# Ant Mantis Nymphs



## collinchang635 (Jul 28, 2008)

I have three ant mantids. Does anybody have any tips or pointers about raising this species?


----------



## hibiscusmile (Jul 28, 2008)

The little ants, do not require anything special, they are good together till maybe 3rd instar, after that seperate them, they eat each other just for fun :blink: . That's about it.


----------



## collinchang635 (Jul 28, 2008)

Thanks for the reply.


----------



## Mantis_Whisper (Jul 28, 2008)

I was gonna ask that question last night. :lol: I got four little guys right now, they better grow up nice and pretty like their mum.


----------



## doomgerbs (Jul 31, 2008)

Great little mantids.

I started with an ooth I was given, raised around 7 to adulthood and am now breeding my second generation. Ooths seem to give any number from 2 to 40 and they are easy to mate, it's also quite a quick mating (nice if you lie awake all night waiting for your sphrodos to seperate).

Raising nymphs I find easy but they do get very thirsty. They always like to drink before eating. Small nymphs will eat any type of fruit fly, they also enjoy grain moths. As they get bigger they eat whatever is offered so long as it isn't bigger than themselves (and sometimes even if it is!). I've seen cannibalism within 24 hours of hatching, although lots of food should keep this minimal.

As adults you can tell females and males apart from the segment counting, you can identify males as they are smaller than females and, after a couple of weeks feeding, slimmer.


----------



## Meiji (Jul 31, 2008)

hibiscusmile said:


> The little ants...they eat each other just for fun ...


LOL...very amusing interpretation of mantis motives!


----------

