Meal Moths

[Wade]

Does anybody else use meal moths (Pyralis farinalis) as feeders? These things have infested my cockroach and mealworm bins and the moths can be found all over my animal room. Mantid nymphs that are at least an 3/4 of an inch long seem to like them. When I need to feed, I just get out the old aspirator and walk around and suck them up! The only downside I can see is that sometimes the will freeze near the top of the rearing cup and the mantid won't notice them. A gentle tap gets them moving again however.

Anybody know of any long-term disadvantages to these? I also feed greenbottle flies when I take the time to trap some, but the moths are much more convenient.

Wade

 

[Asa]

Moths are rather low in nutritional value, and by feeding them to your mantids, you'll have to be careful, because it takes a couple of moths to equal one cricket; even more so when they are older. Even flies have more nutrition than them.

I only would use moths in the lack of other food sources. In fact, I've actually had mantids starve, even though they had all the moths they could want. Something also of the case with 'rabbit starvation'. A man could eat all the rabbits he wanted, without ever getting enough, because rabbits have no fat.

In other words, feed moths as more of a replacement food, rather than a 'main course'. Perhaps a 'dessert dish'

 

[Wade]

Thanks Asa!

I'm also feeding them the larger fruit flies (which are small for these nymphs but not too small to be eaten) and green bottle flies. I have crickets and cockroaches as well, but I'm told these are a species (the Texs unicorns) that prefer flying insects.

Wade