Domanating
Well-known member
It's that time of the year again, when my Religiosa ooths start hatching like crazy. Also it's when I make some of the stupidest mistakes. Two years ago, I was convinced the nymphs couldn't get through ventilation holes in terrarium lids but they did, in their dozens.
Last year I duct taped some netting to help them climb. Well, I should know better when it comes to duct tape and insects. These kinds of stupid mistakes are becoming a tradition and this year was no different.
This year is a good year. 5 big ooths hatched entirely and now I have a few hundred mantids roaming around. This year I decided to keep them all together in a big enclosure 'au naturel'. Meaning there's soil, plants growing, all types of decomposer insects keeping the enclosure clean and alive while also being food for the mantids plus the extra fruit flies and aphids I give them.
Amongst the green,I planted a few bean plants. "Why on Earth would you put bean plants in the enclosure?" You may ask. Good question, glad you asked.
Not only they are tall and provide an excellent porch for the nymphs but they also attract aphids, lots of them. So I can grab a few aphids from the beans I grow in my garden and put them in my enclosure where they would live and reproduce happily and provide a great deal of food without me moving a finger.
Unfortunately for my complete and utter surprise I would never, ever have guessed how dangerous those plants where to my nymphs until they hatched and used them as a porch. And here's the result:
They are all stuck together like glue. The very fine hairs covering the plant stick very well to them and they just can't free themselves out. I went through the grueling process of freeing every single nymph from the plant with a needle. Took me nearly an hour I guess. Only 3 nymphs died as a direct result of this, unable to move baked in the sun.
Now my enclosure lacks green. i need to find something else as a substitute.
From all the mistakes I made in my mantid care history, this one takes the cake as the most surprising one.
Last year I duct taped some netting to help them climb. Well, I should know better when it comes to duct tape and insects. These kinds of stupid mistakes are becoming a tradition and this year was no different.
This year is a good year. 5 big ooths hatched entirely and now I have a few hundred mantids roaming around. This year I decided to keep them all together in a big enclosure 'au naturel'. Meaning there's soil, plants growing, all types of decomposer insects keeping the enclosure clean and alive while also being food for the mantids plus the extra fruit flies and aphids I give them.
Amongst the green,I planted a few bean plants. "Why on Earth would you put bean plants in the enclosure?" You may ask. Good question, glad you asked.
Not only they are tall and provide an excellent porch for the nymphs but they also attract aphids, lots of them. So I can grab a few aphids from the beans I grow in my garden and put them in my enclosure where they would live and reproduce happily and provide a great deal of food without me moving a finger.
Unfortunately for my complete and utter surprise I would never, ever have guessed how dangerous those plants where to my nymphs until they hatched and used them as a porch. And here's the result:
They are all stuck together like glue. The very fine hairs covering the plant stick very well to them and they just can't free themselves out. I went through the grueling process of freeing every single nymph from the plant with a needle. Took me nearly an hour I guess. Only 3 nymphs died as a direct result of this, unable to move baked in the sun.
Now my enclosure lacks green. i need to find something else as a substitute.
From all the mistakes I made in my mantid care history, this one takes the cake as the most surprising one.
