I am wondering if anyone knows where I can buy moth pupae. One of my mantids just refuses to eat houseflies anymore. I was worried she was starving as she is usually a really good eater. She molted 10 days ago and really hasn't eaten much of anything in about a week. I have noticed she will almost never turn down a moth when I throw it in there. The problem is, they are not very reliable. I don't see many at my porchlight on a regular basis although I get lucky every now and then. My other mantids seem to enjoy them too when I am able to get them so I am just looking for some kind of reliable source. Please let me know if you have any ideas? Thanks!
Moth Food Sources
- Thread starter Litleape
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PhilinYuma
Well-known member
O.K. Here's a source for wax moths: http://www.wormman.com/cat_wax.cfm
I can't recommend him because i've never used him, but perhaps someone else can or give another suggestion
There might be another reason, though, why she takes moths and not flies. It seems rather unlikely that she would just "develop a taste" for moths rather than flies; it might be that her vision is impaired and that she can see the much more visible moth and not the fly. Try placing a fly on a long pair of forceps ot a mounted needle, and waving it slowly in front of her and seeing if she tracks it with her eyes. If not, and if you can see an unusual discoloration of all or part of the eyes, this might be part if the problem. Is this one of your orchids? Let us know how yr test works out.
sppc9876
Well-known member
Funny. I ran into a similar thing with my mantis as well. In fact it's been about 10 days as well since she molted. I'd be interested in where you end up getting moth pupae. They are special finds where I live.
Well she seems to see the flies. She looks at them and when they get close to her she leans away from them like "ew don't touch me." Then she usually walks away. This is normally how she acts when she is getting ready to molt. Except she should be eating now, and she looks really skinny. She ignores the moths as well but I notice that she usually eats them when no one is looking. In the morning I will see whats left of their wings on the bottom of the container. Maybe I am just being paranoid. BTW Phil, to answer your question, she is an L5-L6 Popa Spurca. Thanks for your replies.
ShieldMantid1997
Well-known member
I have found that my mantis will not go after a fly, it will wait for it to come to it, but my mantis will run to the sight of a moth and eat it. Although where i live they are at every light, in fact i just caught ten tonight. :lol:
sppc9876
Well-known member
Don't know how you feel about crickets but the can be easily manipulated with tweezers. Are popa spurca generally skittish? I would say feed what you can and give it some time. My blue flash female spontaneously decided to kill everything in sight including all my house flies today. I did starve her for a while before. Didn't make sense why she didn't before but I guess sometimes as they get older it takes longer to warm up to prey. Let us know what you end up doing. On a side note I can't believe myself and others can get so paranoid over an insect but we are and thats why we are here. 
