Mantis ID

[CoolMantid]

BUt how, I dont want them to escape

 

[Ntsees]

BUt how, I dont want them to escape

That is a risk that you are going to have to take if you don't enclose it with netting. I have taken those risks in the past, and have had times when I lost the mantid because it escaped. If you planning on doing that this year, it's probably too late. The best times are when the nights are warm.

 

[brown]

BUt how, I dont want them to escape

Assuming you wanted to place the open net enclosure on the lawn or backyard you will need to constantly watch it. Maybe it is possible to place the female in a smaller closed net enclosure which is put into a bigger open enclosure? You won't lose the female and if a male comes along he can cling inside the bigger one. Sorry if that sounds silly.

 

[lunarstorm]

Assuming you wanted to place the open net enclosure on the lawn or backyard you will need to constantly watch it. Maybe it is possible to place the female in a smaller closed net enclosure which is put into a bigger open enclosure? You won't lose the female and if a male comes along he can cling inside the bigger one. Sorry if that sounds silly.

Doesn't sound silly to me. I wanna try that scenario someday, it would be awesome if it worked! To lure a male into a large, open netcube holding a smaller, closed netcube with an inaccessible female (well, inaccessible to him) sounds too cool.

 

[Ntsees]

Doesn't sound silly to me. I wanna try that scenario someday, it would be awesome if it worked! To lure a male into a large, open netcube holding a smaller, closed netcube with an inaccessible female (well, inaccessible to him) sounds too cool.

It will and should work. Well, it does for my species. For me, all I required was a cricket cage to place the "calling" female in and didn't need a larger netcube to trap the male. She'll send out pheromones during the night and there will usually be a male next to the cricket cage in the early morning. Then I just catch the male with a net. If I'm lucky, there may be more than one male.

 

[CoolMantid]

Early how?

 

[Ntsees]

Early how?

Like around when the sun just comes up (6,7, or 8am). It's just that when there's light, a mantid tends to want to go hide in the brushes with the assumption that it's on wall (i.e. next to your front/back porch light).

 

[Pssh]

Hello,

Just thought I would add my recent observation.

I set out my female Iris in a mesh laundry basket with a branch and leaves because I have better luck with my females laying outside when they are WC. I came back out the next day to check on her and I had a ton of males in my courtyard! I caught a nice looking one and let it in the makeshift cage and they immediately began mating.

I have also set out female european mantids in cages made of 1/4" hardware cloth (which is actually metal screen) and males have been able to mate with the females through the screen.

I'm in Sacramento, CA and I had the males flock (or whatever you would call it) about two days ago, so there are still plenty of males up here.

 

[CoolMantid]

I have never seen my female mantis release any pheronomes, how long should I wait.... I saw a male today and planned on taking him home but he flew up in a high tree. I tried it last night and there was nothing what should i do?

 

[CoolMantid]

Also if I do find a male how do I mate them with out any sexual cannabalism

 

[Pssh]

Feed them well before hand.

She may have already been mated before you got her. My females seem to stop bringing in the boys once they have mated.

 

[CoolMantid]

I di find her outside and I thought she was mated before I found her so i did some research and found out you had to kinda overfeed them to give them energy to lay an ooth... She is so fat now she is even refusing small sized crickets..... I am going to my old school where all the kids have found males mantises flying around, i caught one yesterday but I flew away so I am coming back and prepared. If i havent seen her release pheronomes should i still leave her out over night.... It is starting to get really cold so I am a little worried about doing so... Also I found another female who was at a field getting hurt with soccer balls, she looks injured an is very jumpy also thin... I fed her but she is so jumpy is there any way i can calm it down

 

[brown]

Females do tend to jump a lot when they are thin. Even after laying an ooth they may get jumpy again. Fatten her up and she should calm down.

 

[CoolMantid]

I cant even take her out of the cage with out her jumping out.... I picked her up once but she jumped off me and she was the first female who I ever saw glide down for about five feet