Hi Celeste! Well, good for you for not giving up after losing yr first mantis. I would guess that she was about 4cm and could take houseflies. How big is your new one?
Unfortunately, as you and I know, the baby mantis's favorite food, fruit flies, are almost unknown in N.Z., and the farmers want to keep it that way.
Probably the best thing to do would be to build or buy a strong sweeping net and have at the local scrub with it. You'll catch all sorts of hoppers and tiny flies and can keep them in a jar, though you might find it fun to catch fresh food every day.
I was sorry to hear that Florence died for no apparent reason -- did you change her name? That might account for it.
I suspect that that tall glass jar with the top with pin holes in it may have not been well enough ventilated. Try buying an ice cream sundae in one of those tall, plastic sundae glasses -- the kind that has a plastic dome on top with a hole for the straw and clean it thoroughly. I have a friend in Sidney who cut a 3cm square in the plastic close to the bottom and two closer to the top and covered them with plastic window screening attached with hot glue (super glue should work, but let the fumes air out before using it). Put a folded paper towel in the bottom, add some small twigs for your nymph to climb on. Enlarge the hole in the domed top and block it with a piece of plastic foam. Now, at last, you are set! Spray some distilled water into the pot with one of those spray bottles, stick the nymph in and put on the lid. The screened holes will allow for plenty of ventilation, and when you feed the tiny insects, put them in through a funnel inserted into the hole in the lid. Spray lightly (there should be no moisture left on the sides after about an hour) ever time you feed your nymph.
That probably took longer to write than it will to set up.
It looks as though you live in the middle of a breeding colony of this mantis; perhaps you can find enough to breed some yourself! Keep us informed and ask lots of questions. You are the only kiwi to join the forum in the few years that I've been here; perhaps you will be an example to others!
Obviously, you know that yr name means "heavenly " but do you know the Verdi aria Celeste Aida? Here you go. (Folks not named Celeste or Aida can listen, too):
