Nymph Death Toll

[Curiosity]

Sometime around May 28, the mantis egg my mom bought from Insect Lore hatched. I originally assumed they were Europeans but they seem kind of big compared to other nymphs I've seen, so maybe they were Chinese. I don't have pictures just now. 

I have two questions. One, is it normal for nymphs of those species to experience a 78% death rate before getting to L2? Two, there's one particular problem I keep having. My best mantis success story so far is starting out with an L4 European nymph in summer (I've had no experiences with mantises outside of Europeans because those are the ones I can find in the backyard) and keeping it alive until a few days before Christmas. I've never actually gotten a mantis across the gap between L1 and L4 successfully. The one problem I had the two times one of my L1 nymphs did survive to L2: after their first molt, they lost all interest in eating. Wouldn't react to any prey until that had its natural consequences. Why would this happen? Is there a way around it?

I guess I have a third question as well. Should I just give up on trying to raise European nymphs as a doomed project and instead try to save up the money for a nymph of a different species? 

 

[agent A]

chinese are a creamy brown color at hatching, while europeans are jet black with very tiny, almost circular heads

i suspect you had chinese nymphs

there are a few things I do to reduce I1 mortality

1: i keep nymphs sparsely crowded. they are less stressed this way. a 1 cubic foot net cage should have maybe 25 hatchlings at the most

2: live plants are your friend. they transpire and maintain a good humidity for nymphs

3: water! spray in morning and evening into the net cage

4: 3D space! add enough excelsior and plants (real and fake) to give nymphs enough perches

5: wait until day 3 to offer food

6: have pollen for the nymphs. mortality is lower (scientifically verified btw) when nymphs eat pollen. i usually throw in willow catkins, but it depends on what's currently blooming

it sounds like your nymphs molt and then get dehydrated. make sure you are giving them enough water

 

[hibiscusmile]

It is normal for that die off.