Your girl Bertha seems to be doing great. You should start your own mantid thread and post pictures, it's always nice to be able to look back at them as time goes on.
Thanks Denise. So far the numbers are dwindling however the larger ones are still molting and have gotten much bigger lately.
I would have agreed about the Brunner's mantis (Brunneria borealis) awhile back but since my ooths (see my previous posts) I take care of any nymphs that may hatch (been a few months since the last one now) and hope at least one will survive - not sure what the issue is, but I know I'm going to try them again anytime soon.
Thanks.
I plan to hatch a few over the winter, but will keep most diapaused until spring for re-release. 
But alas that last sack she laid was fertile and as some of you know hatched! h34r: It is a first for me finding any this late in the year.Congratulations @CosbyArt! That's awesome you're able to hold a female chinese this late in the season and have it lay it's sack! All of my chinese mantids I've ever kept never would make it past late October for some reason. I.E. the female I had in September went downhill fast after she laid what was her last Ooth.. I think she had laid quite a few in her adulthood before I caught her
And I know what you mean about this weather changing and all the insects dying off.. I saw a male chinese mantis fly around on campus a couple of weeks ago when it was still warmer. Never made the effort to catch him though as he might have lived a long life already. But that was the very last wild mantis I saw.
I cannot wait until next summer though. I plan on making a few trips to Lake Monroe then and mantis search! I went there this past summer in late July to look at geodes and I saw tons of mantids there of all sorts, adult, some sub-adult, Carolinas.. Chinese.. And one very mean female chinese mantis that immediately displayed her threat pose when I got within 2 feet of her.
Usually I collect females in early to mid October and they tend to die off by December, but have had some that make it as long as February. Perhaps afterwards would be better, that way you can show off your catches too. 
That's really crazy! can't believe any hatched, and especially so quickly without a diapause!I had a previous Chinese (Tenodera sinensis) female I collected September 27th, and my wife named her Nikki. She laid a tiny messed-up ooth shortly afterwards, and as it was so small and several eggs were exposed I thought it was a dud. Sadly it was her last ooth, and she died a few days after her ooth, living only a little over a week with me. I looked through my photos, but can't see any of her, likely due to the short time I didn't get any either.
I left her ooth in her original habitat just in case though, and thought nothing more of it. Well it started hatching tonight!
At the moment I am counting only 7 Chinese nymphs, but even that amazes me from such a tiny/weird ooth and the quick hatching time without any diapause, but perhaps there may be some more in the morning. In the top middle of the photo you can see the tiny ooth Nikki laid, and several of her nymphs running around in there. Tomorrow I'll have to get some better photos when they are done hatching, and as I have only 2 hours until I have to get up for work.
I agree, it is strange. Typically ooths I've hatched of Tenodera sinensis (and even Stagmomantis carolina) take a average of 90 days to hatch without any diapause. With diapause somewhere between 30-40 days. This ooth hatched in about 50 days, and still just seven nymphs in the container today.
That is astonishing it hatched so quicky! Come to think about it, my female back in late September laid hers right on the 2nd of October and it hatched on November 7th.. The ooth was real rough looking too, but it was a decent size.. It's just the foam was flaking off everywhere prior to hatching and it looked like it shriveled and dried up. Think the incubation period was just over 30 days! I was very surprised.. Not only did I think it was a dud, if it were to ever hatch, I wasn't expecting anything to happen until January! I really am wondering if their non-diapaused ooths can hatch much sooner than the 90 days that many people think they hatch in. It's such a great feeling when you get a surprise hatch!Not sure about other members, but I have listed 90 days for undiapaused ooths as that is the average of the dozens of native ooths I hatched and kept records for. Some are quicker of course, and others have taken longer too. I think I should reexamine my logs and see if I can find any variations on length - likely due to the higher temps as with the heat on in the house, upstairs we tend to be much warmer lately.Hey @CosbyArt! Wow, congrats on the hatch!
As for meeting up with you in the long run during Lake Monroe, I'd love to! I'll for sure PM you around that time regarding that! Maybe we can scout the park together sometime and see what we can collect. That park is absolutely filled with them, especially in Late July! All sorts of them in different stages, and a good variety of Carolinas, Chinese, and I'm sure other species that I have yet to learn about that are naturalized!
@CosbyArt Yeah my room can get pretty toasty with my desktop sometimes.. I can see heat enhancing the hatch time a bit. Ones that have hatched while I was a kid always took two months or longer.. This one I had and your hatched pretty darn quick which is amazing. Since yours only had 7 hatch, I wonder if there will be a round 2!Not sure about other members, but I have listed 90 days for undiapaused ooths as that is the average of the dozens of native ooths I hatched and kept records for. Some are quicker of course, and others have taken longer too. I think I should reexamine my logs and see if I can find any variations on length - likely due to the higher temps as with the heat on in the house, upstairs we tend to be much warmer lately.
Great to hear you had a ooth do the same, it is great to have some nymphs without the long wait.
Alright sounds good, just let me know when you come this way next year. I've lived in this area my whole life, so I can show you some more accessible areas off the beaten path too, and another nearby lake area if your interested.
I've also checked out Idlewild, which is a park right up the street from me.. Lots of shrubs and tall plants there to look for them, but could never ever find any (I've noticed some places, they're everywhere, and others they are just non-existent.. I guess construction/urban expansion really is having an effect on them because I have to go pretty far out now to search for them.)Nothing more from the ooth yet, I really doubt I'll see any more hatch from that ooth - of course I didn't expect to see the ones that did hatch.@CosbyArt Yeah my room can get pretty toasty with my desktop sometimes.. I can see heat enhancing the hatch time a bit. Ones that have hatched while I was a kid always took two months or longer.. This one I had and your hatched pretty darn quick which is amazing. Since yours only had 7 hatch, I wonder if there will be a round 2!
And right on I'd love to check out some spots out in Indiana! I'm here out in Hebron so I'm right by the border.. Think where you live is under an hour away.. Monroe was always an hour and a half drive max.. Took 2 hours one time as I got lost on the gravel roads south of the park.. Also found two Carolinas during that ordeal! If you want I can show you some nice spots out here in Kentucky as well! Some fields and meadows are filled with them.. every golden rod top will have a mantis of some kind on it, not even kidding. Maybe do a trip down to Cumberland if those wildfires haven't wiped them out south of me.. Also.. My sister's place down in Pendleton county had about an acre of just random weeds, flowers, golden-rods, and a other tall grass, and I kid you not, I saw easily 10 praying mantises in one block and saw two pairs mating. I also believe I saw a Carolina and a Chinese mantis mating too down there which was odd. I don't know if her yard has all the grass/weeds/wild flowers as she might have cut them down for her horses.. But I may ask her to keep an acre far back for me to hunt in next summer
Sure sounds great, I'm always up for new locations to search. I believe you on the numbers, as I often find 30-60 mantids on my sisters property at one time (I have to quit looking as I get too many). 
