food for orchid mantids

[womantis]

I ran out of blue bottle flies. Weather is colder and couldn't find any moths or other insects. Tried mealworms and dubias and my orchids didn't "bite" - in fact they didn't even try. Gave them some waxworms and all three of them (L5,subadult and adult) went crazy. They LOVE them and have nice round abdomens.

Anybody else feed waxworms to their mantids? They seem easy for them to eat (soft exoskeleton), but i understand they are high in fat.

 

[Specimen24-7]

I would give adult green banana roaches a try. They are small, green, kind of flighty, very active, prolific breeders, and a soft exoskeleton.I never personally tried them as feeders, but from what I've readily good for those sit and wait predators.

 

[DeShawn]

I haven't tried waxworms as a primary food source. I have used them as a temp source when I had no other food for a couple days waiting for flies or crickets to arrive (back when I used crickets). I would also sometimes let them turn to moths and used the moths as feeders. I would be very interested in knowing if you experience any issues feeding them primarily waxworms.