Recent content by jfmantis

She died.

She is not eating any more. She didn't eat her bluebottles for two days. She just stayed in the same spot on her cage and ignored the flies. I took her out today and tried to hand feed her but she ignored the flies I offered her on the end of a stick. I finally gave up and put her on a leaf at...

She is definitely getting slower. I've also improved her cage: She fell down a couple of times so I added about two times more dirt and another stick. She can still catch live prey and when I remodeled her cage she climbed around on my arm pretty actively.

Yeah, I think that is what will happen. But what age do they die at? She is currently almost 7 months old. I don't think there are any mantids outside anymore. She also seems to be slowing down, she just doesn't go for those bluebottles like she used to. :(

Mullberry farms. I bought some from them about two months ago. The silkworms came well packaged in petri dishes (because I bought the small size) with artificial food. If you have a mullberry tree nearby, the food is free. If not, then you can buy Silkworm Chow from Mullberry farms. They are...

I am going up to some relatives in the mountains for thanksgiving. They live at about 5,000 feet and I will be gone for three days. So I am wondering if high altitude has any bad affects on mantises. My mantis is an adult female california mantis. I know that I could leave her at home, but she...

Well, still no ootheca. I guess she is just eggbound. Is it possible that some female mantises just never lay an ootheca? Because she doesn't seem to be suffering. She has no weird dark markings, she is active, and she has been an adult for more than 4 months. Here is a picture of the new cage...

She appears to be fine. I don't think it did her any harm. I fed the mash to her the next two days also, because the bluebottles still didn't hatch. I don't know if this should be a separate topic, but it is related to this: My bluebottles have not hatched after eight days of being out of the...

Two days ago, all my bluebottles ran out, leaving me with no food. Now today, still none of the second batch have hatched. My mantis, an adult female california mantis, had gone without food for two days. So, desparate, I made up something I call Fruit Fly mash. I went out to the compost and...

Back in July, I released a bunch of chinese mantids into my backyard. I also took a bunch of pictures, but have forgotten to post them until now. Enjoy! When the put the lid down in the tomato bed, she just stood there. Still not getting off. :( Finally she got off the lid, and now...

Ok, so I went out and fixed her up with something better. Her cage is now 3.5 gallons, more than a gallon bigger than the previous one. It has a large twisty log on one side, that she could hang from to make an ootheca. It also has four or five floor to ceiling sticks, and two leafy sticks. It...

Thanks people. The cage is about 2.2 gallons. Is this big enough, or do you mean something around 20-30 gallons? About the sticks, she has 4 sticks going from the ground to the corners at various agles. I also attached a long stick to the ceiling. I don't have any plants, but I plan to put some...

I have a adult female california mantis. She has not mated, and I do not plan on mating her, so I have not been expecting her to lay a fertile ootheca. But I have been expecting her to lay an infertile one. She has been an adult for more than 3 1/2 months. She is enormously fat, even eating just...

Some mantis enthusiast friends of mine had a bunch of tiny little (<1 cm long) Stagmomatis californica nymphs and I tried to feed them aphids. But the aphids' sticky goo got the litttle mantises all tangled up. It stuck to their mouthparts, and arms, and I don't think they survived. Also...

Yes, I received twelve cups of bluebottles just ten minutes ago. They came after only two days. Many of the larvae had pupated already.