all of a sudden not eating nearly as much...

[imderanged]

I am new at keeping mantises, so please excuse me asking stupid questions. I have an adult male Chinese mantis I raised from the ootheca. He was eating all the time before, but a little while after he went into his last instar he has become a lot more picky and eats a little bit then drops his food. He looks healthy to me for all that's worth (as I said, I am not very experienced) he's active and even flying around! It makes sense to me that maybe it's natural for him to eat less now that he's not growing but i figured I'd better check with the experts! He's only taking food ever 2nd or third day and eats MAYBE a half a waxworm etc. THANKS for any help

 

[Findarato]

My males eat every third day as adults, and they are lazy to go after food themselves.

Males need lesser food than females, obviously.

 

[RevWillie]

Apparently the males stay lean & mean so they can fly around and find the females. It's frustrating that they don't eat more, at least to me.

 

[Ntsees]

I've heard before in this forum that Chinese mantid males don't eat as much as they usually do in their instar stages. You probably don't have to be concerned because my male European mantid does the same thing - he doesn't eat as often.