sschind
Well-known member
I am interested in trying my hand at breeding mantids. I've done fish and reptiles and millipedes and a wide variety of feeder animals. I've kept ghost and budwing nymphs before as well as the obligate WC Chinese mantids that enthusiasts such as myself find at this time of year and I am stillw aiting for my male tarantulas to mature so I thought I might try mantids. Since I have experience with the ghosts and budwings I thought i would start with them. Obviously i have a lot of research to do (Orins new book may be on my Christmas list) but I have one simple question to ask before I get too far into it. I know male tarantulas mature much faster than females so buying babies of the same size with the hope of pairing them up later is not going to happen. I was under the impression that a similar thing occurs with mantids, though not to the same degree. I was told when I bought my first budwings that as soon as they were sexable I would have to raise the males at a lower temp and feed them less to slow down their development so they would mature at the same time as the females. My question is is this the case with budwings and ghosts and all mantids in general.
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.
), most mantid specie have males that mature faster than the females: in some cases the males mature fast enough to be ahead by one instar, or some males in general have one fewer instar than females. In both cases it is best to lower the temperature of the male and don't starve him, but a little less food for him... and females live longer than males, so it is better to have your females several instars ahead of the male if you can't slow down the male then speed up the female. And for budwings and ghosts, I don't remember the males skipping a molt, so slow them down a little. Hope this helps!
