Caught A Mantis

[rekabwerb]

I was weedeating the other day and saved a mantis from sure annihilation. It was probably a little over 3" long. 2 Days later I came home to find the thing had molted, and now its huge 5"+ I put two roaches in there (I have Ts) but he/she doesn't seem interested. I'm going to get crickets tomorrow will it eat those? I know they eat grasshoppers.


How long do they live?

How often do they fly?

Should I let it go?

Any other advice?

Are you gellin?

 

[ZergFront]

I don't know about exact captivity lifespan. Ours die off in the winter, males get killed by females and sometimes the female dies from exhaustion from laying an egg sac.

Crickets might work. I noticed when my mantis was young, he didn't take armored insects like superworms. If I don't have crickets available, sometimes I'll stun a fly with a flyswatter, take off one wing and give him/her that. Also, you could get soldier grubs which grow into pretty good sized flies.

 

[Black Widow88]

You lucky bastard.

JK, but seriously you are lucky just to have seen one. It's been years since I've seen one. What kind was it? I'm pretty sure that the life span varies between different species....but Idk.

But I would love to see pics. I mantises. They're one of my favorite insects. They even have their own song ( I'll post it later ).

And yes I know I know, long time no see. I was without the internet for months and months and the before then LIFE was a bitch to me so yeah.

But it's good to know that you guys are still alive. ;P

 

[mitchnast]

A fully mature male flew in my window last night. european praying mantis.
big eyespots on the forlegs.
i have it in a critter carrier and feed it grasshoppers, no worries about wild nematodes with wild-caught preds.

 

[Black Widow88]

A fully mature male flew in my window last night. european praying mantis.
big eyespots on the forlegs.
i have it in a critter carrier and feed it grasshoppers, no worries about wild nematodes with wild-caught preds.

Awesome! Pics would be wonderful.

 

[Roski]

We had a huge female who gorged on crickets. They hid from her though and we had to tongs-feed- dumping a few in her container didn't work so well (though the more you gave her, the better chance of one running across her path). She died shortly after laying her sac last winter

 

[Black Widow88]

Awwwwwwww! May she r.i.p.

I love mantises they're fascinating. And they always seem to know something you don't, especially when they turn their heads to 'look' at you.

It's magical. I wish I could find one. I'll keep my eyes open.

 

[echostatic]

I was lucky enough to find a big girl last fall, Chinese Praying Mantis. The way they look at you produces a sometimes very convincing illusion of intelligence and awareness. She made a fantastic pet. I would feed her crickets (I have a Bearded Dragon), one every 2 days. She did very well for me and lived until the Spring. A simple Kritter Keeper setup involving some sticks to climb on, a couple smallish leaves and a light layer of dirt on the bottom is all she needed.

 

[Black Widow88]

I will definitely keep this in mind for the future. Although I've never kept them I had a strong feeling that mantises would make fantastic pets.

Listening to you only made that feeling stronger if that's possible because it was strong already. Plus I think my love for them had something to do with it. I get some eventually in the end.

Whether it's at my mom's house or when I move out I'll get some.

 

[GiantVinegaroon]

I don't know about exact captivity lifespan. Ours die off in the winter, males get killed by females and sometimes the female dies from exhaustion from laying an egg sac.

Crickets might work. I noticed when my mantis was young, he didn't take armored insects like superworms. If I don't have crickets available, sometimes I'll stun a fly with a flyswatter, take off one wing and give him/her that. Also, you could get soldier grubs which grow into pretty good sized flies.

Males dont always get killed by females. That's a stubborn myth. While it DOES happen, occasionally I might add, males usually get to court with plenty of females before dying.

 

[echostatic]

Males dont always get killed by females. That's a stubborn myth. While it DOES happen, occasionally I might add, males usually get to court with plenty of females before dying.

X2.

When I had my female I caught a male and put him in there with her. They ended up mating (I forget how long it took, they were coupled for at least 24 hours) When I got home from work, I found them seperated, the male lower in the enclosure and very much alive. I released him safe and sound.

 

[Black Widow88]

Males dont always get killed by females. That's a stubborn myth. While it DOES happen, occasionally I might add, males usually get to court with plenty of females before dying.

Damn! I never knew that happened so often!

 

[skips]

I was weedeating the other day and saved a mantis from sure annihilation. It was probably a little over 3" long. 2 Days later I came home to find the thing had molted, and now its huge 5"+ I put two roaches in there (I have Ts) but he/she doesn't seem interested. I'm going to get crickets tomorrow will it eat those? I know they eat grasshoppers.


How long do they live?

How often do they fly?

Should I let it go?

Any other advice?

Are you gellin?

the sexual cannabolism thing happens about 21-30% of the time in selected mantis species.

Sexual Approach in the Praying Mantid Mantis Religiosa (L.)
Journal Journal of Insect Behavior
Publisher Springer Netherlands
ISSN 0892-7553 (Print) 1572-8889 (Online)
Issue Volume 19, Number 6 / November, 2006
DOI 10.1007/s10905-006-9058-8
Pages 731-740
Subject Collection Biomedical and Life Sciences

In the wild they only live seasonally and therefore die when the weather gets to be about 55 degrees id say. In captivity...I started with 6 recently that I raised myself and have 2 left. We can compare notes.

They fly...whenever they can really. I let mine clime all over me, but they jump off frequently. I think the real answer would be that they fly whenever they dont feel as stable on some element as another, or if there's something they see and want.

I personally am not a fan of wild caught anything, but taking one or two isnt a problem...especially if you plan on breeding them. Plus, if you're talking about chinese mantises or european mantises in the U.S. they're invasive anyway.

You have to spray the sides of your container with water about once a day as they will drink the droplets off things. HOWEVER, do not let things get too moist or let pools collect. they're poo in the water and it'll become disgusting. It's probably on its last molt if it's 5 inches. but should you even do this again proper humidity is required for a good mult. several die or loose limbs trying to get out of dry molts. tong feeding to me is preferable. they're ambush predators, which means a lot of the time they will wait until something walks right in front of them to grab it. Ive had they almost starve with food in the cage because they just sit and wait. Also for future reference, for good molting they should have about triple their body length of vertical space. You've obviously seen how much bigger they get in one molt and you want to make it very easy to get out of the molt.

Yes...I am gellin as matter of fact.

 

[skips]

I will definitely keep this in mind for the future. Although I've never kept them I had a strong feeling that mantises would make fantastic pets.

Listening to you only made that feeling stronger if that's possible because it was strong already. Plus I think my love for them had something to do with it. I get some eventually in the end.

Whether it's at my mom's house or when I move out I'll get some.

http://www.mantisplace.com/

check out these guys. I too want more mantises. They're all fairly easy to breed too. You'd need a steady supply of feeders though. and some mantises are harder to keep than others...as with all inverts

 

[nickn]

Just caught one last night. I was in boxers at the pc reading here and my wife comes in after she took the dog out and says "Hey! theres a praying mantis outside on the porch do you want him?" My reply was heck yeah! Ran outside and caught him.

Hes kinda brownish and about a inch and a half. Not sure what to feed him I put in the smallest cricket I had and he didnt do anything to it. I wish I had a good camera to take pictures with.

 

[skips]

Just caught one last night. I was in boxers at the pc reading here and my wife comes in after she took the dog out and says "Hey! theres a praying mantis outside on the porch do you want him?" My reply was heck yeah! Ran outside and caught him.

Hes kinda brownish and about a inch and a half. Not sure what to feed him I put in the smallest cricket I had and he didnt do anything to it. I wish I had a good camera to take pictures with.

he'll eat anything he can get his hands on. They tend to prefer flying insects like moths...but anything is good. I just feed roaches...and mine are soooo fat. If you've got some tweezers you can use those as tongues. You may have to dangle it in front of his face though. I think they have to get a fix on the thing before they strike. I say that just because mine dont strike until I stop moving the prey item.

 

[Black Widow88]

Dang!

That's funny though. "Hey there's a praying mantis outside, do you want him?" and "Heck yeah!" XD And thanks a million for the link. *Bookmarks it*

I Praying mantises!

 

[GiantVinegaroon]

the sexual cannabolism thing happens about 21-30% of the time in selected mantis species.

Sexual Approach in the Praying Mantid Mantis Religiosa (L.)
Journal Journal of Insect Behavior
Publisher Springer Netherlands
ISSN 0892-7553 (Print) 1572-8889 (Online)
Issue Volume 19, Number 6 / November, 2006
DOI 10.1007/s10905-006-9058-8
Pages 731-740
Subject Collection Biomedical and Life Sciences

In the wild they only live seasonally and therefore die when the weather gets to be about 55 degrees id say. In captivity...I started with 6 recently that I raised myself and have 2 left. We can compare notes.

They fly...whenever they can really. I let mine clime all over me, but they jump off frequently. I think the real answer would be that they fly whenever they dont feel as stable on some element as another, or if there's something they see and want.

I personally am not a fan of wild caught anything, but taking one or two isnt a problem...especially if you plan on breeding them. Plus, if you're talking about chinese mantises or european mantises in the U.S. they're invasive anyway.

You have to spray the sides of your container with water about once a day as they will drink the droplets off things. HOWEVER, do not let things get too moist or let pools collect. they're poo in the water and it'll become disgusting. It's probably on its last molt if it's 5 inches. but should you even do this again proper humidity is required for a good mult. several die or loose limbs trying to get out of dry molts. tong feeding to me is preferable. they're ambush predators, which means a lot of the time they will wait until something walks right in front of them to grab it. Ive had they almost starve with food in the cage because they just sit and wait. Also for future reference, for good molting they should have about triple their body length of vertical space. You've obviously seen how much bigger they get in one molt and you want to make it very easy to get out of the molt.

Yes...I am gellin as matter of fact.

Saying they're invasive is a very harsh term indeed. While they are introduced...they are by no means invasive...unless you're a japanese beetle. To my knowledge I don't know of any insects species that are endangered or threatened as a result of some mantids.

 

[Black Widow88]

I've never heard of such a thing either.

Since when mantises wipe out or endanger a species?

Never.

 

[echostatic]

I caught one a couple days ago myself. I had gone outside to leave for work when I noticed her perched on the hood of my dad's car. Needless to say, I was late for work setting up a habitat for the girl.

I took a crappy phone picture just as she started to eat her food.