Hi Folks!

[polDurna1]

Greetings, I am new to the forum. but not totally new to caring for Mantids. I am a mother of 3 boys and 6 girls, when the boys were younger and fewer sisters abounded we lived in TX and kept a terrium resort for the boys catches(spiders, snakes, lizzards, Mantids etc) who were kept and studdied for 3 weeks or less and released.

10 yrs later the boys have grown, I am a Children's Paster of a church in western PA and the spring curriculum for the preschoolers(youngest daughter's class) is about Bugs. I can get Butterfly and Ladybug kits for local release, and the girls will like the prettys, but I would also like to have a more "rugged" bug for the boys.

We have 6 weeks of 2 meetings a week, and I will be able to manage care of the critters daily, basking/daylight and heat lamps are available and I have humidity setups (I keep tortoises, turtles and hermit crabs at home) and several different habitat setups for the various guests we will raise and release (I may adopt). 

Could someone help me know which kind of mantid would be suitable and if I should get an ooth or a young mantid? Various opinions, input and leads welcome.

Thanks for your time.

 

[Serle]

Greetings & Welcome , I will let someone more local to your area advise you on the species best suited to your want's/needs......... S

 

[Mantis Lady]

welcome,

Bugs are indeed a nice topic to do to teach childeren about insect life.

 

[River Dane]

Welcome to the forum.

if you intend on releasing the Mantids, obviously you’ll want a Native species. I think over on the East Coast, you have Carolinas, Chinese, and Europeans. 

If you’re looking for something more exotic, ghost mantises are a pretty common beginner mantis, and giant Asian Mantids (Hierodula sp.)

Goo luck with whatever you choose! Nice to know these children will receive education on these amazing creatures.

 

[Rick]

Welcome

 

[polDurna1]

Thanks for the welcome,  I am still doing a bit more research and finding out lots of valuable info here on this forum to make the kids learning experience a very positive one!