Mating

[C.way]

Hi all, can mantis mate any time they want to or does it has certain time when they want to make it out???

Having a pair of ant mimic mantis here and I'm pretty worried that the female has the male for lunch if I let them mate...

 

[batsofchaos]

You should check out the subforum for breeding and nymph care here, it's full of useful information on mating mantids. The short answer is you shouldn't try to mate them until both have been adults for at least 2-3 weeks, before that and they probably won't be ready. With some aggressive species it can be almost impossible to keep the female from eating the male while mating, but with less aggressive species you can usually avoid cannibalism by setting them up properly. Introduce the female to the male's cage where he can see her, but she can't see him. Feed her very well before hand, and maybe hand-feed her as soon as she's in his cage so she's distracted. Make sure the cage they're in is big enough for him to get away once they've mated. Rick's guide which is pinned at the top of the breeding subforum is a great guide to follow for mating mantids and minimizing casualties.

I'm not sure what species your mantids are, since 'ant mantis' can be used to describe several different species, but if you do a google search for your specific species plus the term 'care sheet' you can usually find good advice for mating your specific species. Good luck!

 

[ismart]

Pair them up, if she goes nutts and tries to grab him just break it up, and try again tomorrow.

 

[C.way]

thanks for the info

and sorry for posting on the wrong place

 

[yen_saw]

THis species appear to be very aggresive towards the prey but from my experience they are surpringly tolerate towards the mating partner, if she is well fed the male is likely to survive pairing, much better surviving rate compare to Rhombodera sp. or Hierodula sp. Also, mating doesn't last longer than an hour at a time but the male will continue to pair up with the same female if you leave them together.

 

[C.way]

THis species appear to be very aggresive towards the prey but from my experience they are surpringly tolerate towards the mating partner, if she is well fed the male is likely to survive pairing, much better surviving rate compare to Rhombodera sp. or Hierodula sp. Also, mating doesn't last longer than an hour at a time but the male will continue to pair up with the same female if you leave them together.

thanks for the advice...just got my male killed by it's prey yesterday...what a disappointment to me, been out to one of my hot spot for this sp. yesterday night, using car flash light, waited for an hour without any male fly out, so do the near by florescent light in front of a worker house...only hope is for my other young nymph to grow into adulthood soon enough to mate, how long does this sp. live after moulting into adult?