Tribe.net. Local Connections Sean http://entomologyfreaks.tribe.net/thread/4ecc26cb-83f0-4191-8c4b-c1355fa238e2#b0bead9d-32b1-4090-b971-849369c46c13 2008-11-14T19:17:22Z 2008-11-14T19:17:22Z

Luna, It's difficult to find food for baby insects, most of the insects they would eat are too large. I found a solution to this dilemma when I raised an egg sack full of Regal Jumping Spiders, they are very tiny, and also carnivorous in the absence of food. I will describe a very easy way to collect and release fruit flies that are small enough to feed your baby insect. Get a funnel shaped structure (I used the cardboard funnel that yarn is commonly wound on) Get some fine mesh pantyhose, cut the hose about 6 inches from the foot. (the foot will be our chamber) place some over ripe fruit in the foot of the hose, the riper the better, we need the fruit to be nearly spoiling. with the top end of the hose, feed it through the bottom of the funnel, out through the top narrow end, pull up enough so the fruit stays near the bottom of the funnel and you can fold the top end, inside out, over the narrow top of the funnel. *You should now have about 4 inches of hose material coming out of the top of the funnel and socked over the top edge of the funnel. place a rubber band near the top to hold the hose still. next,.. take the excess hose material and tuck it INSIDE the top of the funnel. This will provide an entrance for the fruit flies that is too complicated for them to escape. They will find the fruit by smell, when they have eaten, they will attempt to escape by scaling the walls of the hose, however, because of all the intricate tangle of material, they will get lost within the material and remain captive. When you are ready to feed, remove the rubber band, pull the hose material from the bottom, carefully securing the open end of the hose with your fingers, now you will have a silken ruck sack full of very small fruit flies,..carefully release them into the tank that contains your baby invertebrates. (hopefully with no large holes for the flies to escape from (again,.. hose does wonders to prevent small insects from escaping) slip the hose through the narrow top of the funnel in a manner than creates a chamber at the bottom (wider) area of the funnel

Sean 2008-11-14T19:17:22Z Lunasear http://entomologyfreaks.tribe.net/thread/4ecc26cb-83f0-4191-8c4b-c1355fa238e2#48d6dc61-5bfc-454b-b87e-a75478a9af9e 2008-11-03T21:50:43Z 2008-11-03T21:50:43Z

Thank you so much for that web site and the information. I guess we are going to have to start cricket ranching! Mostly we just want to witness the process. We have talked a lot about what we are going to do with them once, and if, they hatch. Being that they are in the house, they might hatch in the middle of December! if the gestation IS actually 3 months. Im not sure how likely that is, but we have been keeping them by a shaded window just in case the temperature makes a difference (which it theoretically does). If the sacks were outdoors, they obviously wouldnt hatch in December, its too cold then...so why would the females be laying them? Were going with the fact that they are the experts, not us!! LOL! But here in Portland, Oregon we rarely get a deep freeze so they should overwinter just fine in the outdoors. If we do get a bunch of hatchlings, we are just going to let them loose in the yard.

Lunasear 2008-11-03T21:50:43Z Baya http://entomologyfreaks.tribe.net/thread/4ecc26cb-83f0-4191-8c4b-c1355fa238e2#af53fe5f-01f7-4746-aedf-5338fc446f49 2008-11-03T14:40:21Z 2008-11-03T14:40:21Z

Apparently, they like each other on the menu! ;) Other than that, I found a great site at http://www.thebeneficialinsectco.com/praying-mantis.htm for brief infomation on this awesome predator. "The actual correct name of a Praying Mantis is Praying Mantid, and the scientific name is Tenodera aridifolia sinensis. In the US, the mantid is generally from 3-4 inches in length depending on the gender, but some of the 1800 or so types of praying mantid can be up to 12 inches long. Most scientists agree that praying mantids are closely related to the grasshopper, cockroach and other stick-type insects. A praying mantid starts life in an egg case, each egg case contains from 100 to 400 eggs. These eggs winter in a hard case known as a ootheca and the mantid nymphs hatch in the spring, with their first meal often being one of their syblings. As the mantid grows it will shed, a process known as molting, many times before it is fully grown. As the mantid grows it eats leafhoppers, aphids, mosquitoes and then moves onto larger insects such as beetles, spiders, moths and grasshoppers. One generation of matids mature over an entire summer to adulthood. In the fall, female mantids will lay their eggs on sticks and undersides of leaves and die approximately 3 weeks later." I've got a huge cricket population (and mosquitos too) in my yard. Although I'm not sure I could set loose these guys on the property in Virginia without feeling guilty about their welfare in the colder months, this article makes them sound like a great alternative to anything I can think of. Right now, my cats are pretty much my indoor pest control. ;) ~S

Baya 2008-11-03T14:40:21Z Lunasear http://entomologyfreaks.tribe.net/thread/4ecc26cb-83f0-4191-8c4b-c1355fa238e2#54e8acba-ad1f-4d79-ac24-08dcece18bfc 2008-10-30T22:06:05Z 2008-10-30T22:06:05Z

My boyfriend brought home 7 praying mantids about a month ago. Since then, two have died of unknown causes, the rest were eaten by the others (fun times at our house). He also brought home 2 egg sacks. We are expecting two egg sacks to hatch, but are unsure of how long it might take. We are also curious about what to feed the little guys when they do hatch. Any suggestions?

Lunasear 2008-10-30T22:06:05Z