| |
|
|
|
|
 |
| |
GENERAL CARE: |
|
|
Your praying mantis is an insect and feeds entirely on live foods. The mantis must be kept in a tall cage so that it can moult, ideally choose a tall sweet jar or a plastic aquarium, as sold in your local pet shop. Provide several twigs in the container so that your mantis can get a secure footing when it moults. Room temperature is required for most common mantis. It is important NOT to put the cage in direct sunlight (i.e. on a windowsill) as it will overheat and cook your pet! |
|
|
| |
FEEDING: |
|
| |
Mantis will only eat live food and their feeding response is triggered by the movement of the prey. Fed twice a week they will thrive. Feed on crickets from your local pet shop or any insect from the garden, such as flies, small grasshoppers or moths (making sure they are not collected from an area that is sprayed with insecticide). The mantis will tackle prey up to its own size, however, to ensure it is not injured in a struggle, choose insects half its own size or smaller. Mantis need water to drink and so will often benefit from a light misting every time they are fed. |
|
|
| |
BREEDING: |
|
| |
After about 4-5 weeks as an adult place the adult male in a large container(2' x 2') and feed the female as much as she can eat; when she is fully gorged introduce the female into the cage with the male. The male should approach the female and will leap on her back and will start to copulate by joining abdomens. The female may often eat her partner before, during or after copulation, so beware. After mating remove the male. The female will now lay fertile ootheca. |
|
|
| |
GROWTH: |
|
| |
The mantis endures several moults before reaching maturity during which time you must ensure that it is not disturbed, as a bad moult often results in deformity or death. The final moult will be obvious as your insect will now have a fine pair of wings and generally can fly. The mantis must have enough room (at least twice the length of its body) to be able to successfully moult. |
|
|
| |
OOTHECA: |
|
| |
The female, after mating, stores sperm and so should always lay fertile ootheca. She starts to lay her eggs in a foam which she whips into a froth around the eggs and which then hardens to form an ootheca. The eggcase should hatch after 4-6 weeks giving you between 20 and 150 tiny mantis hatchlings. Feed these on fruit fly until small nymphs and then start the process over again!. |
|
|
| |
Image Gallery |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Insects 
