Hehe, cheers, i love my job/hobby. Just applied for Faceoff on the SyFy channel, so if anyone's in LA, come show me around.Love your avatar, Glitch. (Bug people **are** a strange bunch)..
I would hatch the flies sooner and keep those in the fridge, taking them out to feed your mantis and to re-feed them honey then put them back in the fridge as soon as you can and they should last weeks that way, which is better than the pupae never hatching even though they seem to be able to do it in nature easy enough?
@Angelofdeath: "I feel strongly that gut loading the flies before feeding them to your mantis is very important, I know some will hatch the flies in the enclosure with the mantis, which ends up being poor nutrition for them. That's great, Nick. I feel that "gut loading" tritrophic feeders is a waste of time, so we can have a nice discussion.
I guess that i should start with my usual whinge about gut loading insects in general. This is one of the many practices that have been transferred, without much rhyme or reason, from the reptile hobby, where "gut loading" is used to provide the captive animal with minerals and vitamins that it would not normally get in captivity. No such issue obtains in the rearing of insects
An even stronger argument can be made against using honey as the food supplement. The mantis already has a good store of sugar stored as glycogen in its fat body. Is there any evidence that this is not enough? Also, of course, the insect's soluble sugar, trehalose, does not help growth, it provides quick energy, particularly for the flight muscles. Alas , most mantis nymphs don't fly much. Here is part of an Eclogue by Theocritus that deals with this very issue:
"Why does the bee like carbs, Papa?"
"Well, they are useful things
That give the bee the energy
To flap her tiny wings."
"And do they help her thrive, and grow,
And metamoph her oses?"
"No those are proteins, silly goose.
And lipids drive ketosis."
On the other hand, flies, though to a lesser degree than most bees, are hirsute, and these hairs trap pollen, which can contain up to 20% protein and other yummy stuff like vitamins, so i suggest that anyone seeking to supplement their mantids' diet should consider shaking their flies in a little pollen or yen's stuff in a plastic bag like Shake 'n Bake".
Very good point, but are there no trace elements of pollen in the honey? It is winter and no pollen to be had outside here , wait no active bugs for feeders either, wow winter sucks. Yen's blend is a safe bet but I use 100% pollen for dusting, just didn't mention that thus far. I see it's my turn for philifacation...
When buying honey for mantis feeding, here is what to look for:
