Dont think there is anyone breeding grasshoppers as a feeder insect as it prob would be a good a addition along with crickets and wonder if its possible to even gutload a grasshopper the same way you would a cricket and someone should try to get into raising them or offer them as a suggestion to someone as maybe grasshoppers could be just as good or little better then crickets but hard to come by probably!
Grasshoppers as feeder insects
- Thread starter massaman
- Start date
Help Support Mantidforum:
spicey
Well-known member
Will mantids eat grasshoppers generally? I only offered one to a mantis once, and it was afraid of it....however, the mantis was young and not very big, the grasshopper probably looked gigantic to it.
Last edited by a moderator:
That was it, scared of the unknown, but after a bit they do seem to like them, mine eat them whenever I catch them, some reason there are hardly any here this year.
a1_collection
Well-known member
The nymph hoppers are the juiciest. 
My mantids love them.
My mantids love them.
Ntsees
Well-known member
Grasshoppers are good for mantids. I usually catch some to feed my mantids whenever I go to the park/lake/mountains. The thing that differs between the grasshoppers and the crickets is that the grasshoppers have a stronger "kick" when they use their legs to free themselves from the mantids forelegs. If you break off the legs, then it's pretty safe as a mantid food (but you'd be wasting those yummy drumsticks ). If you get a chance, try using an adult bird grasshopper (don't know if it's common in your area). After the meal (IF your mantid can handle it), the mantid should be good to go with an oothecae.
). If you get a chance, try using an adult bird grasshopper (don't know if it's common in your area). After the meal (IF your mantid can handle it), the mantid should be good to go with an oothecae.
Last edited by a moderator:
spicey
Well-known member
That's because they all ran away from OHIO and migrated to MICHIGAN...I've got hundreds in my garden this year! :lol:
Strange there are hardly any. We bought this house last spring and there were none. I did a lot of plantings the last two summers and now I have all kinds of grasshoppers around my yard which surprised me.
seems my chinese will eat them but always leaves some of it behind probably as proof that it is mightier then the grasshopper and she digs in to them and the bumble bees like its thanksgiving and she acts like she has not eaten in a long time but only been a day or 2 since she laid her ooth and now she is chowing down on anything that she can get her arms wrapped around!
just got to make sure that the grasshoppers are not in area where there is any kind of sprays or pesticides being used and have to make sure in my case there is mosquito control every so often and sprays in some areas where crickets and other bugs around my area hang out and so got to play it safe when getting them!
Ntsees
Well-known member
MantidLord
Well-known member
I think they will eat grasshoppers in the wild. As I found two Europeans in a lot surrounded by hoppers of all sizes. That's what I fed them (until I stopped being cheap and bought some crix ) I don't see anything wrong with them.
) I don't see anything wrong with them.
Of course they eat them in the wild. Any place I find that is full of grasshoppers is also full of mantids.I think they will eat grasshoppers in the wild. As I found two Europeans in a lot surrounded by hoppers of all sizes. That's what I fed them (until I stopped being cheap and bought some crix
acerbity
Well-known member
I've been sweep netting the woods down the street and catching hundreds of grasshoppers, some small enough to feed to L2 g.gongylodes and d.lobata. I also swept up some tiny aphids or katydids or something, small and green and my L1 p.paradoxa gobbled them up, so it seems like if grasshoppers are abundant they are perfect for every stage of a mantid's life.
Quake
Well-known member
I catch grasshoppers in my alleyway whenever I can because my frogs and turtle go nuts for them. The only time I got a mantid to eat them was my giant asians who were big and strong but they are a feeder favorite if you can get a hold of them.
but they are a feeder favorite if you can get a hold of them.
