I have a couple of nymphs. I put 3-4 fly pupae in each of their containers, but the pupae still haven't hatched. It's been about 48 hours now and I'm worried 'cause they haven't eaten anything in a few days. Advice?
What do I do if my pupae aren't hatching?
- Thread starter callisto9
- Start date
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Fly pupa can take different amounts of time to hatch depending on the temperature. I had this problem last winter too with my fly pupa, many of them didn't hatch for a while or didn't ever hatch. But if you raise the temperature you will probably have higher success. You could also try hatching the pupa in a different container, maybe that is warmer, and then transfer them to the mantis cages, though carefully as flies are master escape artists!
How warm are the containers? Are the fly pupa being kept in the refrigerator until they need to be used?
How warm are the containers? Are the fly pupa being kept in the refrigerator until they need to be used?
Well, I put 3-4 pupae in each mantid container. The house is at 70 degrees all the time.
I took a bunch more and put them in a separate container tonight and I can put that wherever. The rest of them are in the fridge.
I'm just so worried, as they haven't had anything to eat for 48 hours now. Should I go and try and get them some tiny crickets?
Your mantises should be fine, they can go a few days without eating. In the wild they don't eat every day either. At 70 degrees the pupa should hatch in a few days. Though I find house fly pupa sometimes don't hatch at all or take longer then you would think.
What size are the mantises? If they are small enough you could try Hydei flies which are easy to culture. They are essentially larger fruit flies. But they won't work if your mantises are too large.
Also I would get some tiny crickets (also called pinhead crickets) just in case your fly pupa don't hatch.
Have any of the fly pupa hatched yet?
Good luck!
No pupae have hatched yet. It will be 72 hours tonight. I'm going to go in search of mini crickets this evening. There's no other live prey I can buy anywhere here except crickets.
The mantids are about the size of a dime. Not sure of instar, but they are young and small.
The mantids are about the size of a dime. Not sure of instar, but they are young and small.
I got five tiny crickets this evening, but I lost one and two of them appear... near death? I don't. I did put one moving tiny cricket in each of the mantid's cups. They haven't chased it down yet. But, I did see one of them drink from a water droplet and it was freaking CUTE. 
No hatched fly pupae yet.
Connor, how would I feed them banana and honey? On a tiny toothpick or something?
No hatched fly pupae yet.
Connor, how would I feed them banana and honey? On a tiny toothpick or something?
Just cleaned out the mantid cups. And no hatched pupae. Put everything back together and put the 3-4 pupae back in each of the containers. I look over 20 mins. later and there are two flies on the top! Finally! And Thing 1 just caught one.
*whew* I was getting worried!
*whew* I was getting worried!
Awesome! Glad the flies hatched finally. and it looks like that one nymph is enjoying that cricket!
It's taking about 4-5 days for the pupae to hatch, for anyone else who might have this problem. I did put them in the freezer for 60 seconds and everyone got flies tonight. Bruce (our adult Chinese female) already ate all hers.
I've come to realize that feeding flies is really annoying. I can't take my mantids out and handle them while there are live flies in there....because flies *fly*.
First world mantis owner problems, I know.
First world mantis owner problems, I know.
Krissim Klaw
Well-known member
Since I like to feed my flies before feeding anyways I find it is helpful just to hatch the flies in a separate cage and put a fly or two in when I want to feed. If you shine a light where the mantis is sitting, the flies usually fly there and the mantises tend to catch them within minutes. Then you don't have to worry about having a bunch of loose flies puttering around when you want to take your mantises out later.I've come to realize that feeding flies is really annoying. I can't take my mantids out and handle them while there are live flies in there....because flies *fly*.
First world mantis owner problems, I know.
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Ocelotbren
Well-known member
As far as hatch time, I started recording the number of days for my flies to hatch so I have a good reference in the future. House flies do seem to take longer than blue bottles. The time of year is also relevant because in the summer they get close to hatching while in transit so sometimes they hatch within a day, or worse, while in transit. In winter, they take more time to hatch after arrival. I hatch a bunch at once in a container and use my estimated hatch times to know when to start another container.
House fly pupae don't last as long in the fridge either. Blue bottles are just easier all around - last longer in the fridge, seem to be hardier, have a better hatch rate and live longer once hatched.
I like numbers though and enjoy keeping track of this stuff; you probably don't have to go into this much detail to have success.
House fly pupae don't last as long in the fridge either. Blue bottles are just easier all around - last longer in the fridge, seem to be hardier, have a better hatch rate and live longer once hatched.
I like numbers though and enjoy keeping track of this stuff; you probably don't have to go into this much detail to have success.
This is great info to have - not too much info at all! Thank you. I'm going to need to keep track of this as well, as I don't want my mantids to starve
Thanks for the tips on the blue bottle flies - that's what I'll get next time around.
Thanks for the tips on the blue bottle flies - that's what I'll get next time around.
Ocelotbren
Well-known member
No problem! I've come to learn that using blue bottles as soon as the nymphs are big enough to handle them is easier than stepping them up through stable flies and house flies, if possible.
