Micro crickets as opposed to Fruit flies?

[wormholes556]

i was just wondering if micro crickets (1-2mm) are an okay substitute for fruit flies.

To be honest i dont like the idea of keeping flies at all as....well they can fly lol. and

also it seems abit cruel to buy a culture of a thousand odd flies just to feed a mantid or two.

 

[Paradoxica]

I think micro crickets are too big for most L1's. FYI the cultured fruitflies we talk about are flightless.

 

[hibiscusmile]

hey wormhole, like the name! I agree , to large, and the flies can be let loose outside when u r done with them, or pass them on to someone else.

 

[BugLover]

to add to what others have said, Crickets can/will attack your mantis while she molts and they are escape artists. I have had crickets in one of those "cricket keepers" and the day after I put them in they had broken one of the plastic tubes.

 

[ToeChecks]

I used micro crickets with L2's and they seemed to have a bit of a hard time. L3 they can handle them no problem. I would just get a fruit fly culture, its much easier and after the micro crickets molt once or twice they are much to big anyway. if you only have a mantis or two then maybe try catching some tiny insects. or make a fruit fly catcher. buying one would be a wast for a mantis or 2

 

[Sticky]

How do you make a ff catcher? I ordered ff but they are all started cultures and so are unuseable for a long time.

 

[wormholes556]

i have previously raised a giant african mantis from nymph to L5/6 on crickets, the micro crickets i had seemed perfect size and the mantid would go straight for them no problem.

@sticky i read somewhere if you put abit of fruit outside in maybe a jar with the lid open, when the fruit starts to rot it will attract fruit flies.

i might just try and catch some flies, however i have just lost a mantid as the result of a pesticides from a moth i caught and fed to the mantis

(that is the explanation a few people have told me anyway, it seems logical as it went from healthy to clumsy to dead in a very short time)

 

[Rick]

to add to what others have said, Crickets can/will attack your mantis while she molts and they are escape artists. I have had crickets in one of those "cricket keepers" and the day after I put them in they had broken one of the plastic tubes.

Going to disagree with you on this.

Crickets will work assuming they are the appropriate size for the mantis, but keep in mind they tend to hide whereas fruit flies are very active and will come up to the top more readily where the mantids are more likely to be.

 

[BugLover]

Going to disagree with you on this.

Crickets will work assuming they are the appropriate size for the mantis, but keep in mind they tend to hide whereas fruit flies are very active and will come up to the top more readily where the mantids are more likely to be.

I agree