You Will Receive 1  Fresh Ootheca Egg Case

Fresh Picked For The 2016 Season

Release Instructions & Fact Sheet

   "WE GOT THE BUGS"

 WE SHIP WORLDWIDE

Conservation:
Populations are widespread, abundant, and secure.

Status:	Unprotected nongame species
Global Rank:	G5
State Rank:	S?

Chinese Mantis

The Chinese Mantis is a very common mantis species. Originally it only occurred in Asia, but because of international commerce it has been introduced in North America. There this species is thriving and can be found in almost the whole continent.

The Latin name of the Chinese mantis is Tenodera sinensis. It can be kept as a pet and is easy to care for. Many people in the United States and Asia find this mantis in nature. You can enjoy the strange beauty of this insect by making pictures, visiting it in the plant where it is living in or by bringing it indoors as a pet.

Chinese Mantis

Appearance of the Chinese mantis

How to recognise a Chinese mantis? Well an adult Chinese mantis is brown in color with brown wings with a green edge. The body shape is like a “stereotype” mantis without any special decorative or camoeflaging appendages. It will reach a size of around 9 cm (almost 4 inch). A nymph (young mantis) of the Chinese mantis is brown and does not have any wings or special appendages. The adult female is larger and heavier than the male, but both sexes look pretty much the same throughout there life. You can distinquish males and females by the length of the antennae (males have longer) and by counting the segments on their abdomen like so.

Chinese Mantis during dinner

Behavior of the Chinese mantis

A Chinese mantis is usually pretty docile and quiet. It won’t walk around a lot if it gets enough food. It will stalk a prey around its cage if you keep it as a pet. It is not an aggressive praying mantis, but it can strike a defence pose when threatened.

Environmental conditions for the Chinese mantis as a pet

The Chinese Mantis is a very easy mantis to take care of, because it does not require a lot of special temperatures or humidity. The ideal temperature is about 25 °C, but a temperature between 22 and 30 ° C is perfect too. At night the temperature can be allow to drop, but it should be at least 17 ° C to ensure proper development. When exposed to temperatures below 8 °C a Chinese mantis may not survive.
The Chinese Mantis does not need a lot of humidity. Keep the mantis in a well ventilated enclosure and spray with water two times a week. The mantis will drink from the water droplets when it is thirsty.

Want to read more about feeding and keeping a Chinese mantis? You can read all about it on the general pages of caring for a mantis as a pet.

Female Chinese mantis (adult)

Group housing as pets

Chinese mantids are ferocious predators that will also prey on each other. Do not keep Chinese mantids together in the same cage. Very young nymphs can be kept together, but even in young ones cannibalism can occur. Make sure they have enough to eat.

A Chinese mantis outside

Breeding and reproduction of the Chinese Mantis

Chinese mantis egg sac

You can breed Chinese mantises in captivity. Some companies breed this mantis species to sell them as natural predators in greenhouses. The companies sell the egg sacs (ootheca) to greenhouse farmers. When the young mantises hatch in the greenhouse they will eat all pest insects like aphids and small flies.

If you want to breed Tenodera sinensis yourself, you need a male and a female that are full grown for at least 2 weeks. How to see if you have both sexes, you can use this sexing method. Then you need to place the male and female together in one enclosure. Make sure the female has eaten A LOT before you do this. Even then it is possible that the female will eat the male before, during or after mating. If mating has occured you should separate both mantises again. After one mating the female mantis will produce fertilized eggs for the rest of her life. She will produce foam-like egg sacs called ootheca. In one egg sac of a Chinese mantis you can find between 30 and 100 eggs. She will produce 3 to 7 egg sacs in her life if she has enough food.
Keep the egg sac in the same conditions as you keep the adult mantis. The eggs will hatch in around 6 weeks. If you plan to release the baby mantises into nature, make sure the eggs do not hatch in winter. If you want to postphone hatching of the eggs you should keep the ootheca at 8 °C (or between 6 to 10 °C), like in your attic, basement or garden house. If you find an ootheca in nature you can leave it there, the mother knows what she is doing and probably the eggs will be safe in winter. Want to read more about caring for mantis eggs? Read the page about that.

A wild female Chinese mantis eating

Adult Chinese Mantis

Controls

Spring

• Mosquitos
• Flies
• Scale
• and small insects

Summer & Fall

• Grasshoppers
• Japanese Beetles
• and other large pests.

WE GOT THE BUG'S

• One of the best solutions for people who don't want to use dangerous chemicals in their garden to control insects.
•They eat about any bug except the valuable Lady Bugs
•Simply refrigerate the egg cases until you are ready for your chemical-free insect control
•The average hatch time is 2 months. PLEASE BE PATIENT
•Most hatch at once, but some hatching may take up to two or more months. Tempter should be 70º or more.
FOR SPRING USE, STORE THROUGH THE WINTER IN A PAPER BAG OR BOX IN YOUR UNHEATED GARAGE, SHED OR BACK PORCH. HANG CASES OUTSIDE WITH A BREAD TIE TO A BRANCH IN THE LATE WINTER, EARLY SPRING. FREEZING TEMPERATURES AND FROST WILL NOT HARM THE EGG CASE (OOTHECA). PLACE IN A BUSHY PLANT FOR THEIR PROTECTION WHEN THEY HATCH.
Once the weather warms up each case should produce between 50 and 150 young mantises that will immediately begin feeding on pest insects'
It is possible that the egg won't hatch; there are no grantees in nature.
Please don't squeeze the cases, you'll crush my little head. !!!!
These are for the 2016 season

The Chinese Praying Mantis is a fantastic species for the beginner,
proving to be one of the easiest to keep in captivity. They can live up to 5+ months.
Not only is it large, but very tame, and will tolerate handling.
Diet is no problem. They love Fruit Flies.
The hydei fruit flies don't come with your mantis.
You will need to supply your mantis with flies for abut another 30 days.
Keep your mantis strong and healthy.
It's best to keep your mantis around 20-26 C (68-78.8 F) Warmer temperature speeds up the metabolism of the mantis and will shorten its life span and in contrast, cooler temperature slows its metabolism and lengthens the life span, but both extremes could kill it. Humidity should be around 60-65%. This can be achieved by spraying or watering the coconut fiber 3 times a week. The main purpose of humidity is to help the mantis molt. Too much humidity will cripple the mantis during molts, and too little will hinder it from emerging from the old skin.
Just make sure your mantis doesn't get too dry or too damp

PRAYING MANTIS FACT SHEET & Release Instructions

Adult Praying Mantis are beautiful insects with a voracious appetite, and a delight to have in the garden. Being strictly carnivorous, they'll eat almost any insect of a size they can overcome. Waiting in quiet ambush for hours at a time, when an insect comes wandering by they suddenly jump out and attack - always biting the neck first. At rest, they seem to be "praying", holding their "hands" together.

Each praying mantis egg case will hatch about 100-200 tiny mantises, all at once. In order to hatch they'll need several weeks of warm weather, so they can "sense" that summer (and pest insects for food) has arrived. Eggs Can Be Hatched In A Paper Sack Attach the egg cases to a twig or plant about a foot or two off the ground where there's cover to protect the babies. When hatching, the young crawl from between tiny flaps in the cases and hang from silken threads about 2" below the case. After drying out, the long-legged young disperse into the vegetation leaving no evidence of their appearance. This happens within an hour or two, and it's very difficult to know hatching has occurred unless the elusive, well camouflaged young are found. (The egg case does not change appearance in any way.) If you'd like to see when the mantis have hatched, place the egg cases in a paper bag, fold the top and seal shut with a paper clip or clothes pin. Place or Hatch Mantis Eggs among Plant Foliage the bag on a window sill in direct sunlight. Periodically open the bag carefully, and when you see tiny mantis running around inside, take them outside and sprinkle them throughout the garden. Be patient - sometimes it takes up to eight weeks of warm weather for them to hatch.

Once hatched, praying mantis begins feeding on small insects, such as aphids. Later on, they'll continue advancing up to larger and larger prey. By summer's end, praying mantis can reach several inches in length. In the fall, females produce more eggs, deposited in a frothy secretion that hardens to protect the eggs from predators and severe winter climates. Egg cases are attached to twigs, leaves, fences, etc. Several egg cases may be laid before cold winter finally sets in. This new generation of praying mantis will hatch when warm weather returns, to repeat the process.

YES I EAT STINK BUGS