Chinese Praying Mantis
Tenodera sinensis
Praying Mantis
Temperature and Humidity
The ideal temperature for your mantis is around 25 C, but they will thrive at temperatures from 20-30 C. This means that in most home environments there is no need to provide supplemental heat for your new pet. Although it is perfectly acceptable for the temperatures to drop a bit at night, temperatures lower then 17 C have been know to impact proper development of the nymphs. Mantis may not survive if exposed to temperatures below 8 C.
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The mantis should be kept in an environment of between 50 and 60% relative humidity. Humidity is especially important while the mantis is molting. Here at Emeth Zoo, we spray our mantis enclosures lightly each day. Although the mantis will receive most of their needed moisture through their feeding - they will also drink the water droplets from the leaves of the plants on occasion. Often the mantis does not like being sprayed directly, so attempt to spray around the mantis, although there are no major concerns if the mantis is sprayed directly.
Housing
Chinese mantises are some of the largest of the mantis species that are kept as pets, and one of the only mantis species legal to keep in Canada without special permits. As your mantis grows, you should ensure it is kept in an enclosure that is at least three times as tall as the mantis is long, and at least two times as wide as the mantis is long. For an adult mantis, this will require an enclosure that is approximately 12" tall and 8" long and wide. The cage must also have adequate ventilation, and some kind of material on the ceiling of the enclosure which will allow the mantis to hang upside down during molting. Chinese mantises can be kept successfully in a living vivarium with live plants and microfauna (e.g., springtails and isopods) who will act as a sort of "clean up crew" by breaking down the mantis' waste.
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Chinese mantis can also be kept in a simple enclosure such as a screen cage or plastic container, with silk plants (such as an Ivy Branch, Leafy Branch, Orchid Flower, or White Flower) and an easily disposable substrate such as sphagnum moss, or even just a paper towel that you can change once a week. However, if you choose to keep them in enclosures with glass or clear plastic sides, a screen top is necessary to keep it from getting too moist inside the enclosure. Mantis require sticks and leaves for perching and to hang from for molting and catching insects. They are very active and need some space to roam around and to pursue their prey so adjust caging according to their current size.
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You can view examples of suitable enclosures - as well as ideas for DIY habitats at here.
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This species is highly cannibalistic and should not be housed together after the first couple of weeks after hatching.
Feeding and Molting
Chinese mantises can eat a variety of prey items, but only eat live prey. They can often be coaxed to eat food offered from tweezers. The small nymphs are fed a diet of flightless fruit flies for their first weeks. As the mantis increase in size, they can be introduced to house flies and blue bottle flies. As they continue to grow, flies remain an important part of their diet, but they will also eat moths, grasshoppers, crickets, mealworms and other appropriately sized insects. Avoid spiders, bees, wasps or other poisonous insects.
As a general rule, your mantis will not need to eat every day, and a feeding schedule of every other day is usually healthier rhythm for feeding your mantis. There is some controversy over feeding crickets (especially exclusively) - a variety of foods is best as the mantis gets larger. We feed very few crickets - and feed our adult mantis a variety of feeders including super worms, meal worms, wax worms, butter worms, and flies when available.
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Approximately seven times during its life your mantis will molt, or crawl out of its old skin. You will probably notice that the mantis dramatically increases in size following a molt, and during the last few molts the mantis will develop wing buds, which will develop into fully functioning wings during the final molt. During (and immediately after) the molting process are the most vulnerable periods of your mantis’ life.
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Although it is impossible to help your mantis by touching them while they shed, you can take some basic precautions to help it be successful. In order to help you mantis have a successful shed, you are encouraged to spray the container lightly each day to keep the environment humid. This will make it easier for the mantis to slip out of its old skin. Also, do not move the mantis container around - especially before, while, and after shedding. If the mantis falls during the molting process it will rarely survive.
When people hear the word “mantis,” they commonly envision a stereotypical image of the Chinese Mantis (tenodera sinensis). Originally introduced from the far east, the Chinese mantis is now commonly found in the Eastern US and even the South Eastern parts of Canada. Its colouration can be green, brown or a combination of the two colours. Even on the brown specimens one commonly finds the green colour running the length of the fore- wings’ outer edge. The Chinese mantis commonly reaches a length of four or five inches long, with the females being larger and slightly longer than the males.
The Chinese Mantis is one of only two species currently legal to keep in Canada (the other is the Colorado Mantis.) Unfortunately, the exotic mantis species (including flower mantis, orchid mantis and ghost mantis) are not legal in Canada.