Since the 150 or so babies will cannibalize, you need to separate them at birth. I'd let them all go in your garden and just keep a couple separate to raise. Leave a half eaten banana out on your countertop for a couple days until the fruit flies show up.

Most places in the US sell Chinese Mantids. Also, at this time of year, the mantids are just now laying their eggs. The vendors likely won't be shipping until early spring. If I were you I'd wait until spring, when you can release most of the babies into your yard with no problem, and just keep a few to raise.

Have you ever visited the mantid forum? They can probably give you a lot of information

Here is a link that might be useful: Mantid forum

Thank you everyone so far, but I'm still kind of worried if they are native to my local area or not. The shipment is coming from California and I don't know if it's okay to release mantises from California into Massachusetts...

What company are you ordering from, and do you know what species of mantid it is?

Most predatory insects are very sensitive to environmental conditions. Purchased predators will have, at best, a 10% survival rate at the new site. Pretty costly for so few that may not stay anyway.

birdsarecool,

I have written some articles on praying mantids at www.suite101.com (link below). If you click on my name, you will get a list of the other 30+ articles I have written: on topics ranging from Lyme disease to butterfly migration and slipper shells.

As a field biologist, I can assure you that the mantises hatching from your egg case will be able to survive, but less than 10 will grow to be adults. There are too many predators, including the mantises themselves, that like juicy insects for lunch. That is just the way nature works.

There is plenty of outdoor food in Massachusetts for mantises during the growing season, but during the winter, you need to provide food: aphids are already in hibernation, but if you put a opened, ripe banana the counter, you should pick up fruit flies with no difficulty even this late in the season (I still have them flying in my kitchen in CT). Grow them on oatmeal and banana with some yeast added - I will give you a recipe if you ask.

Tiny mealworms, hatchling crickets, and red worms will also be taken by baby mantises. Small crickets are good once the mantids are about 1 inch long.

Feed the crickets spinach and oatmeal for at least a week before giving them to the mantids. That provides the crickets with vitamins and minerals needed by the mantids.

It is much better to wait until spring to put the eggs in a warm area, but if you wish to raise a few for a science fair project, you should refrigerate the eggs for four weeks before making them warm. The cold triggers allows them to begin developing faster.

If you have questions, you can email me from the Suite101 site and I will answer them directly. Enjoy.

Al

Here is a link that might be useful: Raising Mantids from Egg

Thanks everyone, I am birdsarecool, but I just made a new username.