Banana Roaches as Feeders

[Stoic_Southpaw]

I'm wondering how viable green banana roaches are as feeders for mantids. How are they to keep? Could they be a good food for the larger mantids? Because they can fly, could they be a food for a flower mantis (like a gambian flower mantis)?

Also, can adult gambian flower mantids be fed on fruit flies? I'm a bit wary on culturing/constantly purchasing bottlefly pupae or larvae.

Thanks!

 

[Krissim Klaw]

I started culturing Panchlora Nivea last year to use as feeders instead of crickets for my mantises. I think they make great feeders for mantises. They are easy to care for, reproduce fast, and have a lightweight exoskeleton so are easy for mantises to munch. Even for larger mantises they reach a decent size. You can also get a giant version, which is slightly larger. The only thing I would warn about is feeding the nymph stages can take a bit more work than say crickets because the nymphs spend most of their time in the soil. Like most roaches they will also dive for cover if you are trying to feed in a cage that has a bunch of stuff for them to hide behind. Gambian flower mantises shouldn't have any problems eating them, but they are not going to behave like flying insects and flutter around.

 

[Stoic_Southpaw]

Is the only additional work just digging the nymphs out of the ~1" of substrate? Also, how many would I need to, say, feed 2-4 mantids?