A Brit in Japan who grew to love mantids.

Hi Everyone,

I am Simon, an Englishman who has been living just outside Tokyo, Japan for nearly 20 years.
When I first arrived, there were many culture shocks - not least of which being the local fauna. Some of this, I have never got used to; cockroaches and mosquitos everywhere, hand-sized huntsman spiders and huge, poisonous centipedes (one of which was found in my bed).
Other creatures, whilst unsettling at first, have now become pleasantly familiar (the all-pervasive drone of cicada in summer) and even very welcome - the most welcome of all being the beautiful and fascinating praying mantis.
Known to the Japanese as kamakiri ('sickle-cutter'), our dominant species is Tenodera aridifolia, the Japanese giant mantis. A common visitor to the potted trees on our small balcony (alas, gardens are only for temples, shrines or the wealthy in Japan), my wife and I have grown to love these amazing creatures. Sometimes they have bred and we have been privileged to see their tiny offspring in the following spring, before they dispersed far and wide.

This month, something special happened; we were watering the trees at dusk and saw not one, but two mantids in the branches of our ginko tree (itself grown from a seed picked up in the rather notorious Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo). As there was an obvious disparity in size, I guessed it was a courting pair preparing to mate and discreetly left them to it. Sure enough, when curiosity got the better of me and I went out later, I found them, still locked in coitus but with the poor little male already being snacked upon by the larger female!
The latter lady stayed on the ginko tree for the following 3 weeks and I slowly bonded with her as I watered the trees and removed pests such as caterpillars, which I then fed live to her, to help her gain strength in her pregnancy. She eventually awaited my coming and took food directly from my hand.
A couple of days ago, I was naturally highly disappointed to discover that she had totally disappeared - but not before bestowing her most precious gift of a large, beautiful ootheca attached to a high branch of the ginko.
I have now made a decision that I would like to oversee the eventual hatching of the nymphs next spring and to retain two or three of her offspring to rear myself. However, I have absolutely NO experience in such an endeavour - hence my joining this group.
I will be relying on you all to help me through my many mistakes, trials and tribulations.

Thank you in advance!!!

Simon

It would be cool if you can get of the nympfs at home when the ooth hatches next spring. You have time enough to learn how to care for mantids.

Greetings from a fellow Brit. I'm so sad we don't have native mantises here.

I've visited Japan many times. On one occasion I remember going to somewhere on the Chuo line. I think it was to Mount Takao. Anyway, I was petrified because the entire town seemed to be encased in gigantic cobwebs. I mean there were everywhere.

I took some photos so I'll try and dig them out. I'm not a huge fan of spiders though.

You can keep the ootheca in a jar with a cloth or paper towel over the lid held on with a rubber band. Keep it out on your patio to overwinter naturally. Mist it every once in a while to keep it from drying out. Nymphs should hatch once it gets warm enough again in your area. Good luck.