# Inter-Species Breeding, Is It Possible?



## GreenOasis (Mar 4, 2011)

I was writing a response to Laura G, and the humor of the situation I was relating really struck a chord with me and I thought it might be a funny story for all to read! (Especially since I didn't get a pic...SHOOT!) :angry: 

To Laura G: "Yeah, my upper respiratory bug turned into the flu and totally kicked my *rear* the past few days!

Anywho, sorry to hear about your male Shield! Bummer! I had the same issue with my male Mio...of course, he would pick the first day I am feeling UP to taking him out and trying again (after the last time the girl almost ate his leg off!) to decide to die on me! Little turd!

On the bright side, though, I pulled out my male Shield, who was still "sulking", and decided to give him a go at the younger girl (a sibling), since she'd started 'flagging'. At first, I didn't think he was going to do anything. Then, he put his head down against my finger (that I was trying to get him aimed her direction with!), and I thought, "Oh no! This is it! He's going to up &amp; die right now from the stress!" But no, he saw this as a perfect opportunity to "get it on" with another species...ME! He had his raptors biting into my finger &amp; was twisting his abdomen around &amp; all I could think was, "God! Help me get him off!" and NO, I don't mean THAT way! My husband had to come &amp; rescue me, and I don't know who was laughing harder, but it seemed like the Shield was having a good ol' time! Couldn't get one raptor off without him latching right back on with the other!

I told my 15-year-old daughter later on, "I'll never be able to pick my nose with that finger the same way again!"

Anywho, he's still locked up with the younger female now. He didn't take QUITE as quickly to her as he did my finger, but...he's getting the job done, at least!"

Let's see, I've been humped by dogs before, but never by mantids...anyone else have a similar experience before??? (Or am I just THAT special??) :blink:


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## warpdrive (Mar 4, 2011)

awww, he just wanted to show you how much he loves you. :lol: :wub: 

Harry


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## hierodula (Mar 4, 2011)

:lol:


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## PhilinYuma (Mar 4, 2011)

Yep, Carey, this subject is a perennial favorite. It even happens in Oz: http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=13762&amp;st=0&amp;p=90644&amp;hl=thumb&amp;fromsearch=1entry90644


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## Krissim Klaw (Mar 4, 2011)

Hahahahaaaaaaaaaa I guess he figured since you are always feeding him he wouldn't have to worry about you making a snack out of his head. :lol:


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## Rick (Mar 4, 2011)

Have had that happen a million times. Most likely he sensed the female nearby.


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## hibiscusmile (Mar 4, 2011)

Yep, happens all the time and always scares me, cause it hurts when he wont let go and never quite sure if he will pierce the skin


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## Peter Clausen (Mar 4, 2011)

I've got a frustrated male Gongylus. Any chance you'd loan out that lucky finger?

What's your secret Rick? It must be that triple threat combo of sunglasses, camo and a shaved head.

Really, this is a very entertaining post and there's too much to work with here. And I have seriously never had a male do that to me.


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## lancaster1313 (Mar 4, 2011)

The first time that happened to me was with my first mantis, a _Stagmomantis carolina_ that I found at a park. It is one of the reasons that I decided to breed mantids. With such a short life cycle, it seems a shame to let a mantis go without mating. It can be difficult to remove them gently, they tighten their grip when you try. :lol:


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## Ntsees (Mar 4, 2011)

Yeah, I male European mantid did that to me once. When he started tightening his grip, I figured he had made a mistake. Got him off easily.


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## dgerndt (Mar 4, 2011)

Oh no! I plan on breeding some of my mantids. I hope my finger doesn't get taken advantage of! :lol:


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## GreenOasis (Mar 4, 2011)

No matter how many times I've washed my hands now...that finger STILL feels dirty! :blink:


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## PeterF (Mar 4, 2011)

They make those rubber, uh, objects for male dogs to, um, "mount". Perhaps there is a business opportunity here?


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## lancaster1313 (Mar 5, 2011)

Peter J F said:


> They make those rubber, uh, objects for male dogs to, um, "mount". Perhaps there is a business opportunity here?


Before I got a female for my finger loving _Stagmomantis carolina_, I actually put in one of my daughter's toy female mantids just to see what he would do. He ignored the toy, it wasn't fooling him. :lol: 

Perhaps I will try to find one of those soft and squishy ones. I haven't seen any soft mantid toys in the store, but if a male will go for a finger then who knows what it will attempt to mate.

My daughter and I like doing little behavioral experiments. We have fooled a couple of the lizards in our yard by placing toy ones in front of them. The live lizards have shown territorial behaviors to the toys. Also, they have attempted to catch toy insects, but they haven't made the same mistake twice in a row.


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## GreenOasis (Mar 5, 2011)

likebugs said:


> Before I got a female for my finger loving _Stagmomantis carolina_, I actually put in one of my daughter's toy female mantids just to see what he would do. He ignored the toy, it wasn't fooling him. :lol:
> 
> Perhaps I will try to find one of those soft and squishy ones. I haven't seen any soft mantid toys in the store, but if a male will go for a finger then who knows what it will attempt to mate.
> 
> My daughter and I like doing little behavioral experiments. We have fooled a couple of the lizards in our yard by placing toy ones in front of them. The live lizards have shown territorial behaviors to the toys. Also, they have attempted to catch toy insects, but they haven't made the same mistake twice in a row.


Just shows that animals are smarter than people...at least THEY learn from their mistakes!  

Yeah, I don't think the toys would work for mantises...sounds like they prefer something warm &amp; wiggly!


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## lancaster1313 (Mar 5, 2011)

:lol: We will see about that. I feel a fun experiment coming on. :lol:


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## lancaster1313 (Apr 5, 2011)

I haven't yet tried the experiment, actually I forgot all about it, until yesterday.  

I was trying to introduce a Carolina pair, as the male was certainly ready the night before when I tried to remove an uneaten cricket. All I ended up with was a hard to remove mantid on my finger, I told the mantis that I will have his female ready, tomorrow, not now. So, yesterday I fed her until she would take no more and had my daughter pull out the false plant with the male mantis attached(usually this prevents finger mounting). Well, it didn't work this time. The mantis went from the plant to my daughter's finger in a split second.
 I put the female in front of him hoping that he would release his grip but I had to nudge and pry anyway. He finally released my daughter's finger and mounted mine instead of the female. I then got him to mount the female, but she was freaking out and smacked him around until he released his grip. I then placed the female on a house plant, and gave him another chance to mount her, but she walked him off. He ended up mounting the plant for a few minutes until I put the female back into her container and went back for him. Then, even though I used the false plant piece to try and transfer him, my finger was again mounted.
&lt;_&lt; 
I have never been through so much trouble trying to pair up my mantids, and I have successfully done this more than 10 times before. I am afraid to try again today.


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## dgerndt (Apr 5, 2011)

Sounds like your male is very confused. Or blind. :blink:


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## lancaster1313 (Apr 5, 2011)

I tried pairing them up again today, but the female is not having any of it. She pushes him off with her wings while running and reaches her head down to bite at his claws in front of her. At least she hasn't tried to eat him at all, but I guess when he is in the mood, it doesn't matter what he is mating with. He actually grabbed onto my arm and tried, I would think that it couldn't possibly be confused with another mantid. :lol: I will definitely give the female another week, at least, before I frighten her with any males at all. She seemed pretty scared to mate. :mellow:


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## geckoboy3 (Apr 5, 2011)

hahahahaha :lol: :lol:

@ likebugs: how much bigger is the female then the male? If it's well fed and not much bigger, I'd leave them alone for a hour or so.


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## Ricardo (Apr 5, 2011)

Perhaps he was heavily influenced by your perfume at the time? :lol:


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## lancaster1313 (Apr 6, 2011)

hisseman said:


> hahahahaha :lol: :lol:
> 
> @ likebugs: how much bigger is the female then the male? If it's well fed and not much bigger, I'd leave them alone for a hour or so.


In my experience, "size doesn't matter". :lol: I have put together a monster male with a tiny female,(they were the parents of the ones I am trying to pair up), and I have bred small males with large females.

This girl is just not ready.
 She doesn't want to be bothered with mating, and I can respect that.
:lol: I will let him mate with one of my older girls from my wild found ootheca, they have some experience, and probably won't run away.
 I have other males who are waiting, and a few young females that are adult but only for less than a week.
B) 
The unwilling female can be left "on the shelf", if that is what she wants. :lol:


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## dgerndt (Apr 6, 2011)

Maybe she just has a headache! Crush up some aspirin, mix a few granules with non-chlorinated water and dip a cricket in it. Then offer her the cricket and see if that helps. :lol: I'm just kidding! Seriously, don't do that!


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## Idolofreak (Apr 9, 2011)

Nastay!


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