L5 ghost mantis

[Ratmosphere]

Are house flies suitable for an L5 ghost mantis? Or does she need blue bottle flies? If not, when will she need blue bottle flies? 

 

[CosbyArt]

@Ratmosphere I would continue feeding houseflies until the bottle flies were got to be nearly the same size of the mantids head (without a Ghost on hand I have no idea of the instar to list). Many of my Ghosts even as adults seemed to be skittish of the bottle flies.

See the except from the care sheet here about feeding them...

The size of its prey should be approximately the size of the head of the mantis. This species is not as strong as some other species, making it less fit to catch very large prey items. An adult female can eat adult crickets without a problem, but I prefer to feed them smaller crickets or flies.