I was walking up my stairs and I spot a small preying mantis on the wall ahead of me. I grab a cup that my roaches had been shipped to me in. I guess it's a 32 ounce cup. I put a few sticks in it and put in the mantis. I'm not sure what kind it is, about 4 cm and brown and I'm in central Texas. My camera is very bad at macro shots.
It flew around my kitchen before getting it back into the cup and the lid on. I'm assuming that this means it's a male in its last instar. Would this be right?
I dropped in a small mealworm and he went to the bottom and tried picking it up but couldn't. Then climbed up to the top. I found an even smaller mealworm to drop in that he hasn't gone after. Went out and grabbed a moth that apparently was too big for him, he kept moving out of its way instead of eating it. There's a much smaller spider up on the wall that's got an even bigger moth that it's eating. I currently have no flies and nearest pet store is an hour away.
Should I just release it or is there a way to get smaller flying insects? I had the outdoor light on and all I found were the moths.
Thanks
It flew around my kitchen before getting it back into the cup and the lid on. I'm assuming that this means it's a male in its last instar. Would this be right?
I dropped in a small mealworm and he went to the bottom and tried picking it up but couldn't. Then climbed up to the top. I found an even smaller mealworm to drop in that he hasn't gone after. Went out and grabbed a moth that apparently was too big for him, he kept moving out of its way instead of eating it. There's a much smaller spider up on the wall that's got an even bigger moth that it's eating. I currently have no flies and nearest pet store is an hour away.
Should I just release it or is there a way to get smaller flying insects? I had the outdoor light on and all I found were the moths.
Thanks