I just found one outside, hanging on by a string. I brought it in my house to live among my plants. I'm trying to save it's life. I have done this before & it worked for a while. I don't have the heart to let it die slowly in the cold. Does anyone know anything about them?
2006-11-05 08:08:58 · 4 answers · asked by Crystal A 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
It will normally die quite soon. But you could keep it going for several weeks, or months if you're lucky!
Firstly, do your plants have pesticide on them, or were they bought or potted within the last year? If so, even if it doesn't kill the mantis directly the poison in the soil will be absorbed into the plants and then into the crickets you might FEED your mantis, and so the mantis will be poisoned. Any plants that have been potted for more than a year should be okay though.
Have you got a suitable food supply? If it's a female she'll eat quite a LOT, and get very fat! She may even honour you by putting her ootheca in your home so you get dozens (or hundreds!) of tiny mantids next Spring..! If it's a male he won't eat a lot - maybe 2 bugs a week, depending on the size! Maybe less, if they're big bugs, more if they're smaller. They only eat living bugs, so don't let any fool sell you dead flies...!
The temperature of your home ... the warmer it is, the more the mantis will perk up, but it should be cooler at night - maybe let the heating go off at night, until it's really cold. In the daytime, if you can walk around the house with a long-sleeved t-shirt and not get goose-bumps on your arms it will be okay!
You could buy a heat mat for insects, you're supposed to put them under the container the bug's in, but if you put it by the plants the mantis will surely gravitate towards it when it wants to. Don't let your home get too hot though, the mantis might 'dry up' a bit. As it will be living on or near your plants there should be enough humidity for the mantis, so that's good..! Spray the plants with a mister that has NEVER been used with pesticides - the mantis can drink when it needs to then..!
But don't forget that it's already an old lady (or man) now. It's inevitable that it can't last much longer - it's already lived the equivalent of it's three score and ten! It's very sad to see them die of old age ... but it's nice to know that you made their last days more comfortable..!
2006-11-05 11:36:58 · answer #1 · answered by _ 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Unfortunalty most mantids dont live throught the winter. Many of them will lay eggs and then just go about the fall until winter arrives and then they die.
Most mantids found in this area are not native to North America anyways, and they arent really prepared for this type of weather.
2006-11-05 19:22:22 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Most insects lay eggs before winter and then die. The eggs hatch in the spring.
2006-11-05 16:42:58 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would say that they probably go into some kind of suspended animation, like hibernation.
2006-11-05 16:34:59 · answer #4 · answered by chuckd32560 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋