that classify Chinese Mantids as an invasive species and EVERYONE ELSE is wrong, or, EVERYONE ELSE is on the same page about it and somehow your University skipped that page and went on to the next chapter....
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Spyro
Avid Member
http://www.readingeagle.com/berks-c...-mantis-in-your-garden-may-not-be-your-friend
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_species
Just because they're common, grow very well here, and are not illegal does not make them non-invasive. In fact, they can absolutely devastate a small area in terms of native (beneficial and non-beneficial) insects and larger animals (hummingbirds). Chinese mantids are from China. This makes them non-native, and their tendency to wipe out native species in the area makes them invasive. I don't care how common they are - Kudzoo, Asian Carp, and Snakeheads are extremely common, and all are extremely invasive. It is not just "my university" that classifies them as invasive. Please do some research on your own to back up your assumptions.
trickedoutbiker
Avid Member
I have done my research yo, how do you think I know how they got here? I didn't just pull facts out of the air. I learned quite a bit while researching the heck out of them in order to learn everything about how to care for them and how they live in the wild. I'm not assuming anything. I know the difference between non-invasive and invasive. The Chinese Mantids are non-invasive in the fact that you can let them loose in your lawn or garden without worry of them taking over your neighborhood. There are no restrictions on them and no laws on them. Sure they can eat the heck out of every bug within miles, but they aren't going to make your local moth or fly population go extinct, because it would take thousands and thousands and thousands of mantids to do that. I don't know about you, but I've only ever seen a handful of wild praying mantises in the wild before. And trust me, I spend ALOT of time outdoors. If they are taking over everything, where exactly are they hiding? I see everything else, every year. Crickets, grasshoppers, bees, flies, moths, butterflies, dragonflies, ladybugs, stink bugs....you name it, everything. A walk through a field in the countryside I grew up in will show you hundreds of those. You won't find hundreds of mantids in a field, and you might be lucky to find just a few. The reason for this is because most insects populate very very quickly, but praying mantises typically take years to establish a good population in a new area, and they have lots of predators as well. Their populations in the wild aren't exactly in high numbers. Just because they can be found in many areas of North America, doesn't mean that there are a lot of them to be found.
If they were a problem to worry about, they wouldn't be allowed to sell them to you FOR THE PURPOSE of SPECIFICALLY letting them loose in the wild.
An invasive species is classified as "A plant, fungus, or animals species that is not native to a specific location, and which has a tendency to spread to a degree believed to cause damage to the environment, human economy or human health." Directly from the Wiki article you shared. However, in order to have a TENDENCY to wipe out a native species and/or damage the environment, they had to of done it before, otherwise, why would they have the TENDENCY to do it again if they are not yet KNOWN to have done it before? As far as I've ever heard of, Chinese mantids here have never spread "to a degree believed to cause damage to the environment, human economy or human health" and this is why they are not CLASSIFIED as an invasive species. CAN THEY BE an invasive species? Sure, given enough numbers and enough time. But HAVE THEY MET THE REQUIREMENTS to BE an invasive species? Not 100%.
There is one thing you failed to examine, and that is, that a species is CLASSIFIED as invasive ONLY IF it meets 3 basic requirements. A species is CLASSIFIED as invasive IF it - (1) has been introduced by human action to a location, area, or region where it did not previously occur naturally, (2) becomes capable of establishing a breeding population in the new location without further intervention by humans, and (3) becomes a pest in the new location, directly threatening agriculture or the local biodiversity.
(1) - has been introduced by human action to a location, area, or region where it did not previously occur naturally -- The Chinese Mantis has been introduced by human action to a new location, area, or region where it did not previously occur. So it's good to go on that rule.
(2) - becomes capable of establishing a breeding population in the new location without further intervention by humans -- The Chinese Mantis has become capable of establishing breeding populations in the new location of North America without further intervention by humans. So it's good to go on that rule.
(3) - becomes a pest in the new location, directly threatening agriculture or the local biodiversity -- The Chinese Mantis has not become a pest and is not labeled as a pest on the list of North American pests either. If it was a pest, they wouldn't tell you to release them into your garden. As stated before, it typically takes years to establish any kind of population in a new area for them. They have so many predators such as birds, bats, snakes, rodents, frogs, lizards..... with their biggest concern being pesticides. Chemical pesticides can poison bugs that can in turn poison the praying mantis. People doing applications of chemicals to gardens or yards can wipe out an entire mantis population in the area, including egg cases, nymphs and adults. The chemicals will directly affect the mantids, and any survivors that accidentally ingest a bug with pesticides on it will also be a gonner. While the pests you were trying to kill will be back within weeks, mantises may take years to repopulate. Chinese Mantids have also not directly threatened agriculture or local insect biodiversity to the point of any alarm. Name one insect the mantids have wiped out? And they've been here over 100 years. Bats and birds affect the local insect biodiversity more than any mantis ever will... bats and birds eat everything
I understand what you are trying to say my friend. But when it comes down to IS IT or ISN'T IT classified as an invasive species, the answer is no. They were once thought to be displacing the Carolina Mantids at one time, but the Carolina Mantis and the Chinese Mantis both hunt in different areas of the forest, for different prey (The Carolina typically hunts in low areas for ground insects and the Chinese hunts mostly in trees or on flowers waiting for bees, flies, and even hummingbirds). Your examples of the Kudzu vine, Asian Carp, and Snakeheads... those are all ON the Invasive Species list for North America. This is because in each case, it is competing with another local species for the same thing, and pushing another local species out or reducing their numbers. This is not the case for the Chinese Mantis, and you won't find it on an official North American list anywhere because of that.
How you gonna link me to an article of which I'd have to create an account to read?
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