chinese pair breeding!

[SteelSmith04]

i have a ten gallon tank divided into three equal cages for my current 3 chinese mantids. for the past 4 or 5 days neither of the males have been interested in any food and continually watch the female in the middle. so today i let one of my males out of the tank onto my curtain deciding that it was time to breed. a few minutes later i let the female out by him. in under a minute he hopped on her back and they started mating. they are still on the curtain breeding and the other male started eating once she left. has anyone had any similar experiences with males not eating because of the female? She's been very pregnant for a few weeks so i'm expecting the ooth soon... since they are breeding today the ooth should definitley be fertile? i also started a culture of house flies today. starting with adult flies. will the baby chinese mantids be able to eat maggots? or should i get pinhead crickets once they hatch? thank you all very much in advance for any help!

 

[Rick]

i have a ten gallon tank divided into three equal cages for my current 3 chinese mantids. for the past 4 or 5 days neither of the males have been interested in any food and continually watch the female in the middle. so today i let one of my males out of the tank onto my curtain deciding that it was time to breed. a few minutes later i let the female out by him. in under a minute he hopped on her back and they started mating. they are still on the curtain breeding and the other male started eating once she left. has anyone had any similar experiences with males not eating because of the female? She's been very pregnant for a few weeks so i'm expecting the ooth soon... since they are breeding today the ooth should definitley be fertile? i also started a culture of house flies today. starting with adult flies. will the baby chinese mantids be able to eat maggots? or should i get pinhead crickets once they hatch? thank you all very much in advance for any help!

That is normal behavior. The ooth will be fertile. You would be wasting your time trying to feed them maggots. They will need fruit flies or pinhead crickets but the flies are a much better option.

 

[SteelSmith04]

while they were mating they went behind the curtain in my room and i was concerned that the male wouldn't be able to fly away after he was done. however i took a picture or two or them as they were and figured i'll just let it happen as its intended to, without my neurotic worrying about them. i was pleasantly sursprised to get home today at 8:45 to find that the male had been able to fy away and was on the other curtain. I've attached some photos. The tank i keep them in and the breeding pair.

 

[Rick]

It is best to just leave them be. Excessive disturbances can cause him to disconnect and fly away. Glad it worked for ya.