PhilinYuma
Well-known member
Since Thanksgiving day, none of my mantids has died. This is good news because in the weeks preceding Thanksgiving, every U.S native mantis that I owned, including two batches of Texas mantids, a batch of very healthy looking S. limbata at L. 5, my one P. carolina and T. gramminis, all of the nymphs from two ooths of Gonastea grisea, the Florida bark mantis, and just to show that this wasn't just a U.S. thing, all five of my ant mantids that I was ready to mate. During this carnage, breeding groups of budwings, Parasphendale agrionina, Creobroter gemmatus and Pseudocreobrotra wahlbergii and a few odds and ends continued without any losses at all, oblivious to the mayhem around them. I have also not had an ooth hatch in that time.
I can think of no reason for this. The only problem that I could see with the mantids that I lost was that they were dead. I tried isolation, change of pots and all the other usual things. I really wish that I could think of something that I did wrong, however stupid, so that I could have corrected it. I don't like writing downbeat posts, but I derived some small satisfaction from the fact that Rick had reported a similarly unaccountable but less severe die out recently. Also, for anyone beginning in the hobby, though I suspect that this experience was highly unusual, it does not mean the end of one's mantis keeping career. I shall mate what I have, revamp my bug room and do a few other things in December, and then start building up my collection again in January.
Wish me luck!
I can think of no reason for this. The only problem that I could see with the mantids that I lost was that they were dead. I tried isolation, change of pots and all the other usual things. I really wish that I could think of something that I did wrong, however stupid, so that I could have corrected it. I don't like writing downbeat posts, but I derived some small satisfaction from the fact that Rick had reported a similarly unaccountable but less severe die out recently. Also, for anyone beginning in the hobby, though I suspect that this experience was highly unusual, it does not mean the end of one's mantis keeping career. I shall mate what I have, revamp my bug room and do a few other things in December, and then start building up my collection again in January.
Wish me luck!
