Video/Photo Request of (♀) Chinese Mantis Releasing Pheromones

[SntaCruz83]

I just had a rather interesting experience with trying to mate a couple of my Chinese mantises. I guess nothing really new that hasn't been written about before...male sees female, male flies at female, female freaks out, female flies on owner's face, etc. I'm not sure if my male was just being too aggressive with his desires or if my female simply isn't ready yet. I was wondering if anyone had a video of the female releasing her pheromones (preferably of the Chinese species)? She molted into adulthood 17 days ago and I just want to make sure she's actually ready before I give it another go. Thanks.

 

[Malti]

female flies on owner's face

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[mantidsaresweet]

Yeah she should be ready. Just wait a day and try again. Also if you give the female a food item to munch on while the male makes his move, it could help distract her from what's really going on :lol: .

 

[SntaCruz83]

I went ahead and gave it another shot this morning hoping that with the cooler temperatures they'd be a little less active, but still active enough. I gave the female a cricket to munch on and then placed the male behind her. He didn't seem to get what was going on at first but as soon as he realized what was up, he was...up...or bent...whatever. When he hopped on her she was startled and dropped the cricket, but I got another one for her and she was munchin' on that new one till she decided to toss it aside. Hopefully she won't get hungry later.

 

[sppc9876]

She looks like she needs to be plumped up to avoid eating the male

 

[SntaCruz83]

She is a picky eater. Rarely finishes crickets, loves grass skippers (though not much of a meal), and doesn't seem interested in flies. I've given her three crickets so far...eaten each for about 5 minutes before tossing them aside. I feed my crickets flukers orange cubes and oatmeal, and none of the other mantises seem to mind.

 

[SntaCruz83]

7 hours later, they are done and separated. He detached and stayed on her back for a while...every so often he even used his forearms to scrape at her neck and I thought for a while he was going to go for another round since I saw his abdomen curving around hers. Then, as if out of nowhere he suddenly took off like a bat out of heck and was in the clear. Thanks for the suggestions and tips, folks.