A Mantidfly!

Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Mantidforum

Help Support Mantidforum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
B

BugLover

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 10, 2013
Messages
433
Reaction score
31
I just caught one of these. It's tiny, green and looks AWESOME! I know these aren't supposed to live long as adults, but how would I care for it if I keep it? I gave it 4 flightless fruit flies and it has eaten 2, and he's in a cup with some twigs and a wet paper towel in the bottom. I searched through this forum and didn't find much info on their care... :\ If I can get a decent picture I will post it :)

 
If u can, put some fake leaved in there with it and it'll be fine...I don't know how big it is, but when I have had them, they eat snall houseflies or large ffs...give water like you would a mantis...and they can and will fly, so take that into consideration while housing it...

 
It's about 1/2 inch, and I don't have/can't get House flies or BB flies, so I'm giving it fruit flies from my culture :) it is in one of Bug Trader's nymph housing cups that I made, so it shouldn't get out. I don't plan on holding it much just for the fear it might fly away and I won't be able to find it, so I'll only be opening it to feed. I don't think fake leaves would fit in it's cup (the cups are 3 oz i think) so would leaves from outside work? Thanks!

 
Ff should be good...but if u want to vary it's diet then u could catch flies from outside (small enough for it to eat)...and I mean u can use leaves from outside but bc they've been severed from the plant they'll start wilting and decomposing...so you'd have to change them often...you could cut like a section from the fake ivy or some fake plant to make it fit if needed...

 
I've never heard of a Mantidfly being green. Aren't they usually wasp colors? Like yellow and black? Or is that only as an adult? :unsure:

 
Last edited by a moderator:
There are different kinds of Mantidflies. Green ones, Brown ones, and then theres that one Wasp mimic one. I'm sure there's more, but I don't know the names of them.

ladygigi said:
I've never heard of a Mantidfly being green. Aren't they usually wasp colors? Like yellow and black? Or is that only as an adult? :unsure:
Click to expand...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
This is one of the brown wasp species from Malaysia. Its about 2.5cm long. There is no chance of getting this thing to breed as ts lifecycle is apparently far too complex!

David

mantisfly top.jpg

mantisfly side.jpg

 

Latest posts

Top