Recommendations for longer lived Mantids

[scottyk]

I got my wife a Chinese Mantis for her birthday, and we are both really enjoying it. We have her in a nice, open air enclosure by a window that only gets indirect sunlight. So far she is doing great!

I understand that she won't last for more than a few more months, and I have two questions.

Is there a source for males? My area is too urban to look for wild ones. I was thinking of breeding her and holding an egg case over the winter.

If I don't go this route, are there any longer lived species that I can replace her with when she dies?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.....

 

[CustomNature]

Hi scott. Just wondering, were you and your wife at the White Plains show yesterday? Your post had the story sounding familiar and then I saw you're location was NY. I was talking to her about mantids and stag beetles a bit. Anyway, I can see you're already been bit by the mantis bug. I too started out with a chinese mantis and loved it. Then it went to Egyptian, deadleafs, african, ghosts, etc. However, you're on the right track if you are thinking about getting into breeding. Start with the local/cheap ones and once you get it down, move to some of the exotics. Unfortunately just about all mantids have the same life span, give or take a few months. The best way to have a mantis for a long time is to start with a baby (i.e.-breeding them yourself!). You can keep some in cooler conditions which with extend their life a bit, but for the most part, it will just make them more sluggish and less active, even eating less.

 

[scottyk]

Yes, we picked her up at the Expo. You know how it goes: "Hey Look, they're only $12, let's get one". Then $50 later, she also has a screen cage and a live terrarium plant to climb on

It was a good find considering we didn't pick up any T's. I was surprised that there was only one vendor there selling them. They had nice stuff, but they were too pricey. Between the high end shop in my neighborhood, and the sellers on this forum, I could do better pricewise on almost anything they had.

We did do great on the Mantis, and supplies/feeders for my snakes though. All in all it was worth the drive. I've never seen so many overpriced Geckos and Ball Pythons in my life

Any leads on where I can find her a male?

 

[mackids]

its funny I think I may have been standing right next to you when you purchased the mantis. I was considering getting one myself. As far as life span I only know of ones lasting a few months from local observation here in jersey. If there is one that has a long life span I'd be interested also. Anyway good luck with the new aquisition!

 

[scottyk]

its funny I think I may have been standing right next to you when you purchased the mantis!

We bought it around 11:30. I'd have been the guy with the blonde wife who was way too good looking to be with him

 

[CustomNature]

Hey again scotty. Indeed, it was your wife mostly I was talking to about the mantids and stag beetles infront of roachman's stand. I'm always happy to see other people interested in insects other than T's. I have a few tarantulas myself, but getting into other insects opened Pandora's Box of inverts for me. I was REALLY big into the mantids and stick bugs for a while, but the stick bugs ended up being too much of a pain to feed during winter (and in general) and I sold off all of my mantids (8 species!) when I moved. I'm starting to get back into the mantids now though, so I'll be on the hunt for them.
About getting your young lady a mate, I cant give you any stores and/or breeders really because no one really deals with them because they're "too common." Everyone is wrapped up with the exotic species. However, I might be able to get one for you in a next few weeks, depending on when I go collecting. I can usually get any number of them I would like pretty much. How old is yours??

 

[scottyk]

Hey- That'd be great if you could get me a couple of males. I'm assuming that getting more than one is smart. I know what happens with mantids when a breeding attempt goes bad

I'd of course, expect to pay shipping plus something for your time. I also may have a sling or some supplies or something yuo may want to trade for. When you get back into the swing again, I'm thinking my wife will be a regular buyer if you start breeding other species as well.

I'm not sure how old she is. She looks to be almost exactly 3" from her head to the tip of her abdomen, and appears to need some fattening up. If Chinese Mantids get to be the same size as the native green ones around here, I'd say she's about half grown. I'm working on getting some more weight on her...

Let me know how collecting goes, and keep us all updated as you start keeping them again. Good info on thee guys seems real hard to come by!

Scott

 

[mackids]

As a back up if you need a male typically in august the mantids around my house start coming out of hiding to find a mate. If you're in the city I am pretty close to there and I can hand deliver or meet up if you wanted. PM if you are interested

 

[Thoth]

Maybe you can actually pick them up at garden centers, used as natural pest control.

Or you can get eggcase from Carolina Biological or other supply house and raise them yourself so you have them for longer.

 

[angus]

We did do great on the Mantis, and supplies/feeders for my snakes though. All in all it was worth the drive. I've never seen so many overpriced Geckos and Ball Pythons in my life

i always think there should be many speical offer or discount at the Expo....lol (i were not from the state)

mantis do hv 9 months to 1 yr+little bit lifespan, it also affect by your temp., feeding schedules, etc...and generally female should live longer than male...for some specify species, male do hv 1~2 molt less than the female...

mantis also be my favourite insect..hope u and your wife enjoy it...:drool: :drool: :drool: and i hv a brunch of ghost manits presently..hope to try for breeding..

 

[ftorres]

Mantids

Hello All,
ScottyK,
If I were you I find me an Sphodromantis lineola or best know as Giant African mantis, they are medium size and bulke and as agressive as Tenodera (Chinese MAntis) If you are able to find a male and mate it with your female, the oothecae will take long,long time to hatch,since it needs to overwinter to complete their full development.
African or other exotic species, mostly tropical don'tr need a cold period and the oothecae usually hatch in 4-6 weeks.

If you want to try something else, more exotic drop me an email. I might be able to help you.
fjtorresvw@hotmail.com
thanks for reading
FT

 

[CustomNature]

Hello All,
ScottyK,
If I were you I find me an Sphodromantis lineola or best know as Giant African mantis, they are medium size and bulke and as agressive as Tenodera (Chinese MAntis) If you are able to find a male and mate it with your female, the oothecae will take long,long time to hatch,since it needs to overwinter to complete their full development.
African or other exotic species, mostly tropical don'tr need a cold period and the oothecae usually hatch in 4-6 weeks.

If you want to try something else, more exotic drop me an email. I might be able to help you.
fjtorresvw@hotmail.com
thanks for reading
FT

That's one of the guys to be talking to right there. There are about 3 guys in the mantis hobby that I think REALLY know there stuff and ftorres is one of them. I've gotten alot of great mantids and great advice from him. Anyway, I'll send you a PM or something of the sort once I go collecting. If you still would need a male, I'll take care of that. If not, it's no biggie as the mantids are always saught after. Good luck!

 

[scottyk]

Thanks to all of you for the great advice! I'll be sending PM's.


One stupid question before I go through all of the trouble of getting a hold of a male. How can I be sure the one I have is a female??? Is there a male size limit or some other dimorphism that will give me that "aha, it's a _____" moment"?? :?


Ftorres- Giant African Mantis' huh? I think I may need to pick up some more containers soon They might be fun to work with over the winter while were sitting on the Chinese Mantis oothecae....