Mass colony

[jackdhammer]

My brother asked me to hatch too ooths of Chinese mantids that he can release in his gardens. He has a large property with different gardens he would like to populate with mantids.

My question is, how long after hatching can I keep them together before releasing in the wild. I would like to get them to L3 or so but to be honest I don't know if that's gonna work.

Any advice or input is appreciated.

 

[Rick]

You will lose some to random deaths. Eventually they will also start to eat one another. It ususally doesn't happen right off, but will happen unless they have plenty of space filled with plants/branches and plenty of food. It is unrealistic that two ooths worth of mantids will survive until adulthood in a garden. Your friend might end up with a few adults in the end.