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Welcome. This is a great place to learn about mantids. Marc

Thanks Phill. I think it is probably that the pupae are not warm enough to hatch quickly. Do I need to keep the pupae moist? Right now their in dry containers. I am going to try to breed them on a small scale for my mantids. Marc

Thank you so much Katnapper. There is a lot of useful information on that blog. Marc

I wouldn't feed honey bees or spiders to my mantids because I view them as beneficial insects. Then again every organism has some beneficial part to play in their ecosystem unless they're an introduced species, but as Rick and others mentioned honey bees are on the decline. Marc

I put a few fly eggs, I found in a fly trap I made, into a medium of dry cat food, dry buttermilk, water and aspen shavings (I got this recipe from the Internet) into a jar and a couple weeks or so later 10 large (about 10mm) maggots climbed toward the top of the jar. I put them into another...

I was probably about 7 or 8. I saw one in my uncle's backyard in the San Fernando Valley, here in S. California. I was very excited to see it. I had seen them on a nature documentry on television before I saw my first live one. They showed them being born and the ootheca looked huge to me on...

Interesting. If the myth is correct, then the mantids can tell if it is going to rain. Marc

My grandmother was born in Oklahoma in 1905 and she once told me that when she was growing up there they called mantids "Devil Horses." I was wondering if anyone else had ever heard mantids in their neck of the woods referred to by any other name. Marc

I received my first pet mantis, a giant Asian, on November 11 from Mantis Place and a few days afterwards I was hunting for some insects to feed her in my front yard and I was pleasantly surprised to come across a large, brown female Chinese mantis in one of my bushes. She was about 4 inches...

It was about 4 feet above the ground. Marc

Thanks Rick and everyone else for their comments and looking. I am going to trim my roses tomorrow. I've found a couple ootheca on them in years past, but that was before I got into this hobby. I hope I can find an unhatched one. I saw some huge female Chinese mantids with swollen abdomens...

My sister-in-law is going to help me post this photo of an ootheca I found in my backyard a week or so ago. I think that it hatched already. Can anyone tell if it has. Thanks for looking. Marc

Thanks Rick. I'll give that site a try. Marc

I found an ootheca while looking for a twig for a habitat. I think that it is already hatched out though. There are 2 rows of holes running down the middle. Iwanted to send a photo, but I couldn't figure out how to post photos. Can anyone tell me how to post photos? Thanks. Marc

Those are beautiful. I especially like the one you found in the Canary Islands. Marc

Hello Rebecca. The mystery mantis is doing well. He/she molted for the second time on Tuesday. It is about 3/4 of an inch long now. I haven't figured out what species it is yet, but I'm pretty sure I saw an example of one on the internet before. It seems to have large eyes for its size and...

Thanks Rick. I'll try that. I have an artificial vine in the large container. I'll add a small branch to it. I have a twig in the small container and the cricket climbed to the top of the habitat on it and that's where she caught him. Marc

Well, it was the container. After 5 days of not eating I put her in a small Kritter Keeper and she stalked, caught and is now consuming a cricket. The odd thing is that she stalked and caught crickets in the larger habitat before. I now know why certain mantids are better for beginners. The...

Hello Arkanis. I tried using the forceps before, but she pushed away the food item. I'm thinking of trying to put her into a smaller habitat. Currently she's in a large Kritter Keeper, which is 10" x 13". She stalked and ate crickets in here before, but she's always near the top and the...

Hello Everyone. I'm new to raising mantids. I have a Giant Asian and a "Mystery Mantis" I received 43 days ago. The giant Asian is about 2 1/2 inches long and has molted twice since I got her. She last molted December 9 and now hasn't eaten since December 19 (5 days). Can she be getting...