Individuals can start to reject crickets, forcing you to hand feed them until flies can be ordered and hatch for them eat. They are only slightly harder to care for than the Indian or Chinese mantis, being occasionally finicky about food. One of my favorite mantises, it has a truly unique look among the mantises. Like the Chinese mantis, it can be kept at room temperature, but it does better with a heat lamp. Indian Flower mantises are small, colorful mantises that will aggressively hunt food within their cage.

Releasing a non-native species is a crime and is also morally and socially reprehensible. Unlike the Chinese mantis, these species have not been naturalized to the US and cannot be released into the wild. The Chinese mantis is large, robust, easy to care for, and has a classic mantis appearance.įor a more exotic mantis that is still easy to care for, consider the Indian Flower mantis or the Ghost mantis. Keep in mind if you go this route that if you keep more than one, they will eat each other once they have shed a handful of times. Some beginner hobbyist like to order these inexpensive egg cases and release the extras that hatch into the garden. In addition to the handful of online mantis suppliers, they can often be purchased as an organic pest control from a garden store in the form of egg sacs (or ootheca) that can contain up to 400 mantis eggs. They can do well at room temperature (if you do not keep your house unusually cool) and take most forms of food readily. Tenodera sinensis, the Chinese mantis, can be raised with ease. As with any animal, responsible care-giving is the first and foremost aspect to rearing a mantis.

Both species are easy to take of and require less direct care than many other species. The two species most readily available in the US, which can also often be found in the wild in the US, are the European and Chinese mantises. Regardless of which mantis species you choose, please check to be sure that it is a local species before releasing any.

Conji for praying mantis