First hatch

[Bloodtkr]

At the last reptile expo I was given a Chinese mantis ooth. The next day ( Feb 9 ) I wired the stick it was on to the vented lid of a 32 oz deli cup and put it on the shelf. I did absolutely nothing to it. No mist no jacking the heat up. Its between 69-73 in my apartment. I do have a humidifier going now since I lost a violin and a couple shields to molt issues. So it hasn't even been a month and I walked by the shelf yesterday and did a double take. I rubbed my eyes and focused and sure enuff there were a hundred plus 1/2 inch little kids running all over each other and hanging from the egg case. I certainly wasn't ready yet nor is it warm enuff to let them outside. I swear they may have been eating each other because by the time I put the cup in the mesh cage it seems there may be a hundred left. It was definitely one of the coolest things I've seen ; )

 

[dmina]

Congratulations??? At least it is nice that you were able to witness the hatch... hopefully you have some fruit flies...

 

[CosbyArt]

Congrats. It happens depending on how long it was since the ooth was laid, and if it was kept in diapause or not. I got a ooth a month ago that hatched only 8 days after I got it.

Indeed all nymphs turn cannibalistic if they do not have food. A trick many keepers use to get the huge numbers down to a manageable size, and get rid of any weak or dying nymphs. If they are not something you can handle you can do a ad here on the classifieds to sell off the extra nymphs.

 

[Bloodtkr]

That's exactly what I'm doing only I labeled it survival of the fittest ; )

 

[Bloodtkr]

The ooth was found in NJ in Feb I believe so it was definitely wintered. I have to believe local mantis here in new england have to be quick..maybe they have 5 months tops to hatch eat grow mate lay ooths and die ?

 

[CosbyArt]

The ooth was found in NJ in Feb I believe so it was definitely wintered. I have to believe local mantis here in new england have to be quick..maybe they have 5 months tops to hatch eat grow mate lay ooths and die ?

Perhaps they have adapted to the available short time frame, I have no idea.

I can say that the wild ooths I have hatched, had diapaused in below freezing temps for 3 weeks, and hatched in about a month. Ooths of the same species without diapause took 2 months, or even more, to hatch. So there is no doubt if the ooth was diapaused it was ready to hatch quickly.