Ants for nymphs?

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Ricardo

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would it be okay to feed ants ( those small black ones bigger then fruit flies but smaller then house flies ) to a three week old chinese mantis?

 
you can try it but if the mantis wont eat it then try something else but I would avoid any bigger ants though and the ants maybe ok but the nymphs may need to get bigger in case they dont eat them!

 
I wouldn't risk it, personally.

Ants have mandibles that can pinch and bite your mantis. Worse, some ants have a stinger with various types of venom. I have fed ants to a nymph once, and it ended up losing some of the tarsi on one foot and limping for several days. <_< I didn't do it again.

But I'm also a little super cautious when it comes to prey items. I never feed bees, wasps, etc either which probably would be fine to others. ;)

 
Most ants use formic acid as a trail marker and mantids will avoid them. Harvester ants, including fire ants, do not use formic acid and a very hungry ant will eat them They are not recommended as a food source, though. Let me say this more strongly. No ants!

 
I guess I am lucky when I had used ants to feed some of my nymphs in the past but always watch the nymphs feed so that nothing goes wrong most of the time!

 
why not fruit flies?
My friend in Vancouver bought some chinese off me. I thought there would be petstores that sell pinheads or fruit flies because here in surrey petland sells pinhead crickets.

So I was trying to find out if ants would be okay for nymphs :p

I have plenty of ff's for mine though

 
I tried once to feed some Miomantis with Argentine ants....did not work.

 
My friend in Vancouver bought some chinese off me. I thought there would be petstores that sell pinheads or fruit flies because here in surrey petland sells pinhead crickets.

So I was trying to find out if ants would be okay for nymphs :p

I have plenty of ff's for mine though
Noahs pet ark. On broadway sells fruit flies. :) if you're ever in need. In the kitsilano area

 
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