Idolo's and wax worms

[tiny_sounds]

Would Idolo's eat wax worms as oppose to moths? Do they only eat flying insects? ALso, if you had a sexed pair, would they be ok, housed together?

thanks

 

[Kruszakus]

Would Idolo's eat wax worms as oppose to moths? Do they only eat flying insects? ALso, if you had a sexed pair, would they be ok, housed together?thanks

Don't even EVER feed Empusidae with waxworms! It's as bad as feeding crickets - usualy the abdomen of a mantis fed with waxworms gets really hard, and the mantis often dies.

With adults it may often cause infertility.

 

[tiny_sounds]

Don't even EVER feed Empusidae with waxworms! It's as bad as feeding crickets - usualy the abdomen of a mantis fed with waxworms gets really hard, and the mantis often dies.With adults it may often cause infertility.

Cool. Point taken. How easy or difficult is it to breed blue bottles to feed them with. I've reared wax moths before.

 

[hibiscusmile]

it is not difficulte really, but really smells and most people cant handle that , I know I can't.

 

[Rick]

Don't even EVER feed Empusidae with waxworms! It's as bad as feeding crickets - usualy the abdomen of a mantis fed with waxworms gets really hard, and the mantis often dies.With adults it may often cause infertility.

Do what? <_< Do you have any proof of any food causing infertility in mantids?

 

[Kruszakus]

Do what? <_< Do you have any proof of any food causing infertility in mantids?

Yeah, unfortunatelly with Empusids and some other mantids - breeders I'm in contact with, who fed P. wahlbergii with large waxmoths and their larvae were unable to get fertile ooths and with Gongylus there were casualties after feeding a couple of worms.

I have to reiterate their complaints - I also switched from just house flies to large waxmoths and waxworms - for 4 months I had no fertile ooths - I don't think it was a coincidence, especially since I had a vast quantity of breeding pairs.

I also witnessed a waxworm devouring an adult Idolomorpha male, that made me want to get rid of this kind of food even more.

Oh, and it took only one stray, hungry worm, to get inside the mantis' enclosure - and make ooths look like swiss cheese!

 

[hibiscusmile]

I use them for some feedings, never gave it to any of those though, I also when I use my forcepts to grab them (I know u manly men use your fingers!) I usually smash their mouth or cut them in half so as not to have any problems, they are a nasty mean mouth bunch!

 

[bassist]

You should destroy the jaws of any worm before feeding it to a mantid imo some mantids will have enough problems with the worm's struggling.