slayer6669
New Member
you can get praying mantis eggs cheap off ebay
Beneficial Insects - What, How Do You Use Them
- Thread starter Buddy232
- Start date
matthebrute
Well-Known Member
hey i have a question? what if you have no bugs but want some praying mantids just cuz they are cool? what do you have to do to feed them so they dont die?
by the way to Bud, you asked for peoples opinions and thioer experiences, gas was sharing his and you were a complete dick to the guy. if you already know so much why are you here asking questions?
im not vouching that either of you are right nor wrong but theres no reason to come onto a forum and ask for opinions and experiences just so you can try and shoot someone down.
by the way to Bud, you asked for peoples opinions and thioer experiences, gas was sharing his and you were a complete dick to the guy. if you already know so much why are you here asking questions?
im not vouching that either of you are right nor wrong but theres no reason to come onto a forum and ask for opinions and experiences just so you can try and shoot someone down.
hengus
Member
You're right... Same as grasshoppers, they go through nymphal instar stages as they grow and shed before finally becoming sexually mature adults. 'Ladybugs' or all beetles in fact, have a mobile and voracious larval stage before they pupate and emerge, metamorphosed, as sexually mature adults. That's where the difference between those families of insects lies.
Regarding White Fly, easiest thing to use is a Garlic based spray, they really don't like it. BTW, I'm enjoying reading this thread, looking forward to someone backing down and admitting they're on a wind-up... :0p
Signed Me, BSc (hons) Zoology, Cambridge UK. Several years ago.
hengus
Member
Feed them Ladybugs... But which ones?!?!?
matthebrute
Well-Known Member
so any female bug? HAHAHAHA!!!
Gastanker
Well-Known Member
Hehe. Yes you are completely correct. Again never tried to argue that - just that the nymph stage had no bearing on the argument. Unfortunately this thread died a while ago - Buddy ended up spamming my inbox with threats and swear words and different personal attacks; after being reported I guess he calmed down a bit and moved on. Wish I had saved the pms, they were fairly entertaining.
matthebrute
Well-Known Member
i think he started this thread just so he could try and shove his jibberish down peoples throat after trying to give him advice/experiences. he just seems like that kind of guy. im not saying he was wrong (cuz i have no uking clue when it comes to insects, all i know is a ant is a ant wether it be a big ass black ant or a tiny red ant its a goddam ANT!!! lol and i believe thats what you were trying to explpain, his bullshit scientific jibberish is just that to people on here like me, jibberish!!
snew
Well-Known Member
hamburger. just a little bit of hamburger
matthebrute
Well-Known Member
really? im assuming raw right?
Buddy232
Active Member
I recently received a "like" on a post from the first page of this thread from "Hengus", which is why I returned. (Thank you Hengus.) I figured people were done with this thread a while age as I was.
First I will address your question MattTB. I'm not sure if the person was saying hamburger as a joke, I mean hey it could work. However if you'd like to purchase a mantid ootheca and hatch nymphs, they ideal feeder item would be flightless/wingless fruit flies, Drosophila spp. You can get them at pet stores and I think even most Petsmarts/Petco's carry them now a days. As the mantid grows you can step up the food items with larger crickets, eventually to fully grown ones. Different assortments of larvae... meal worms, which are beetle larvae - or wax worms, which are moth larvae I believe. Both are common feeder items in addition to crickets.
You could also purchase a mantid that's already growing or an adult and avoid the fragile life stages. Doing that you'd also likely have the opportunity to acquire a more ornamental species which you wouldn't be able to get from an agricultural company, or from your backyard.
Going back to the "debate" however. I'd ask everyone to read my original post. I asked simply for folks experiences. Ie) "Hi, I use ladybugs in the veg state always - but not in the flower stage unless I have X problems." Or "Hello, I use X nematodes in my soil to control fly larvae." If someone did have a more elaborate method, or used an uncommon organism they usually say so.
The issue I had with the person was they came into the thread trying to teach me a lesson, when in fact they were quite wrong. Their rantings also offered nothing to the original question, which I ask again for others to read. I had hoped for my thread to be a discussion of how people use their insects, a discussion. Not one way dialouge of large copy and pasted pictures and information with a few supporting words tossed in - which is what unfortunately someone felt the need to continously do.
I will say that I am still working with folks on other symbiotic relations that can be utilized, will a positive outlook.
Hey at the very least I hope you learned how to feed a mantid from nymph to adult.
You can PM for other information/resources. I may even still have some connections. As you can see from my avatar, which is (C) me, Mantids weren't my thing, but I have experience with them.
First I will address your question MattTB. I'm not sure if the person was saying hamburger as a joke, I mean hey it could work. However if you'd like to purchase a mantid ootheca and hatch nymphs, they ideal feeder item would be flightless/wingless fruit flies, Drosophila spp. You can get them at pet stores and I think even most Petsmarts/Petco's carry them now a days. As the mantid grows you can step up the food items with larger crickets, eventually to fully grown ones. Different assortments of larvae... meal worms, which are beetle larvae - or wax worms, which are moth larvae I believe. Both are common feeder items in addition to crickets.
You could also purchase a mantid that's already growing or an adult and avoid the fragile life stages. Doing that you'd also likely have the opportunity to acquire a more ornamental species which you wouldn't be able to get from an agricultural company, or from your backyard.
Going back to the "debate" however. I'd ask everyone to read my original post. I asked simply for folks experiences. Ie) "Hi, I use ladybugs in the veg state always - but not in the flower stage unless I have X problems." Or "Hello, I use X nematodes in my soil to control fly larvae." If someone did have a more elaborate method, or used an uncommon organism they usually say so.
The issue I had with the person was they came into the thread trying to teach me a lesson, when in fact they were quite wrong. Their rantings also offered nothing to the original question, which I ask again for others to read. I had hoped for my thread to be a discussion of how people use their insects, a discussion. Not one way dialouge of large copy and pasted pictures and information with a few supporting words tossed in - which is what unfortunately someone felt the need to continously do.
I will say that I am still working with folks on other symbiotic relations that can be utilized, will a positive outlook.
Hey at the very least I hope you learned how to feed a mantid from nymph to adult.
You can PM for other information/resources. I may even still have some connections. As you can see from my avatar, which is (C) me, Mantids weren't my thing, but I have experience with them.
cowboylogic
Well-Known Member
Springtails are your friends and certainly a beneficial insect to have in your medium. They are the garbage men if you will and will keep your rootzone policed up of dead and decaying matter. I always introduce them into a new container via runoff water from an already infected pot...
Of course younger plants/seedlings can be harmed by them but adult plants with a nice population of them in the medium will certainly benefit from their feeding habits...
matthebrute
Well-Known Member
these are the small white worm looking bugs that are benificial in a compost bin correct?
the reason i ask is because i have a vermicompost bin setup and would like to have these inside my bin to help break down organic matter.
cowboylogic
Well-Known Member
Originally introduced in the grain belt for the control of aphids in mainly soy bean crops...and like most manly attempts to control mother nature it has backfired. They did a great job of controlling a national aphid problem. Only thing is thing is once aphid numbers where reduced they adapted. And are now eating many beneficial insects along with the harmful ones. Along with breeding totally out of control..
cowboylogic
Well-Known Member
They come in a combination of colors like most insects. But most all have a telling tail, haha.
matthebrute
Well-Known Member
introducing a foriegn soecies is never a good idea..
matthebrute
Well-Known Member
these
how can i get the population of these nasty little buggers up in my compost bin? they are benificial correct?
how can i get the population of these nasty little buggers up in my compost bin? they are benificial correct?
When mantids are babies they looks just like the adult, minus wings. They will eat whiteflies [I witnessed a bay dispose of a whitefly, I can't say I saw it. I was staring at the little bugger and the whitefly just disappeared] and tiny insects. As they get big enough to where you can handle them, they make interesting "pets". Grasshoppers make good food, hamburger will do...and yes, raw. They will drink water from a spoon and DO NOT put a male and female together [or male/male, female/female...they're very anti-social] or you will end up with one fat female.
If you want ladybugs...cilantro, parsley and carrots will attract them.
If you want ladybugs...cilantro, parsley and carrots will attract them.
matthebrute
Well-Known Member
cool i have a really shitty grasshopper problem with my summer garden, where can i get native mantids? i live in northeastern noth america
Gastanker
Well-Known Member
Finding native mantis can be a bitch. Most mantis readily available for pest control are the Chinese Mantis. Don't be fooled by the name, they were introduced to the US pre 1900 and for the most part are what you likely see when you see wild mantis. I'd say I spot 3 Chinese mantis for every one or two California mantis. They are also by far the cheapest mantis to purchase.
I'm sorry buddy that you didn't like my experience - Like I told you after all your nasty pms; I have personal experience in greenhouses, personal experience in fields, personal experience with many varieties of "lady bug", I have assisted in research work at multiple government insect labs. The large red varieties of lady bugs readily available for purchase (not sure at this point what you want me to call them as I'm not going to go through and list all the scientific names of all the available large red lady bugs), in all of my experience, along with mantis (adults, nymphs, eggs), will not get rid of a mite infestation. This is me telling you about my personal experience, which is all I tried to do to begin with until you jumped on my back about what you consider a readily available "lady bug". In my personal experience mite destroyers, Stethorus punctillum, do a much better job at controlling mites.
I'm not sure how my personal experiences (what you asked for) could possibly be wrong...it's an experience... I'm sorry however that you did not find it useful.
I'm sorry buddy that you didn't like my experience - Like I told you after all your nasty pms; I have personal experience in greenhouses, personal experience in fields, personal experience with many varieties of "lady bug", I have assisted in research work at multiple government insect labs. The large red varieties of lady bugs readily available for purchase (not sure at this point what you want me to call them as I'm not going to go through and list all the scientific names of all the available large red lady bugs), in all of my experience, along with mantis (adults, nymphs, eggs), will not get rid of a mite infestation. This is me telling you about my personal experience, which is all I tried to do to begin with until you jumped on my back about what you consider a readily available "lady bug". In my personal experience mite destroyers, Stethorus punctillum, do a much better job at controlling mites.
I'm not sure how my personal experiences (what you asked for) could possibly be wrong...it's an experience... I'm sorry however that you did not find it useful.
If you have a personal experience of mantis or the typical store bought lady bug eradicating a mite problem please share.