How to raise your own praying mantises

Views: 5910

A couple of months ago Sam purchased an ootheca, the egg sac of a praying mantis, for a speech contest he had to do for 4-H. After the presentation he put the ootheca in a butterfly cage and waited. And waited. And waited. After 8 weeks, we came home from TaeKwonDo one evening to over one hundred 1/2 inch sized praying mantises filling the screened area. It was quite a sight.

Last year when his first ootheca hatched, Sam didn’t give them food and water early enough, and most of them died. This year, with the advice of a friend who has raised them for years, he was on top of it. He already had wingless fruit flies he purchased from the local pet store. (Yes, unless you live in an area where there are lots of these tasty treats, you actually have to buy them!) So he opened up the lid and set the jar of fruit flies inside of the habitat to provide a ready food source; he also added moss dampened with bottled water (you don’t want tap water with chlorine in it) to provide something for them to drink. After a couple of days, which thankfully was before they started eating each other, he separated most of them into individual cups with lids on them.

Mantis Care 101

Each cup had a small amount of dampened moss, a small stick, several fruit flies, and a praying mantis. Feeding them every couple of days is a bit of a trick. Since opening up a jar of fruit flies, even if they are wingless, can release them in places you don’t need them, he taps the fruit fly jar on the table to knock them down, and then quickly replaces the normal lid with a lid from one of the praying mantis cups.

After a short amount of time, a number of fruit flies will be on the lid, and it’s time to quickly switch them back again. I have found some stray flies, but for the most part this works very well. To water them, he puts a straw in a cup of bottled water, places his finger on the top, and adds the small amount to the moss. You don’t want pools of water in the small container or it could harm the mantis.

As they grow, he will move them to larger containers. From the small cups, he’ll probably put his own in a pint or quart container. You don’t want the area too big in the beginning, as it’s more difficult for the praying mantis to catch dinner. Eventually, his praying mantises will have homes in gallon sized jars or other similar sized habitats. Every week, he’ll take out the mantis, wipe the jar with a mixture of vinegar and water, and dry it well before replacing the mantis. This removes any dead bugs, or bug parts, and keeps the mantis healthy.

The Benefits

Besides being excellent little hunters, praying mantises are fun to watch. Sam will spend a long time watching them catch the fruit flies. They’re entertaining, even if you aren’t the bug-loving type of person. After each molt, they can eat larger insects, eventually dining on flies and possibly even small grasshoppers. So by the time the flies are terrible in the barn, his praying mantises should have healthy appetites.

If he has enough, which he should as long as he keeps them well-fed, Sam intends to release a few of the praying mantises in the greenhouse. There should be plenty of food for them (and the plants!), and I’m sure they will enjoy the climate. I doubt if they’ll survive long enough to produce an ootheca of their own, but we’ll enjoy them while they’re here.

Meet Amy Grisak

Amy is a freelance author and photographer in Great Falls, MT who specializes in gardening, foods, and sustainable agriculture. She provides information on every kind…

Amy's Recent Posts

Leave hollow stems for native bees.
Hollow Stems for Native Bees: Leave the Garden a Little Messy
Read this post
It's important to know the allelopathic qualities of some garden plants, such as broccoli.
How to Know the Allelopathic Plants in Your Garden
Read this post

Amy's Videos

How to Safely Rid Your Indoor Plants of Pests
By Amy Grisak
Watch this video
Treating Fruit Trees for Fire Blight
Treating Fruit Trees for Fire Blight
By Amy Grisak
Watch this video

Membership Has Its Perks

Become a registered user and get access to exclusive benefits like...
  • Ask The Expert Questions
  • Newsletter Archive
  • PlantersPlace Magazine
  • Members Photo Gallery
  • Product Ratings & Reviews
  • Garden Club Samples

Here’s more information about gardening that you’re going to want