hmmm, that looks like mantis food

[wyethia]

So, I was at my boyfriends house walking through the front yard and listening to the plan to re-do his water line...when my little eye did spy little bodies swarming on the fallen grapefuit. So, as I tried to pretend to still be listening and looking for a route for water line, I'm trying to examine the fruit flies (OH! melanogaster size!) and figure out how I can somehow snag the grapefruit and flies and get them back to my house. I assume that my little babies would like these little things and they would be fine to feed them? It seems silly since I have 2 lovely cultures of hydei (flightless!), but I wonder if my little nymphs would like these smaller treats too.

I think I've lost my mind...

Wyethia

 

[patrickfraser]

Just wait until you invest in a butterfly net :lol: I see mantis food everywhere!

 

[PhilinYuma]

No, no, Wyethia! You can never have too many kinds of fruit flies. I shamed myself when our local batch of painted lady butterflies emerged last year, though, all on the same day, of course. I always enjoy them, but on that occasion I thought, "Yep they are beautiful, but without their wings, they don't have much food value." Now that is really sad.

 

[sporeworld]

BTW, I saw my first Katydid of the year yesterday. Way earlier than I usually see them. Also, still a lot of Mosquito Hawks buzzing around.

 

[hibiscusmile]

Dear me! she is totatly ours now! :lol: that didn't take long!

 

[dgerndt]

Haha, I see mantis food outside all the time. Just as I was replying to another topic a few minutes ago, I saw a bug buzz past my window and I looked and thought, "Dang, I wish I could've caught that!"

 

[macawlover2]

Although I'm still a novice, I've heard from several sources that some mantids actually prefer flighted flies, so the wild ones you saw would probably be devoured by yours!

I can't wait until I can start catching wild bugs this summer... I want to experiment to see what types of bugs my mantids prefer over others.

 

[dgerndt]

Me too! I've already noticed that they don't care for box elder bugs. But moths and flies are good.