It probably depends on what species your dealing with. For the mantids I keep, I've put at least 5 adult males together in a cage and they don't eat each other. They just mind there own business. Someone elses experience may be different though.
Interesting, my males allways try to mate with eachother. <_< Iris oratoria of course.
Lol really? I know that it's very possible for that to happen. I'll put some together again later this month (they're just becoming adults in my area) and see if that happens. At least they're not killing and eating each other.
If Chinese mantids are very common in your area, you shouldn't have a problem calling in a male. Here's the technique I use. I put a caged female (gorged and fat) inside a not-so-dense bush (like a rose bush). She has to have been accostumed to living in that cage. The bush is best by itself with no or little plants surrounding it. Over the night, the female may release pheromones within the vicinity to attract males. If there are males nearby, they will fly towards the cage and try to search for the female. As dawn approaches, the hopeless male(s) may decide to stay in the bush (because it has branches that it can rest on during the day). If she is successful in calling a male, you'll most likely find the male resting quietly on the branches of the bush (don't use a bush that has no grip on the stems). The reason why it is better to have a lone bush is so that you can have an easier time locating the male. If you leave the caged female on the side of a wall outside, the male may leave as dawn approaches because it's dangerous for it to be exposed. This technique has always worked for me although it may take a few days. It works for me because the mantid that exists in my area (Iris oratoria) are very common. Another mantid that also exists in my area is the European mantid but they are not so common. I have tried the caged technique for many years for the Europeans but I'm never successful. Even right now, my lone female European outside, which I caught in my backyard, is releasing pheromones (you just know because of the way they position their abodomen and moving their ~ovipositer while peacefully still) but she has not managed to call in a male. Maybe it's because they're not common in my area or whether it's just the species, I don't know. If your not able to call in a male with the caged technique, it's probably because they're not too common or your female isn't doing her job. Then again, I'm just telling you my experiences and it may not work in all cases.
Yup, that was my next guess on why your males may have tried mating with each other. In terms of interspecific mating, I have yet to see it happen successfully. I've had cases where the male managed to get on the back of a different female mantid species. However, the male's lower abdomen was never able to lock on. It's like a key and a lock. If you don't have the right key, you won't be able to put it in the lock and turn. But I suggest you or anyone not try it unless you are holding the females forlegs because once the male gets on, she will go into defense mode and attack the male (it's gonna get ugly). Somehow, the female can tell that the male is not of her species.
Yeah, that's my experience. It also depends on the species as well. I don't know what other mantid species are like but for "aged" European males, there's a high probability they'll go for it. However, the opposite of this will not work 99% of the time (male Iris oratoria and female European).
. As crazy as is sounds, I have tried to cross them in the past because I wanted those two traits on a mantid. But like I mentioned above, its like using a wrong key to a lock and so a connection was never made even though the male tried his best. Experimented that and it didn't work and so I moved on. I guess it's a good thing that mantids, at least in this case, of different species can't interbreed otherwise we'd have trouble identifying them like some other animal species that can.Hahaha Thanks. I've been able to raise a couple of junenile females up to subadult stage. They molted twice since I've caught them. Iris oratoria is the only species I've successfully reared and bred. And of course I still have them. I like Mantis religiosa due to their size and the horizontal line that goes through the eye. I grew up with this species (as did everyone else most likely) and they remind me of California. And yeah, a mantis with features of both species would be awesome! I can imagine the behaviour of it too. You almost sound like someone who would attempt to cross breed the two.
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