The pet mantis market: a first overview on the praying mantis international trade (Insecta, Mantodea)

Abstract

Praying mantises have recently gained popularity as domestic pets. Moreover, they are increasingly being bred and sold in fairs and pet markets or collected in the wild and reared by amateurs or professional marketers for the hobbyist community. This market is not well known, and its implications on the biology and conservation of these insects are complex and difficult to predict. For this study, a comprehensive survey was submitted to various hobbyists within this community to evaluate their knowledge of these insects and to assess their preferences for certain species characteristics (such as shape, color, behaviors, dimensions, ease of breeding, and rarity) over others. The aggregation of this data allowed for the generation of a formula that is herein proposed to predict targets and developments within the market in order to help identify conservation issues for vulnerable species. Both problems and opportunities of the pet mantis market are discussed, such as the absence of specific regulations or the potential for a stronger collaboration between the market community and scientists.