# Exploding Mantises?



## tenoderaterror (Oct 6, 2011)

Well, my chinese mantis female is quite full in the abdomen, yet I am wondering whether it is possible for her to explode, which is one of those mantis myths floating around the internet. I am perfectly able to not feed her until she becomes an L6(this Sunday night), so then I don't take the risk.

Also, I have small 3/4 inch grasshoppers that live around the front of my house, so I am wondering whether I can feed them to my female, when she is an L6.

Bye,

Keegan


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## hibiscusmile (Oct 6, 2011)

yes to hoppers, she will love em. Be careful with her, how much are u feeding her each day?


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## CoolMantid (Oct 6, 2011)

feed it as much as it can eat in a day then wait 2 days


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## hibiscusmile (Oct 6, 2011)

Wondering how much she is eating a day so can tell where she is at in her cycle. how long adult? I would not feed her what she could eat in a day, she will eat all you give her, don't feed one day then give her two crickets or one cric and some flies the next.


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## tenoderaterror (Oct 6, 2011)

I give her one crane fly and then I generally wait a day, and then I feed her again. She has been an L5 since September 26, this weekend seems to be the "magic weekend", as the calendar suggests. Even though this should be out of her lifetime, I hope to get a camera for Christmas, so then I can chronicle the (hopeful) next generation of Artemis. Does anyone have any pictures of L6 chinese mantises? Google has pictures that are not very good.

Bye,

Keegan


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## PhilinYuma (Oct 6, 2011)

In answer to yr "can they explode?" question, the answer is no, but they will sometimes throw up.


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## mantisboy (Oct 6, 2011)

If you are going to feed her hoppers make sure to remove their back legs. I primarily feed mine hoppers and those back legs can do some serious eye raking damage. I catch them in jar, then take a ziploc sandwich baggie, cut a 1/2 inch off the corner. Fold the cut corner over and place a paperclip over it to secure the hole.

Then place the baggie over the jar, shake the hopper into the baggie, then push down on the baggie to keep it stationary. I take a pair needle nose pliers and pinch down the back legs until the come off. Then remove the paperclip and gently push the hopper into the corner, then out the hole and into the housing.

This will not kill the hoppers and will prevent them from hurting your Mantid.


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## hibiscusmile (Oct 6, 2011)

If the crane fly is the long one with long legs and long wings, u r then not feeding her enough. She needs 2 med crickets a day or one cricket and a few flies.


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## Rick (Oct 8, 2011)

She is not going to explode. She is gravid most likely. They get very very fat when full of eggs.


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## Psychobunny (Oct 8, 2011)

Sounds like she is gravid like Rick said. I dont think they can explode, they just puke if they eat

too much!!

I feed my adult female chinese 2 1/2'' cricks or roaches a day.

Sometimes she wont eat them until the next day, so I am starting to feed every other day.

Although it's so much fun to watch an adult chinese rip appart a 1 1/2'' roach, it's really not

necessary to feed them such large prey.

I love to watch them eat roach (dubia) nymphs, it looks like a kid eating a hamburger with both hands


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## tenoderaterror (Oct 11, 2011)

Well, on Sunday night she molted and became an L6. She is a big beauty, and her wings are coming in nicely. I was at my aunt's house, so I couldn't get the crix, crane flies, and grasshoppers that I usually would feed her. Now that I am back in town, I will do a little foraging.

Goodbye,

Keegan


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## patrickfraser (Oct 11, 2011)

I'm confused. Is this an adult or just a case of juvenile obesity? "wings coming in nicely"? Are these wings or the wing buds? I don't think L6 are adult. If not adult, I didn't think gravidity is a possibility, but what do I know???


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## tenoderaterror (Oct 11, 2011)

I meant to say that her wing BUDS are coming in nicely.

I tried to feed her a grasshopper today (without the back legs), and since she hasn't been fed since the day before she molted, she did strike hungrily at it, but then she put in no effort to hold it.

Then, I took off the wings, to hope she might be able to grab the abdomen easier, but the same story as above happened.

What should I do? Should I not feed her for another day? Should I feed her 2 crix when my mom returns from the pet store?


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## patrickfraser (Oct 11, 2011)

Mantids take a little longer with each molt to harden the new exoskeleton. The mandibles may not be completely hard and unable chew properly. Continue with offering prey items. When she's ready she'll be back to the killing machine she has been. Good luck


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## tenoderaterror (Oct 11, 2011)

****UPDATE***

Well, I put the mantis and the grasshopper into a screen enclosure while I spiffed up its enclosure. She then crept slowly toward the grasshopper and then WHAM! The hopper is now being torn apart.


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## tenoderaterror (Oct 12, 2011)

In the end, she only ate the abdomen, but she had her fill, and the grasshopper was dropped to the ground.


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## brown (Oct 12, 2011)

She didn't want to make you worry tenoderaterror! Just wait till she becomes an adult with an increased appetite. You will wonder why they DON'T explode.


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