Praying mantis breeding guidelines

The best methods for successfully breeding your praying mantis.

How to breed praying mantids

As a general rule, 2-3 weeks after their final moult, your mantis will be ready to mate. Different breeders have different preferences, some wait up to 4, or even 5 weeks before intorducing the male and female, but 2-3 weeks works well. Breeding can be carried out either in an enclosure, or out the encolsure; I find out of the enclosure much easier. You will have much more control over the mantids, and will increase chances of being able to separate the 2 if the female turns on the male. The female must be well fed, so she will be less inclined to munch on the male, before, during or after mating.

The best thing to place the 2 on before mating, is a house plant. Place the female near the top of the plant, so she hasn’t got far to crawl away, and above the female so she will be in prime view. Place the make around 5 ot 6 inces behind the female, this will give him enough space and comfort to sit, but at the same time a short enough distance to be drawn in by the female.

After about a minute, the male will usually gain interest in the female, and his antennae will start twitching. He will slowly crawl up towards the female, and hop onto her back. When this occurs, just leave the 2, and the mating process will take place. You will notice the male bending his abdomen around to connect with the female. You must make sure that at some point the male and female do connect, which usually implies the spermatophore (male sperm sack) has been transferred. They can spend up to 24 hours mating, although sometimes longer. Leave them for as long as they desire; interrupting the mating process can end in an unferilised female.

When the pair have finished, the male will usually hop off to another part of the plant, or fly around the room for a few minutes, and settle in another spot. The female is now fertile, and will start producing ootheca in around 2 weeks, sometimes less.

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Categorised in: Mantis

12 years ago