[Costco] Praying Mantis Natural insect control $19.99

May 28th, 2020 8:35 am

#1

WiseOx [OP]: Deal Addict; Mar 19, 2004; 1039 posts; 123 upvotes

May 28th, 2020 8:35 am

[Costco] Praying Mantis Natural insect control $19.99

Deal Link:: https://www.costco.ca/praying-mantis-na ... 00216.html
Price:: $19.99
Retailer:: Costco

We’re all going to be stuck in hanging out in our backyards this summer, so why not have a Mantis army at your feet?

I got this a few years ago, when posted on RFD. Kids got a kick out of it, worth the $20 of amusement, though we only saw 3-4 (not the 40-400 per the ad). I recall others had better luck.

Edit...additional info...
per fusack's post below, looks like some have an option to buy cheaper from Home Depot. For me it shows as Unavailable in my area, so YMMV. fusak mentioned Costco ships via UPS which some have experienced delays with orders. I wasn't aware of UPS delays, but something to consider.

Home Depot is selling them $15.98 so I ordered 2 with free site to store pickup.
https://www.homedepot.ca/product/prayin ... 1000700318

Last edited by WiseOx on May 28th, 2020 12:11 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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May 28th, 2020 8:46 am

#2

Dave98: Deal Addict; Sep 10, 2005; 4116 posts; 1326 upvotes; GTA

May 28th, 2020 8:46 am

Ah yes, the annual mantis thread. I might actually try it this time around out of boredom.

+15

May 28th, 2020 9:08 am

#3

springrain: Newbie; May 8, 2016; 67 posts; 23 upvotes

May 28th, 2020 9:08 am

Will this become a multi year mantis colony in one’s garden?

+3

May 28th, 2020 9:11 am

#4

juve4lfe: Member; Feb 27, 2010; 288 posts; 175 upvotes

May 28th, 2020 9:11 am

I don’t get it...u don’t like bugs and flies in your yard so u put more potentially bigger ones in there?

+9

May 28th, 2020 9:16 am

#5

krishnasty: Jr. Member; Mar 21, 2015; 118 posts; 60 upvotes; Toronto

May 28th, 2020 9:16 am

juve4lfe wrote: ↑ I don’t get it...u don’t like bugs and flies in your yard so u put more potentially bigger ones in there?

I guess its about choosing something that you dislike less. between mosquitoes and mantis, I would pick mantis anyday

+2

May 28th, 2020 9:17 am

#6

Bencherstyle: Deal Addict; Nov 9, 2008; 2142 posts; 305 upvotes; Thornhill

May 28th, 2020 9:17 am

do you kill these when you mow the lawn or what..?

+6

May 28th, 2020 9:19 am

#7

fusack: Jr. Member; Nov 24, 2009; 130 posts; 189 upvotes; Cornwall, ON

May 28th, 2020 9:19 am

I must have missed this in previous years as this looks awesome. The Kids will love it, I'll try the paper bag so the kids could see them before releasing them! Does anyone have any recommendations other than what is in the instructions?

Home Depot is selling them $15.98 so I ordered 2 with free site to store pickup.
https://www.homedepot.ca/product/prayin ... 1000700318

Also considering that Costco may ship via UPS and my shipment from a few weeks ago was delays for 9 days with UPS I'm not eager to order unless it's a great deal.

+10

May 28th, 2020 9:19 am

#8

boonjaca: Deal Addict; Nov 15, 2005; 3766 posts; 930 upvotes

May 28th, 2020 9:19 am

I got this a couple of times and they never hatched even though I followed the instructions. I was pretty sad since I really wanted to see them.

+2

May 28th, 2020 9:26 am

#9

powderpiggy: Newbie; Dec 31, 2016; 21 posts; 35 upvotes

May 28th, 2020 9:26 am

I had one last year. I kept it in the house because the family wanted to see the action. It took almost a month, but about 50 of them came out. Fortunately, we were there to see it and quickly put the case outside. It probably took less than 10 minutes for the entire hatching. Had we been out at the time, I would have ended up with them inside my house.

Worth noting that if you keep the eggs in a container, and the insects hatch without a food source, they'll start eating each other.

One other point, after the hatching was complete, the egg case looked the same. So, it's really likely that you could buy one of these, miss the hatching, and never know if you bought a dud.

Lastly, I haven't seen a sign of them since. I have a large yard and they're tough to see at the best of times.

+23

May 28th, 2020 9:29 am

#10

neutral: Deal Fanatic; Aug 25, 2005; 6635 posts; 178 upvotes

May 28th, 2020 9:29 am

After reading some of the negative reviews on this product, I thought I'd tell your about our experience, as it may help you to be successful with the egg casing and babies. First of all, be patient; it takes a long time for the casing to hatch. Do not hatch outside, as the babies will march out and be promptly eaten by other, larger insects and birds before you even get to see that they hatched. Hatch in an old aquarium with a lid or a large jar. We were lucky enough to see our egg casing hatch and got literally hundreds of the babies! I do not recommend releasing them right away as previously mentioned, as they will be smaller than the other insects in your yard and will likely get eaten. We transferred groups of the babies into separate jars with a large twig in each, and fed them pinhead crickets for a few weeks...(this reduced cannibalism and made the babies grow fairly quickly). We only set them free on our plants once they were a reasonable size and the weather had warmed #Calgary). We had some huge mantises by the end of the summer and are ordering again this year. Good luck!

Good review on how to get better results.

+13

May 28th, 2020 9:29 am

#11

djdestroyer: Deal Addict; Jul 10, 2014; 2542 posts; 845 upvotes; Ottawa, ON

May 28th, 2020 9:29 am

I bought a single mantis few years ago to help with protecting the garden. I loved it but found him like twice all summer as they're extremely hard to see.

Last edited by djdestroyer on May 28th, 2020 9:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

+1

May 28th, 2020 9:30 am

#12

HamsiBrain: Deal Addict; Aug 21, 2008; 1347 posts; 686 upvotes; Hamilton

May 28th, 2020 9:30 am

Please consider few things before buying/applying mantis on your garden.

1. Their origin (North American, vs Chinese, Anatolian, etc).
2. Do you have bee colonies, hummingbirds, etc?
3. Do you use pesticides and other chemicals?

It's been reported Chinese are larger than North Americans, e.g. Carolinas, and may be harmful to bee colonies.

+8

May 28th, 2020 9:36 am

#13

snailium: Member; Jan 15, 2010; 407 posts; 168 upvotes

May 28th, 2020 9:36 am

Costco uses UPS to deliver packages. And my local UPS warehouse is overwhelmed, packages delay for 3-4 weeks.

Maybe I'll order one and let it hatch in UPS warehouse.