mantids

[J.huff23]

Me and a friend will be breeding some praying mantis's soon and i need to clear a few things up:

1.Can they be kept communually?
2.How do you sex them?
3.How many babies does one sac usually produce?

 

[auroborus]

1. not really. without someone getting eaten

2. the females get fat as they build up ootheca material, males stay skinny

3. up to a few hundred, depends on the the mantis.

 

[Villosa]

Me and a friend will be breeding some praying mantis's soon and i need to clear a few things up:

1.Can they be kept communually?
2.How do you sex them?
3.How many babies does one sac usually produce?

1. This really depends on the species. Most "common" species, ie, chinese, european, asian giant, etc will be extremely cannibalistic. Communal species are rare and the peace only lasts as long as the food supply lasts. My advice, separate them.

2. Sexing is usually done after L3 or L4 instar though sometimes L2 is enough. People usually look for sexual characteristics (dimorphism etc) or by counting segments on the abdomen. Again depends on the species. If they are adults then usually the female is the heavier of the two and the male slender.

3. With most common species the numbers range from 200-400 per ootheca (egg case). Chinese have been known to have 500+ at times. Smaller species such as orchids or ghosts tend to have about 35-50 or so per ootheca.

 

[Mr. Mordax]

Females:
Wider abdomen like ()
Overall larger body
Shorter antennae
External genitals are a vertical opening on the terminal abdominal segment

Males:
Narrower abdomen like ||
Smaller body
Longer antennae
External genitals look like a miniature pair of cerci between the true cerci

 

[mantisboy137]

mantis

you can keep them communally if they are well fed but after their first moult after hatching they become very cannibalistic