Mantids In The News!

I just ran across this little article and pictures about a praying mantis while I was trying to figure out what my native praying mantis species is.

http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/si...irdwireJul2005

I didnt find the species, but could someone please still answer a couple of questions for me about NC praying mantis'?
-How long are they supposed to live? I caught mine and he is still alive, I thought he would have died by now due to short lifespan.
-There are two plasticy looking "globs" for lack of a better word, on the stick in his cage, they almost look as if htey have crystals on them and look like they have a spine going down the middle of them. Are these babies? They don't look like the nests I usually find unless the nests actually expand as the mantids develope.

Looks to be the Chinese mantid which is now in every continental state.
These guys can get 5" long and eat anything as your article shows
The plastic looking things are egg cases that the mantid laid. about 100-200 babies come out of these in the spring. Earlier if indoors.
Your 'female' will stay alive longer than the normal seasonal lifespan if kept indoors and fed well. I have kept one alive for two years.
good luck and get some fruit flies when they hatch

Well, mine isn't that color, it is a brownish color. I don't know for sure, but I think they stay smaller than the green or are they the same species?

If the egg cases were laid last week they will 'hatch' in spring reguardless of a 78-80 ambient temperature?

What should I do with all of the babies after I get them started and grown a bit? Should I dump them all in a nice bushy area or should I spread them out around my property or something else?

Originally Posted by Chris Steele

If the egg cases were laid last week they will 'hatch' in spring reguardless of a 78-80 ambient temperature?

What should I do with all of the babies after I get them started and grown a bit? Should I dump them all in a nice bushy area or should I spread them out around my property or something else?

No, you should cool the egg cases down a bit (I'm not sure how cool though) to keep the eggcase from hatching early.

Mantids will eat each other, it is up to you if you want to let them canablize a bit to bring down the numbers. If I were going to release some, I would try to spread them out a bit.

Ok, I'm confused now. Do they retain sperm? She just ?made/laid? another sac.

Originally Posted by Chris Steele

Ok, I'm confused now. Do they retain sperm? She just ?made/laid? another sac.

Yes they do ...only one breeding and your mantid providing you keep it alive can lay as many as twenty ooths. I usually just put them outside for the winter if I don't want 1-200 baby mantids to feed then they just naturally hatch in the spring

Should I put the sticks in bushes or do you know of a safer place?

Yes that will work or you can zip tie them to any tree or stick them to a window with some tape , just make sure the tape does not cover the top of the case cause this is where they come out.

Praying mantis using a bit of kung fu in those pictures. That is something else.

I did something really bad today. I tried to feed my mantis a little bug.. It turns out this bug had a 'needle' on his head; he used it to paralize my mantis. I don't think the mantis is going to make it, but she was able to produce 5 ooths before this happened. I don't feel as bad about it since she probably made more babies than she would have in the wild where she belonged. She is still alive, but isn't showing much improvement. I know feeding her that was irresponsible, but I've just been feeding her bugs from outside for the most part since that is where I got her.