Why us females are better of course! Both in mantises and humans, we are the queens after all!
It's hard for me to answer this question. I've had so many wonderful mantises in both genders and I find positives and negatives to owning either gender. I deal with mainly Chinese Mantises, so I'll list what I've noticed with them starting with the girls, because ladies first of course.
Females Likes-
Life expectancy- they do seem to live a little longer than males on average.
Easy Feeders- All my females on a whole have been very voracious hunters who are more than willing to tackle almost anything I toss at them. Adult females will gladly take food on a daily bases so if you enjoy watching them eat they are wonderful little gluttons.
Confident- Most female mantises I have had are on the confident side. They aren't quick to shy and love to preen themselves in front of a curious crowd.
Calmer- I enjoy taking my mantises out of cage for some free time, and the females are far more relaxed about sitting around. Sure they climb about some but they will often find a perch and relax.
Female Dislikes-
They lay egg cases- I don't usually breed my mantises so I have no need for their egg cases. Since I use mesh cages the females are a bit trickier to keep because I have to rotate them into my metal mesh cage or my older cages because if they lay their eggs straight on the fabric of the of the fine mesh I'll never be able to completely clean the mesh off in that spot. The constant laying of egg cases can also be harder on their body, especially when they get older and you can see the extra weight become hard for them to carry.
Flight- Tied into laying egg cases, female Chinese Mantises are too heavy generally for much more than the occasionally hop flutter.
Overall- Female Chinese Mantises are little queens and they expect to be treated like them. They are not fond of being poked along and they will do as they please but they can be little sweethearts when they want to.
Male Likes-
Great fliers- I always have so much fun having them fly over to me.
More nimble- They are slender and light weight and often remain pretty limber even into old age. As adults they are very active I think in part for the natural instinct to search out mates.
Gentle- Most males I've had are very easy to handle. They are usually more than willing to be nudged where you want them to go and are less lightly to take up offensive stances if frightened.
Male Dislikes-
Picky eaters- Well picky in so much as they won't devour everything insight like their female counterparts. They don't eat every day and sometimes it can get annoying trying to guess if they have gone long enough without food when your trying to get them to eat. I also have noticed they are more likely to shy at prey items and can be a bit more skiddish about what they will attempt to tackle. Sometimes this nervous behavior can also make them shy and jumpy when being handled.
Overall- Males are dainty little, dorky, love bugs who aren't afraid to show off their gentle side.
I guess you could say I'm really smitten with all my little mantises male or female. Unlike Mantida I haven't had any problems handling my female Chinese mantises. Not sure I would say so much as they are more aggressive, but they demand more respect when being moved. They know they are slower and unable to fly as adults so they often will move to a display offensive stance if threatened. Males however are light and can fly so if threatened they will often try fleeing first. In the end, both are just doing what they would do in the wild to survive.
