Yeah, Wayne seems to have it right. The Biological Principle (!) behind feeding any predator is to give it the largest food that it can readily overcome so as to minimize the amount of energy that it expends on prey capture. The saved energy is used for growth, and in adults, for spermatogenesis and egg laying.
As a matter of personal preference, I feed most of my mantids flying prey. Like you, I don't keep tiny species, so I start with mels, go to hydei as quickly as I can, then flies, which are a staple diet, to bluebottles, which Hibiscusmile is now selling at a resaonable price, through bees. Many people do not like to feed bees because, like you, they live in a CCD state, or because of fear of being stung (I have watched hundreds of bee captures by mantids and have never once seen the bee attempt to sting its attacker but once got stung in the ###### due to my own carelessness! :lol: ). Some serious breeders like Yen Saw and Christian use bees, even in CCD areas because like Yen, they are collecting wild bees or, like Christian, they believe that the number of bees that they collect does not affect the areas distribution.
Generaslly, you will be surprised at how large a prey a mantis can overpower. My S. limbata, at about the same adult size as yr S. californica, could easily overcome a bee, and would usually capture it within seconds of its being introduced into the pot.
Personally, I have never spent any cash on ffs other than mels and hydei. Sliders and gliders might be great, but their slight difference in size does not seem to be significant as a food choice.
