Blowfly Maggots

[Silkmoth]

I buy mine from mantispets.com. Cary always send good pupae. They come in great shape and fast. I wont buy maggots, they give my the creeps!
I buy 500 at a time because I feed them to my mantods so I will have to buy more often. I keep them in the fridge and take out what I need. There are other sellers of feeders online.
There are afew threads about raising your own bluebottles on Mantidforum.

[JeffreH]

Thanks for the info, Silkmoth =)

By the way (random, unimportant question) - do you mantis people call them mantods? I naturally want to call them mantids, but presumably this would be better fit Mantidae alone. I've otherwise never heard of anyone calling them Mantods.

Additionally, do you know if Mantispids are ever kept in captivity? I know their larval life stages are kind of weird in that they often attack spider eggs, so culturing in captivity might be challenging. But I've always thought they were very interesting insects (especially the wasp mimics!).

[Silkmoth]

mantispids? Ive never heard of them. I know Mantids have no larval form, just nymphs that are perfect replicas of the adults. Ill have to look the mantispids up on google. I have only heard or read mantids, not mantods. A mispelling?

A warning to anyone checking out Mantispets for flies or other feeders, mantids have a secret way of getting into your heart! Once there they will never leave!!!

[JeffreH]

Ahh, I see now. It must have been a typo in your previous posting (mantod-mantid). I figured it might be possible that people who work with mantids might call them "Mantods" based on the order name, Mantodea. I've been rearing a couple of Carolina and European mantids in the lab and they've inspired me to consider keeping more 'exotic' species. These are only temporary residents that will be pinned as they get closer to natural death.

Check out Mantispidae, its a very interesting family. They are Neuropteroids closely related to lacewings that have convergent evolution with Mantids; they look very similar and have raptorial front legs, but they are holometabolous and have larval and pupal life stages.




^^Not my photos, I stole them from a google image search. The wasp mimic is pretty striking in my opinion, but I have a biased interest in wasps.

*By the way, I apologize for shooting us off topic here. Anyone who wants to talk blowflies again feel free to get us back on track at any time =)

[UncleChester]

^^Not my photos, I stole them from a google image search. The wasp mimic is pretty striking in my opinion, but I have a biased interest in wasps.

That's like some kind of super-horror-goggle-eyed-kung-fu-wasp. I didn't even know these existed and I wish I knew about them earlier. Oh well, something to look for next year.

I found a detailed run-down of the Canadian species, including when they're out, habitats, etc. Basically, some nice winter reading:

http://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/staffprof...d-Cannings.pdf

[Silkmoth]

Those are mantis-flies.

[JeffreH]

Yes, Mantispids = Mantis flies. I wasn't suggesting they are related (note post #12, sorry if I wasn't very clear), but I thought their similar morphology to mantids might still draw interest from mantis enthusiasts. Figured a mantis keeper would know better than anyone as to if they are ever kept in captivity. I think they are very interesting, but their life histories in larval stages would make them a challenge to culture I think...

I'll be looking out for them next Spring-Summer; never have seen one but they are a family I'd like to try to rear and/or add to my pinned collection.

On a side note Silkmoth: I'll likely pick your brain sometime about mantids. I think next Spring I'll try to pick up a few more interesting/exotic species to keep around for fun =)