Lids for mantis and raising questions

KevinsWither · Oct 9, 2015

I have a good amount of questions. This is so I can budget an amount for mantids

How many lids are typically needed for a hatching of an average sized mantis egg ooth
How many fruit fly cultures are needed if you have 1-6+ species
How many mantids typically survive with good care to adulthood

ethanblaze1017 · Oct 9, 2015

Hello Kevin,

there are a lot of "ifs" to fill in with that question, in order for us to be able to properly answer it.

1st: when you say "averaged sized" that could mean anything. an averaged sized polyspilota griffin ooth could hatch 150 mantids. and an averaged sized moments binotata ooth could hatch 20... So please clarify the species of ooth you mean by that.

2nd: when you say 1-6+ species. that could mean 1-6 mantids(1 each) or 700 mantids(hundreds of each species).

3rd: All mantids(past their first instar), with proper care can make it to adulthood. thats not to say that there won't be any random die-offs, but there is always a reason (lack of proper humidity for that species causing mismolt, the mantis deciding to molt off of a ledge or branch and accidentally falling, parasites in the feeders, stress, temp issues, etc.) we may not always know the reason, but there always is one. Just make sure you know the proper care requirements, and stick to them, and you should have no problem getting your pets to adulthood.

if you could clarify on the first two, then id love to be able to give you an accurate answer.

get back to you soon-

Ethan

KevinsWither · Oct 9, 2015

For the first question, it would be for an average hatch of 60 nymphs.

And for the second one, it would mean a hatch of mantids (like 100) of each species.

ethanblaze1017 · Oct 9, 2015

id begin with 5 fruit fly colonies. Continuously making more (1 extra per week). 600 mantids is a lot to care for(hatch of 100, for 6 ooths).

as for lids, it would depend on if you plan on keeping the young nymphs communally to begin with, before you sell them. obviously, at some point you're going to have to enclose each individual nymph in a shipping container and you'll need 1 lid per container. so if you're expecting up to 600 mantids, then purchasing 600 lids would be safe.