@Mantiskid: What you have probably already guessed about me is true. I am a really , really rotten person. My last post was designed to lure you into saying that you believe that mantises need calcium so that i can ask if it helps in the development of their "tiny bones". Then I have a nightcap (and it's not hot chocolate, either), and a good chuckle and go to bed.
But no, gut loading of insect prey is not practiced in any mantis lab that I know of -- I guess that it was introduced to this hobby by herpers, where its use is justified --and there is an article somewhere on the net by a woman scienrtist that mentions the dangers of overloading predators with unwanted vitamins and particularly minerals from haphazardly gut fed prey.
What has been well documented is that mantids thrive when fed on flies and bees that are carrying pollen on their hairy bodies. It's a form of protein, present in small amounts in raw honey. Unfortunately, most honey marketers filter their honey first so that it looks "clean and clear" to stupid folks like us! Like Nick, though, i have always tended to feed my HFs and BBs honey because it doesn't form a concrete-like mass like a paste of dried milk and sugar does (though there's a way around that, too!) and flies in net cages , at least in large numbers, fly more than in the wild and need plenty of sugar to provide energy for their flight muscles, otherwise they will die of exhaustion.
There is another factor that we don't mention often. Food is metonymous for love in Western cultures and we feel that we need to make special efforts to feed our extra special pets. Usually, until a member starts worrying because his/her mantis is throwing up from being overfed, it does no harm, and it is part of the mantis-keeper gestalt, so I don'r feel bad that I never seem to convince anyone, except those like Gripen , who know already, that this is a waste of time.
O.K. It's nearly the end of April. I'll try to wait until July before I slip in my "tiny bones" joke again, but i'm not making any promises!
