# I Need A Breeding Time Pep Talk!



## kmsgameboy (Aug 18, 2009)

Ok I have researched mating and now I have a female Chinese Mantis who should be ready to mate. My male Chinese will be ready whithin the next week and I have reread all the breeding info I could find on the internets and I have to say I am still a little uneasy about taking on this task! (I cant imagine how they feel!) I dont want anything to go wrong but I guess it can and will happen no matter how much you read. I do have one question: my breeding female was captiv raised and seems to be a good bit smaller than my wild male...is there a chance that the MALE could eat the female!?! I dont know what I would do if my female Chinese was killed! She is my first ever mantis!


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## PhilinYuma (Aug 18, 2009)

I really doubt it and have never seen it reported here, though the question has been asked before. You've heard that "The purpose of every living creature is to reproduce (forget the eusocials for a minute!)." The male wants to pass on his sperm. Although most folks agree that the male doesn't _want_ to get eaten during copulation, if he is, the female is likely to produce larger and more ooths with eggs fertilized by him. If he eats the female, then he destroys his sperm with the female. Therefor, males that are inhibited from eating the female are more likely to pass on that trait than the cannibals. Just make sure that the male reads this post before copulating.


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## kmsgameboy (Aug 18, 2009)

haha! Good info! I never thought about it that way! Nor did I ever think that him being eaten COULD be helpfull to her! I guess I need to be moving his tank into another room soon. I want him to be ready come show time! I just looked in on them a second ago and she was peering into his tank eyeballing him! (THIER TANKS ARE SIDE BY SIDE RIGHT NOW) So if they mate and he doesnt lose his head she SHOULD be good for life right???


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## kmsgameboy (Aug 18, 2009)

haha! Good info! I never thought about it that way! Nor did I ever think that him being eaten COULD be helpfull to her! I guess I need to be moving his tank into another room soon. I want him to be ready come show time! I just looked in on them a second ago and she was peering into his tank eyeballing him! (THIER TANKS ARE SIDE BY SIDE RIGHT NOW) So if they mate and he doesnt lose his head she SHOULD be good for life right???


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## kmsgameboy (Aug 18, 2009)

haha! Good info! I never thought about it that way! Nor did I ever think that him being eaten COULD be helpfull to her! I guess I need to be moving his tank into another room soon. I want him to be ready come show time! I just looked in on them a second ago and she was peering into his tank eyeballing him! (THIER TANKS ARE SIDE BY SIDE RIGHT NOW) So if they mate and he doesnt lose his head she SHOULD be good for life right???


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## Ntsees (Aug 18, 2009)

kmsgameboy said:


> Ok I have researched mating and now I have a female Chinese Mantis who should be ready to mate. My male Chinese will be ready whithin the next week and I have reread all the breeding info I could find on the internets and I have to say I am still a little uneasy about taking on this task! (I cant imagine how they feel!) I dont want anything to go wrong but I guess it can and will happen no matter how much you read. I do have one question: my breeding female was captiv raised and seems to be a good bit smaller than my wild male...is there a chance that the MALE could eat the female!?! I dont know what I would do if my female Chinese was killed! She is my first ever mantis!


In my experience in breeding mantids, I've never seen a "ready-to-mate" male eat the female (even if he was larger than her). The worst I've seen is the male causing damage (from his grip) that eventually led to the female's death. If you have handled her a lot, you should be pretty safe considering that your female was captive raised. Before I mate my mantids, I feed the female lots of insects until she looks like she's going to explode. When my mantids mate, I put them up on the curtains inside my room. When the male finishes, he just jumps off and fly around the room. That's how I prevent my males from getting eaten. But, every outcome of the mating is based on a case by case basis for me.


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## hibiscusmile (Aug 18, 2009)

I have seen it once, but I have mated hundreds of mantis and only saw it once, he must of been hungry, is all I figured. and the idea of letting them mate in the room is a good one. Just put a sign on the door, DO NOT DISTURB!


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## Rick (Aug 18, 2009)

Here is a link if you haven't already found it. Chinese are easy to breed as are most mantids.

http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=7112


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## Ntsees (Aug 18, 2009)

Rick said:


> Here is a link if you haven't already found it. Chinese are easy to breed as are most mantids. http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=7112


Wow! I do almost exactly the same thing (the wind blowing too) as you described. I learned those techniques on my own and am suprised that others do the same too. You are surely an expert at raising mantids. Somehow, it just comes with experience when you raise mantids a lot.


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## Rick (Aug 19, 2009)

Ntsees said:


> Wow! I do almost exactly the same thing (the wind blowing too) as you described. I learned those techniques on my own and am suprised that others do the same too. You are surely an expert at raising mantids. Somehow, it just comes with experience when you raise mantids a lot.


Same here. Thanks but i'm no expert. I do what works best for me though some don't agree with some of it.


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## beckyl92 (Aug 19, 2009)

im mating a pair today for the first time today! i think ive got it covered though


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## jameslongo (Aug 19, 2009)

PhilinYuma said:


> I really doubt it and have never seen it reported here, though the question has been asked before. You've heard that "The purpose of every living creature is to reproduce (forget the eusocials for a minute!)." The male wants to pass on his sperm. Although most folks agree that the male doesn't _want_ to get eaten during copulation, if he is, the female is likely to produce larger and more ooths with eggs fertilized by him. If he eats the female, then he destroys his sperm with the female. Therefor, males that are inhibited from eating the female are more likely to pass on that trait than the cannibals. Just make sure that the male reads this post before copulating.





hibiscusmile said:


> I have seen it once, but I have mated hundreds of mantis and only saw it once, he must of been hungry, is all I figured. and the idea of letting them mate in the room is a good one. Just put a sign on the door, DO NOT DISTURB!


Sorry Phil but I have to side with Becky on this one.

I've heard of the male trying to eat the female before, even when the male was smaller than the female. It happened not long ago with Olga's male _Hierodula majuscula_, which can be seen here Photos - Hierodula majuscula. We gave it away to be bred with a female in Melbourne &amp; for the first couple of times the breeder tried to mate them, we heard that the male thought she was lunch :blink: My guess was that he was underfed. Or maybe he's just a cannibal. "Stuff the sperm, I'm hungry!"


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## wero626 (Aug 25, 2009)

Yeah i agree with everybody else its very rare that a male will eat a female there more excited then the female most of the time i mated my miomantis and the first female went great took 2 days.Then i put my male in another females cage to mate i had and the next moning my male was in here arms eating him luckly he mated with the other female i had.Just make sure she eats alot and she should be fine good luck the best to you mating them..!!!


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## PhilinYuma (Aug 25, 2009)

jameslongo said:


> Sorry Phil but I have to side with Becky on this one.I've heard of the male trying to eat the female before, even when the male was smaller than the female. It happened not long ago with Olga's male _Hierodula majuscula_, which can be seen here Photos - Hierodula majuscula. We gave it away to be bred with a female in Melbourne &amp; for the first couple of times the breeder tried to mate them, we heard that the male thought she was lunch :blink: My guess was that he was underfed. Or maybe he's just a cannibal. "Stuff the sperm, I'm hungry!"


Sorry, missed this. Yeah, but I would be more likely to believe it if Superfreak herself had witnessed it. They're an exciteable bunch down there in Melbourne!


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## superfreak (Aug 25, 2009)

Ive had to separate mantids before because the male has been chewing on her thorax. If theyre hungry and over-excited i guess signals can get crossed


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## PhilinYuma (Aug 26, 2009)

superfreak said:


> Ive had to separate mantids before because the male has been chewing on her thorax. If theyre hungry and over-excited i guess signals can get crossed


O.K., so now I believe it, and I think that the reason that you give for it is probably right too.  I understand, though, that your hungry male H. majuscula, did not eat the female and mated successfully. I have noticed that there are a number of mantids of both sexes who just don't read their care sheets.


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## ismart (Aug 26, 2009)

I have had a couple of retarded males jump on the females back and assume the proper mating position, and then start biting her in back, for what seems to be no apparent reason. I guess sometimes they don't know what they want more, food or sex! :lol:


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