Woot Info Post
neither rain nor snow nor wooters.us

Praying Mantis Pagoda with Mantis Hatching Lantern [New] - $6.99 + $5 shipping

1 * Insect Lore 5170 Praying Mantis Pagoda

This post is brought to you by Wooters.us, to help make sure pricing information on the product is available in the future. We are not run by nor affiliated with Woot.

3 dollars to get the praying mantis but how are you supposed to get the aphids to feed it???

here's the product website store (it's $19.99 there)

At first I thought that the mantis' got a little spiral slide to go down in there.

azynfob wrote:3 dollars to get the praying mantis but how are you supposed to get the aphids to feed it???

Did you know that over a hundred tiny Praying Mantises spill out of one egg case when they hatch? It’s quite spectacular, and then you need to quickly release all but one or two into the wild. These little guys are carnivorous and very hungry. If you don’t give all of them plenty to eat, they’ll feast on each other. Hey, a little sibling rivalry never hurt anyone, right? Screw the aphids, watch the carnage! Best 3 bucks you'll ever spend . . .

With proper care, how long can you expect a praying mantis to live for in captivity?

I was wondering what time of year is the best to release them....honestly I don't even know why I am asking one time a cricket got into our house and I almost had a heart attack screaming to my husband to get it out as I hid in the bedroom and almost crying.

shindig966 wrote:With proper care, how long can you expect a praying mantis to live for in captivity?

Until it gets so large it frightens your child . . .

$20.00 at Amazon. Good review.

Amazon Listing

gregbowman wrote:Until it gets so large it frightens your child . . .

This sounds like money well spent.

gregbowman wrote:Did you know that over a hundred tiny Praying Mantises spill out of one egg case when they hatch? It’s quite spectacular, and then you need to quickly release all but one or two into the wild. These little guys are carnivorous and very hungry. If you don’t give all of them plenty to eat, they’ll feast on each other. Hey, a little sibling rivalry never hurt anyone, right? Screw the aphids, watch the carnage! Best 3 bucks you'll ever spend . . .

Can I be honest....this is one of the most disturbing comments I have ever read LOL

Beware of eggs shipped by someone named Ripley.

jenopy wrote:This sounds like money well spent.

It will give a whole new appreciation to your own little "buggers" when watching Kung Fu Panda . . . for the 50th time . . .

REMINDER: There is a $3 additional fee to get the Praying Mantis Egg with this item, please budget accordingly

Crlygrl34 wrote:Can I be honest....this is one of the most disturbing comments I have ever read LOL

Thank you.

. . . especially since everything but "Screw the aphids, watch the carnage! Best 3 bucks you'll ever spend . . . " was taken directly from the personal blog of the product DESIGNER . . . what's more disturbing is that the cannibalistic nature of the creature upon hatching was most likely a primary concern in producing the product - no need to remember to feed them when they'll feast on each other, that way Mom and Dad don't feel their $3 was for nothing - one or two will survive!!

Sweet, my little cousins will love these! My aunt, not so much...
In for 3!

azynfob wrote:3 dollars to get the praying mantis but how are you supposed to get the aphids to feed it???

You can feed it other bugs like bees, other praying mantis's, crickets, cockroach's. My physics teachers has mantis's for as a pet.

gregbowman wrote:Did you know that over a hundred tiny Praying Mantises spill out of one egg case when they hatch? It’s quite spectacular, and then you need to quickly release all but one or two into the wild. These little guys are carnivorous and very hungry. If you don’t give all of them plenty to eat, they’ll feast on each other. Hey, a little sibling rivalry never hurt anyone, right? Screw the aphids, watch the carnage! Best 3 bucks you'll ever spend . . .

So, if I don't want to watch the carnage, will these little guys survive the the cold damp Northwest (if the extras from the egg case) are released?

still $15 total is still better than amazon which would be $23 without shipping.

azynfob wrote:3 dollars to get the praying mantis but how are you supposed to get the aphids to feed it???

Found info on this site suggesting that you can feed them fruit flies instead...

"The young should be fed on fruit flies (Drosophila sp.), aphids or other small insects."

Interesting bit from Wikipedia:

"About 20 species are native to the United States, including the common Carolina mantis, and only one in Canada. Two species (the Chinese mantis and the European Mantis) were deliberately introduced to serve as pest control for agriculture, and have spread widely in both countries. While it is legal to keep native mantises as pets or to sell egg cases for gardening, non-native species are illegal to possess and release in the United States, under the Non-Native Invasive Species Act of 1992. Despite this, there is a strong market in the exotic pet trade for mantis species from Asia and Africa, and many species are bred in captivity for this purpose."

yeawuteva wrote:REMINDER: There is a $3 additional fee to get the Praying Mantis Egg with this item, please budget accordingly

If I'm in for three will the $3 shipping cover three egg cases?

shindig966 wrote:With proper care, how long can you expect a praying mantis to live for in captivity?

The expected life span of a praying mantis depends on the species, but the maximum is about a year for the entire life cycle. However, most will only live as adults for about 6 months (less for some species of praying mantis). (source)

Not an identical product, but similar - with good information: http://www.amazon.com/Discovery-Exclusive-Praying-Mantis-Encounter/product-reviews/B000O8P7YM/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful?ie=UTF8&coliid=&showViewpoints=1&colid=&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

ashlux wrote:The expected life span of a praying mantis depends on the species, but the maximum is about a year for the entire life cycle. However, most will only live as adults for about 6 months (less for some species of praying mantis). (source)

Zorak lives forever in syndication . . .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorak

Will they take care of cockroach infestations? They eat the cockroaches and then feast on each other after there is no more food. Sounds like it should take care of itself in the long run.

Great price + fun to do 1X. Be advised that millions will hatch and swarm the thing that opening it up to feed them and not having escape will be near impossible. Also keep in mind that if you do it in winter they will freeze if you release them outside!

Check out this video on animal discovery. It's pretty cool.

Animal Planet Video

Does it say which variety of Mantis you will get? I SPIDERS! GET THEM OFF! one of the large ones that will eat lizards.

It is going to be near impossible to feed them and not have them scramble out into your home. I have had one hatch in an aquarium tank and I could not believe how many hatched.. the tank was coated in green.

ckeilah wrote:If I'm in for three will the $3 shipping cover three egg cases?

At best I'd bet you'll have to fork out $9 for three egg cases. At worst, the coupon is only good for one household. From my searching this is maybe $1-2 cheaper than what you could find online anyhow.

Anybody know if praying mantises will eat stink bugs?

If so, I'm gettin' dis!

lilievonfrieden wrote:Found info on this site suggesting that you can feed them fruit flies instead...

"The young should be fed on fruit flies (Drosophila sp.), aphids or other small insects."

Sweet! That almost sells me on it right there - a solution for my fruit fly infestation that has kept up all winter this year since it's been so warm here in the NW!

They make a butterfly version of this as well, and I bought it just for entertainment for my family. It was actually a great gift- we loved watching them grow and then released them outside together.

Mating rituals of the praying mantis can be a bit creepy in the wild. If that doesn't make you want a praying mantis pet, I don't know what will.

Thought I might have some to add since I work with the Chinese mantis as a part of my phd work. The species most commonly available from garden centers and beneficial insect companies is the Chinese mantis. As others have mentioned that European mantis is also common and I think some have the Carolina mantis as well.

Chinese mantis nymphs are about a half inch when they emerge from the egg case and this time of year you will easily get 200 nymphs from each case. They will molt through 10-12 (I forget the exact number) stages called instars about every two weeks. Full size they are 6- 8 inches. The European mantis is about a half size smaller when emerging from the egg case and only grow to about 4 inches. They go through fewer instars before full size.

A first instar Chinese mantis nymph will eat 3-4 flies per day and by second instar they will eat 4-6 flies per day (Drosophila that is). After second instar the best food is honestly each other until they are large enough to eat small crickets.

When I have attempted to raise them to full size in the past I will say that it is quite difficult and will take some trouble shooting. Getting them to 3rd or 4th instar where they can eat crickets is the hardest part if you dont have a steady supply of food (not a problem for me). Second, out of 200 nymphs I generally can get about 5 or so to 5th or 6th instar. You will lose a lot simply due to failed molting.

The other danger with crickets is that they can be carnivorous and a helpless molting mantis is a tempting snack. On my last attempt, the crickets ate my 6th instar mantis as it was molting to 7th instar. After months of work this can be a little disheartening.

That said, they are amazing to have around and work with. They will eat anything they can physically grab and are easy to handle. While working I had one about 3 inches sit in my goatee for about an hour or so. Watching them eat is also highly entertaining and they are well worth the work.

If you are interested in releasing them. I believe the best time is April to May, but any time before July is fine as long as there is no danger of a hard frost which will kill them. Early in the season they won't have much to eat but they typically emerge before insect populations rise after the winter so do not worry. They will eat each other if need be. They grow to full size by the fall and die with the frost.

I think that's probably long enough. Happy purchasing and good luck!

gregbowman wrote:Did you know that over a hundred tiny Praying Mantises spill out of one egg case when they hatch? It’s quite spectacular, and then you need to quickly release all but one or two into the wild. These little guys are carnivorous and very hungry. If you don’t give all of them plenty to eat, they’ll feast on each other. Hey, a little sibling rivalry never hurt anyone, right? Screw the aphids, watch the carnage! Best 3 bucks you'll ever spend . . .

That is soooo correct!!! Flashback to 1975. I was in 5th grade (yea, I am old now or something). My walk to school took me through a field.

In that field was a slim stand of trees and a lot of wild grasses.

Walking to school, I stumbled upon a caccoon. So I snapped off the stalk and took it in. My teacher put it into a jar and we waited... it felt like an eternity, but it was only a day or three... came in one morning, and I kid you not, the mayo jar was FULL of baby mantis'!!! There were a LOT. I can't guess, but 100 or so seems about right.

They were only 1/2" long.

We ended up letting the all go in that tree stand...

So if you have a kid, get this. I remember those little feller's like it was yesterday. A great surprise, to say the least! We were all expecting butterfly or moth... imagine our shock to see a bunch of baby mantis'!!!

I caught a black widow ( i named kiera knightely) like 2 years ago, and put it in a cage and fed it crickets from pets mart. It started to creep me out after a couple days because i was afraid it was gonna escape and bite someone.

So are you supposed to keep this thing inside your house?