This Rescued Chinese Mantis Is Not Your Typical Pet

Not many people realize that mantises make good pets. This is because the long, gangly creatures often frighten those who encounter them with their looks. But mantises, which keep many insects away from gardens, are actually quite helpful. They are also very entertaining, as one woman found out, after she rescued a mantis and made it her pet.

Penny the Chinese Mantis Was Found Behind a Dumpster

The story of Penny the Chinese mantis might have a happy ending, but it did not start off that way. In fact, if her owner, Bella, had not found Penny when she did, the mantis would not have survived. Approximately five weeks ago, Bella posted an Instagram video in which she stated a new mantis had joined the family. In a follow-up video, Bella posted some highlights of Penny, writing a very touching caption for the mantis.

“I don’t know how long I’ll have Penny for, but I’ll make sure her last chapter is a peaceful one,” Bella captions the video. “So excited to celebrate her first Halloween!!”

Under the comments section, one follower was curious as to how Bella knew where to find Penny.

“I just had a strange feeling to check the dumpster out back,” Bella writes, “and I followed my intuition. She was very pregnant at that time and caught in a huge spider web!!”

Had Bella not checked behind the dumpster, Penny would have become dinner for a spider. Instead, she is now living an extraordinary life, under the care of someone who is a mantis expert. Penny gets all the “uppies” she wants, is hand-fed and watered, and is allowed out of her enclosure to explore her surroundings throughout the day. Bella not only has Penny in her care but also other mantises. Those mantises include:

In addition to mantises, there is also a jumping spider, tarantulas, geckos, and more under Bella’s care. In the video, Bella mentions that when she saved Penny, she was very pregnant. Thanks to the calm environment Bella created for Penny, the mantis laid an egg.

Penny the Chinese Mantis Laid An Egg

After it was mentioned that Penny was pregnant, Bella’s followers were curious if Penny had ever laid her egg. As it turns out, Penny did just that about two weeks after she was saved, and in a few short weeks, she will become a mom. Penny laid an egg, or an ootheca, in the enclosure that Bella created for her. This was not the original enclosure, but one that was modified after Penny got larger to keep the mantis safe from falling or getting hurt.

The ootheca will remain intact for four to six weeks, after which it will begin to hatch. Emerging from the egg will be anywhere from 50 to 200 babies. Penny will not care for the mantises. It will be up to Bella to do this. These tiny mantises can be kept together until they go through their second molt. After that, they should be separated to keep from practicing cannibalism. Penny’s ootheca still has a few more weeks until it hatches. What Bella plans to do with the massive number of Chinese mantises that will take over the enclosure remains to be seen.

Chinese Mantises Are Popular Pets

Many people only encounter Chinese mantises in the great outdoors. However, those who are insect enthusiasts enjoy caring for them, making the Chinese mantis one of the most popular to keep as pets. There are many reasons people choose to keep Chinese mantises as pets. Those reasons include:

• Chinese mantises do not require a lot of upkeep
• They are docile creatures
• People enjoy watching them hunt and eat
• They are good for smaller spaces, like apartments, because enclosures do not need to be large
• Chinese mantises make no noise
• Chinese mantises are very clean
• They are easy to breed

It should be noted that when looking for a Chinese mantis to care for, if they are brought into a home as a nymph, they may adapt better to captivity than one like Penny, which lived outdoors. However, as Penny has shown in her adorable videos, she is quite happy where she is, even showing, from time to time, how she is pampered with hand feedings.

What Chinese Mantises Eat

Chinese mantises, like other mantises, are ambush predators. This means they lie in wait until prey comes within reach, then strike. With their camouflage coloring, mantises make very stealthy hunters. Chinese mantises are opportunistic feeders. This means they have a varied diet, not only depending on the mantises’ location but also on the season and time of year. Some of the prey that mantises eat include:

• Flies
• Beetles
• Grasshoppers
• Crickets
• Caterpillars
• Butterflies
• Moths
• Insects
• Mantids

In some instances, mantises have been observed eating spiders, small frogs, or lizards. When in captivity, it is recommended to provide Chinese mantises with a varied diet to keep them healthy. Some of the most popular fare recommended for Chinese mantises include:

• Fruit flies
• Houseflies
• Crickets
• Roaches

These critters should be purchased rather than collected from the outdoors to ensure they are free of pesticides. This will allow Chinese mantises to live the longest lives possible indoors.

Chinese Mantises Have a Relatively Short Lifespan

Unfortunately, Chinese mantises do not live very long. Instead, they have a short lifespan, particularly for those that live outdoors in the elements. Wild Chinese mantises hatch in spring, when the weather is temperate. They will continue to grow until the fall. It is during the winter that many of these mantises die. This has to do with the temperatures dropping and food becoming scarce. This is why Chinese mantises mature quickly, so that they can lay their eggs before their lifecycle comes to an end.

When living indoors, Chinese mantises fare a bit better. With constant warmer temperatures, an enclosure that is well cared for, and access to food and water, Chinese mantises have been known to live between one and two years. While this is still not much time with the big-eyed creature, it can be a better quality of life indoors, as long as caregivers know how to care for the Chinese mantis adequately.

Chinese Mantises Are Not Native to the United States

Despite Chinese mantises being effective at controlling outdoor pest populations and making good pets, they are not native to the United States. Instead, Chinese mantises are considered a non-native species.

Chinese mantises were accidentally introduced to the U.S. in 1896. A nursery worker in Philadelphia unknowingly released it after the mantis was used to control pests such as moths and Japanese beetles. The species quickly spread throughout the nation, establishing itself in nearly every state.

The long and slender mantis, which is green to brown in color, can reach up to 4.3 inches long. While the Chinese mantis hails from places like China, Japan, Taiwan, and other parts of East Asia, it has made itself a welcome presence in many parts of the United States. This is because gardeners see the insects as natural insect repellents.

There is concern that Chinese mantises are displacing the Carolina mantis. There are also those who claim the Chinese mantises eliminate too many pollinators with their hunting skills. But, even with these concerns, they have not been categorized as an invasive species. This may be because the benefits Chinese mantises provide to the ecosystem outweigh the potential drawbacks.

Those, like Bella, who have mantises as pets, help the general public become better educated about the insects. Although there are stories of mantises biting people and being considered pests, even the largest species—the Chinese mantis—can make a wonderful and loving pet, as Penny has for Bella.