Florida Bark Mantids

[Paul Bollinger]

Gonatista grisea

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q188/Paul_Bollinger/insects/mantid1.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q188/Paul_Bollinger/insects/mantid2.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q188/Paul_Bollinger/insects/mantidootheca.jpg

Cool Huh?

I have Located a locale that has a decent population of these mantids and I was lucky enough to find a male and two females. I managed to breed the male to one female before she made short work of him, I sholud have fed her up before introduction but all was not lost, I got my first ootheca! and It appears that the other female has already bred she looks like she'd going to pop any day!

enjoy, I'll update as the hatch approaches.

Later,

Paul Bollinger

 

[Paul Bollinger]

 

[Sheldon Johnson]

I hatched our a single ootheca of this species earlier this year. Annoyingly it hatched as i was leaving for work and all but 1 died by the time i got home. I could never understand it, as the survivor was just so resiliant.

In the end though i had to give him away as i was moving out, but sadly he never ate much after that and died shortly after.

Anyway, good luck with yours, theyre a fantastic little species.

 

[Paul Bollinger]

A big thanks to Yen Saw who sparked my interest in mantids a couple of years ago, his knowledge and friendly demeanor were second to none.

Paul Bollinger

 

[Paul Bollinger]

Does anyone know how they compare to rearing Budwing nymphs?

 

[Shelbycsx]

The gentleman at http://www.livemantis.com/ has experience with the barkies and may be able to answer your question. Here's a pic off his site:

 

[yen_saw]

Hi Paul, glad to see you making a comeback, and doing great with the florida bark mantis.

The gentleman at http://www.livemantis.com/

I thought that is a she? Sarah bought many local species from me about a year ago. The way she raised Florida bark mantis with tuna fish is weird, although it appeared to work for her.

 

[francisco]

HEllo ALl,

Gonatista grisea is not to dificult to raise.

they need lots of branches or sticks to climb.

When nymphs they can not climb very good so you have to provide enough climbing places.

They feed great on fruit flies D melanogastor and D hydeii, as they grow.

I feed the older nymphs crickets occasionally, I used roaches and house flies more often.

I kept their terrarium humid, specially the substrate, and sprayed once a day, one side of their cup just in case they were thirsty.

I keep the nymphs at room temperature 73-75 F and in summer at 80-85 F

I hope this helps, and if you have an extra male I still have a lonely female.

regards

FT

 

[Paul Bollinger]

I just got back from Penn. I was happy to find that my second female had laid an ootheca! I should have a good turn out, It's always a good thing to have a second chance should something happen to the first ooth.

Paul