Mealworms

[Synapze]

I was told early in my mantis keeping hobby that mealworms are great for occasional feeding. I watched a YouTube vid or two and was convinced raising the worms would be cheap and easy. The small farm has started producing, but now I've been told, both in this forum and other online resources, that mealworms are BAD for mantids and can bite and possibly injure them during feeding. 

Do any of you feed mealworms to your mantids? If so, do you have any tips on how to feed without the danger of injury? 

Many thanks!

 

[Mantis Lady]

I never fed one to my mantids.  I have 3 types of feeders: grasshoppers, crickets and dubias.

 

[River Dane]

I, personally, never experienced any problem with mealworms. They made up almost the entire diet of my adult S. limbatas back in September last year. 

The main problem was the mealworms would burrow into the substrate, and my Mantids couldn’t find them, and when they did, the exoskeletons were too strong for my mantises to eat through. The easy solution was to slice off the head, eliminating the threat of a nasty bite and giving the Mantids a starting point for consumption. After slicing the mealworms, the gooey end with the innards would be placed in front of the mantis’ mouth, and the mantis should eat it just fine from there.

However, since then, I’ve been told that black soldier flies and their larvae would make a much more suitable prey for Mantids, as they can be eaten as both adult flies and larvae, and lack a bite and a hard exoskeleton. I’ve never used them, but I plan on trying them out with my European mantis,  so I can’t personally suggest them to you myself just yet. But this is what I was told.

 

[Synapze]

@River Dane Thanks for the knowledge. I think I'll try the decapitation technique.

 

[MantisGirl13]

@Synapze That is probably the smart thing to do. I just use flies, Dubia roaches, fruit flies, and whatever I can find outside in the summer.

- MantisGirl13

 

[Synapze]

@Synapze That is probably the smart thing to do. I just use flies, Dubia roaches, fruit flies, and whatever I can find outside in the summer.

- MantisGirl13

LOL... I do quite a bit of searching for bugs for Mr Twig. He seems to appreciate it. He's still on the mend, but is doing well and the little booger has returned to normal in regards to his appetite. He deserves something special this weekend to show I appreciate the fact that he survived the scare. I want to try dubias, but I'm a little squeamish with roaches. ?

 

[MantisGirl13]

 @Synapze Roaches will not do ANYTHING! They are literally just fat crickets that can't bite and like to play dead. Dubias cannot even breed unless they are at warm temps, so they could not infest. They are very easy feeders. If you are too squeamish, then use pliers to pick up the roaches. It is that easy!

- MantisGirl13

 

[Predatorhousepet]

I feed mealworms fairly regularly and I do cut off their heads first, it eliminates any possible problems as River Dane described. I also feed black soldier flies (just the flies) and they are extremely easy to care for. Just toss in some food scraps once or twice a week and check every couple days to see if new flies have hatched and feed those off. I've had some problems with my mantises not wanting to eat dubia roaches but they will take them with some coaxing if I cut the head off first. I've found that Red Runner roaches are much better received than dubias as they have soft bodies and wiggle around a lot. They are also easy to keep and breed and don't smell or make noise like crickets. (I do occasionally buy crickets.) The babies are tolerable but the adults are much closer to how house roaches look so if you are squeamish about that you can use metal feeding tongs or forceps so you never have to touch them. Just make sure their enclosure is extremely secure, because escapees can breed in your house. They can't climb plastic so their enclosure should be tall and the lid should lock in place, a waterproof seal is a bonus.

 

[Synapze]

Thanks for the info! I didn't want to abandon my mealworm farm since it's off to a good start.

 

[Synapze]

@MantisGirl13 I going to order some dubias and go from there. So, I'll be feeding blue bottle flies, decapitated mealworms, and dubias. That along with a few other insects from time to time as treat should be a good variety.

 

[Predatorhousepet]

Bluebottle flies are pretty much the main staple for all my adult mantises. They prefer them over every other option.

 

[MantisGirl13]

@Synapze That sounds like a well-rounded diet! Most mantids don't have that many prey options!

- MantisGirl13