# How to mate aggressive mantids... (video)



## Precarious (Aug 26, 2011)

..or not. You tell me. Criticism and advice is welcomed.

Seems he couldn't connect while she was on the ground, but as soon as she was hanging from my hand he connected. Would have been better to do this whole process upside-down.

I left them out overnight hanging from that branch. In the morning he was on my window shade. Smart boy flew away on dismount.


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## lancaster1313 (Aug 26, 2011)

I usually feed my females until they are quite plump, before introducing the males.  But, a fat female could possibly be injured easier if she jumps or falls on a hard surface. :mellow: 

I like the part at 1:22 where she pauses with her mandibles open.  Though, it does seem as if she really was craving some skinny drumsticks. :lol: 

I could play that video over and over, just to hear the awesome music.  Isn't that track on another one of your videos? If so, it suits both.


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## Idolofreak (Aug 26, 2011)

Nice job.  That's one aggressive female! :blink: the male was a little spazzy when he mounted her, too. :blink:


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## patrickfraser (Aug 26, 2011)

Chew on this!




That's some tasty skewer.


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## twolfe (Aug 26, 2011)

Interesting. He's lucky to be alive. She had no trouble tearing through that mealworm.


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## agent A (Aug 26, 2011)

that was cool, what a neat mantis! they seem very aggressive, when I breed my smaller mantises I usually take the lid off the male's cage and have both on the lid, when he mounts her, the lid goes back on the cage, they like to mate upside down

larger ones I put the male in a net cage and when he settles, I place the female in

but the way you bred yours was very interesting, I will have to try it, perhaps when I breed my popa, if they get to adulthood

thanks for sharing! B)


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## leviatan (Aug 26, 2011)

Great movie !


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## guapoalto049 (Aug 26, 2011)

How old were they?


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## Precarious (Aug 26, 2011)

guapoalto049 said:


> How old were they?


Male became adult on 7-02.

Female became adult on 7-15.

Mated on 8-14.

Probably could have bred them sooner.


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## Ntsees (Aug 26, 2011)

Nice video. I initially thought you were going to show a video of a successful mating where the female is just out-right not going to let the male mate with her (wings flare and in defense mode when the male jumps on her).

To me, the female appears aggressive, but she was receptive. If you watch in the beginning when the male just jumped onto the female, her forelegs stretched out. That is a sign that shows that she's receptive and willing to mate.


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## guapoalto049 (Aug 26, 2011)

Precarious said:


> Male became adult on 7-02.
> 
> Female became adult on 7-15.
> 
> ...


In my experience, the older the better. Obviously there is a cutoff point, but at around the 6 week mark both males and females are ready to rock.

I've had a shield male get nabbed as he was approaching a 7 week old fat female, and he managed to worm his way around and connect without a head. I was impressed!

You did well by feeding her during the mate. My advice for anyone mating aggressive mantids (Sphodromantis, Hierodula, Rhombodera, Cilnia, and Tenodera come to mind) is to err on the late side and plump females up. Waiting for a female call (abdomen bent away from the wings) is a good practice, then give her all the food she wants!


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## Precarious (Aug 26, 2011)

Ntsees said:


> To me, the female appears aggressive, but she was receptive. If you watch in the beginning when the male just jumped onto the female, her forelegs stretched out. That is a sign that shows that she's receptive and willing to mate.





guapoalto049 said:


> You did well by feeding her during the mate. My advice for anyone mating aggressive mantids (Sphodromantis, Hierodula, Rhombodera, Cilnia, and Tenodera come to mind) is to err on the late side and plump females up. Waiting for a female call (abdomen bent away from the wings) is a good practice, then give her all the food she wants!


Thanks to both of you for the advice! I'm sure that will be helpful to everyone here.


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## mantidsaresweet (Aug 26, 2011)

Has she laid any ooths for you yet?

I had almost exactly the same experience when trying to breed my mantis of this species. In fact my male and female look exactly the same :lol: !

Definitely an aggressive species and the female should be fed well before any attempt and also be fed while the mating is occurring.

Check out my thread on my experience with this species,

My Blue Flash

Very informative thread here!


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## Precarious (Aug 26, 2011)

mantidsaresweet said:


> Has she laid any ooths for you yet?
> 
> Definitely an aggressive species and the female should be fed well before any attempt and also be fed while the mating is occurring.
> 
> Very informative thread here!


Feeding is a must. I also found, and you can see in the video, that just distracting the female is enough to encourage the male to make his move. He watches for her to focus on anything other than himself.

No ooth 12 days after, which is starting to worry me. I will put her in a more humid enclosure tonight to see if that helps.


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## mantidsaresweet (Aug 26, 2011)

Ok let us know if the humidity increase helps at all.

Do you know how many ooths this species will lay?


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## Idolofreak (Aug 26, 2011)

Precarious said:


> Feeding is a must. I also found, and you can see in the video, that just distracting the female is enough to encourage the male to make his move. He watches for her to focus on anything other than himself.
> 
> No ooth 12 days after, which is starting to worry me. I will put her in a more humid enclosure tonight to see if that helps.


She better lay an ooth soon! Hope she's not eggbound.


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## Malti (Aug 26, 2011)

great vids as always


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## kitkat39 (Aug 26, 2011)

Mantis Sexy Time! Love the green on the male. Anyone here ever have a green adult female "blue flash"??


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## twolfe (Aug 26, 2011)

My female blue flash are probably sisters to yours. Neither of them have laid any infertile ooths. One of them looks like she could explode any time. I have one living in a large plastic container. I let her out now and then when I feed her mealworms or just to let her look around. My other female blue flash is living in a large net enclosure that is 2 feet high. It's less humid, though I do spray her to give her a drink.


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## Precarious (Aug 27, 2011)

mantidsaresweet said:


> Ok let us know if the humidity increase helps at all.
> 
> Do you know how many ooths this species will lay?


I put her in my Exo-Terra over night at 80% humidity and woke to find a nice big ooth.  

No idea on how many ooths they lay but I believe there are a lot of nymph in each. Probably 100 or more.


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## lancaster1313 (Aug 27, 2011)

Precarious said:


> I put her in my Exo-Terra over night at 80% humidity and woke to find a nice big ooth.
> 
> No idea on how many ooths they lay but I believe there are a lot of nymph in each. Probably 100 or more.


Congrats on the ootheca.  

I just let my second H.multispina pair mate last night. I saw the female calling for the first time yesterday, and then I fed her a roach and let the male have at her. It was kind of nerve wracking because she didn't look fat enough to me, but my multispinas don't seem to eat as much as the other species that I keep.

I kept checking on them, and was surprised that his head was still on straight, every time I checked. :lol: 

I tried to feed her again before I retired, but she wasn't interested so I put them(connected) in a large container and went to bed. I used to let them have the room, but I am tired of searching for males, there are too many hiding places in my home.  They were disconnected and he was fine this morning, and she accepted another roach.


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## Cookie (Sep 3, 2011)

can I say, on behalf of us novices.... what an awsome video!!!!


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