how big of a bee to feed a mantis

[massaman]

how big of a bee can the creobroter gemmtus adults handle ?

I put a ordinary honey bee with my mantids and the bees seem to be maybe little too big?

Or can the mantis able to handle honey bees?I gave each of my adults a single honey bee in their individual containers to see if the mantis can handle that size of a food item and is this ok to do or do i need to remove the bees and go back to smaller crickets?

 

[matt020593]

Generally if the bee is about a third of the size of the mantis it should be able to take it(some times larger), be careful though I had a P. Paradoxa bit by a bee the other week and she was oozing fluid for about a day after from her raptoral arm(shes better now). They have pincer-like mouths.

 

[PhilinYuma]

how big of a bee can the creobroter gemmtus adults handle ?I put a ordinary honey bee with my mantids and the bees seem to be maybe little too big?

Or can the mantis able to handle honey bees?I gave each of my adults a single honey bee in their individual containers to see if the mantis can handle that size of a food item and is this ok to do or do i need to remove the bees and go back to smaller crickets?

If you already put the bees in, you should know the answer better than us by now!

Usually, though, a "right size" mantis will capture the bee before you have time to put the bung back in the port!

Removing a live bee from a pot can be a bit hazardous; it will die on its own, soon enough.

 

[jameslongo]

All this talk of feeder bees is confusing me. Aren't you yanks suppose to have a shortage of bees? Last I heard you importing our bees to boost numbers. Or do you kill them because you find their buzzing the tune 'Waltzing Matilda' annoying?

 

[PhilinYuma]

All this talk of feeder bees is confusing me. Aren't you yanks suppose to have a shortage of bees? Last I heard you importing our bees to boost numbers. Or do you kill them because you find their buzzing the tune 'Waltzing Matilda' annoying?

Many states, James, have Colony Collapse Disorder (cf) among their bees. AZ is one of the states that doesn't, and some breeders like Yen are collecting wild bees. I doubt that the number that a breeder collects would make much of a difference, though, one way or the other.

Walzing Who?

 

[hibiscusmile]

Also a lot of people call all bee like bugs bees, like wasps, hornets and so forth. I caution u to crush the mouth of any stinger insect used as a feeder and if possible offer to the mantis with forceps or tweezers, any mantis not molting will want to eat them, so they will take it right away if offered, other wise, u should remove it as not to harm the mantis.

 

[Rick]

There is not set size. If it can fit in the front legs the mantis can eat it. If you must feed bees do not feed honeybees. They are on the decline.

 

[jameslongo]

There is not set size. If it can fit in the front legs the mantis can eat it. If you must feed bees do not feed honeybees. They are on the decline.

Yeah! Leave our Apicus mellifera alone :lol:

 

[jacksun]

how big of a bee can the creobroter gemmtus adults handle ?I put a ordinary honey bee with my mantids and the bees seem to be maybe little too big?

Or can the mantis able to handle honey bees?I gave each of my adults a single honey bee in their individual containers to see if the mantis can handle that size of a food item and is this ok to do or do i need to remove the bees and go back to smaller crickets?

I love it!!!! Too bee or not too bee? This must be the first known occurrence of Shakespearean Mantid keeping. Just don't educate them too well or we'll all be overrun with P. paradoxa's with English lit. degrees and a voracious appetite.

I don't think I would feed a bee to my Mantids, there is a risk they don't get a proper and safe grip on it and could get hurt.

I was outside yesterday and saw some honeybees, weird thing though was they were flying upside down and counter clockwise.....thanks to Jameslongo I now know they were Apicus mellifera

 

[PhilinYuma]

I love it!!!! Too bee or not too bee? This must be the first known occurrence of Shakespearean Mantid keeping. Just don't educate them too well or we'll all be overrun with P. paradoxa's with English lit. degrees and a voracious appetite.I don't think I would feed a bee to my Mantids, there is a risk they don't get a proper and safe grip on it and could get hurt.

I was outside yesterday and saw some honeybees, weird thing though was they were flying upside down and counter clockwise.....thanks to Jameslongo I now know they were Apicus mellifera

Wait a minute! You saw this in Calgary, where the mean temp was 38F (~3C) yesterday? It is much more likely, surely, that you saw the Russian bee, Apicus freezisgooliesov.

Several members have expressed concern about bees causing injury, though I suspect that a bee's jaws are more dangerous than its sting. I have fed hundreds of bees to a variety of mantids without injury (except once, to my butt ) and I have never seen them make any attempt to sting. Crix, on the other hand, have been known to bite the feet off unsuspecting nymphs and attack ooths and moulting mantids. They also carry parasites that can infest mantids, and while most bees seem to carry a variety of critters, their parasites don't live on or in our charges.

Yay, bees!

 

[asdsdf]

Like Hibiscusmile, I also remove the stingers and usually feed them with forceps. If your mantis is willing and you don't want to take risks, you can kill the bee first before feeding with foreceps.

Is ccd still an issue?