How big does a breeding group need to be?

[PeterF]

For this post I will use the word "colony" to refer to the total number/group of mantids of one species you keep to maintain a cycle of eggs/hatch/nymph/adult/breeding. I do not mean "colony" to suggest anykind of communal living or shared space.

I tend to over do things. I can see myself trying to keep40 of each species of mantid we have as insurance against bad molts, canibalisim on a date (that is, before the actual breeding) etc. But I can also see how much of a pain that would be, just having done about 20 europeans.

So.

From say about L4 or L5, how many individuals do you expect to need to get breeding adults and in turn enough oothes to support the cycle (I know one ooth is arguably enough, but multiple would reduce inbreeding somewhat). How many of these mid range nymphs do you suggest to avoid bad molts, failed matings, or getting them all of 1 gender?

 

[Ntsees]

Usually a pair is just enough. But in the case of having enough to insure that you have males and females, that's up to you. I usually end up with somewhere about 10 young mantids (which I then put them in their own jars to prevent cannibalism) before they become adults. Because the probably of males and females is 50/50, I'm sure to have both unless I'm incredibly unlucky. As far as inbreeding goes, I don't think you have to worry about that regarding your species. If you want to introduce new blood into your mantids, just order one from the forum or go mantid hunting.

 

[yen_saw]

Very much depending on the difficulty level of the species. To ensure another successful generation from L4/L5 group, I keep around 20-25 of the difficult species, and 10 for the easier species. Expect worse case scenario of 40% casualty along the way to reaching adult. Always better to keep more males than females, 2:1 ratio at least. Which is why more than often you will see more people looking for male than female on the ad section.

 

[hibiscusmile]

Ditto Yen!

 

[sporeworld]

Same. I usually get 20 of a species and take it from there (mine ARE all communal living). I had no luck with these numbers on Orchids or Dead Leaf, becuase I didn't do the research on slowing down the males. I did get one Orchid to breed, but she never laid an ooth (never understood that).

20 or 40 individual deli cups should keep you busy for a while. Are you counting out flies and feeding them on a schedule...?