# I'm addicted lol



## robo mantis (Feb 15, 2007)

Ok the top is 53 chinese eggs i got today! The bottom 9 are chinese from my girls, and the 3 at the very bottom are European. feel free to comment lol.


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## Insect Guy (Feb 15, 2007)

WOW! Where in the world did you get all of those ooths from, ebay? Also, is each ooth a true ooth meaning it will hatch out around 200 nymphs or so. If that is the case you are going to be swarmed with baby Chinese all at the same time. I am sure that will be fun and hectic all the same.


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## robo mantis (Feb 15, 2007)

I got them from ebay they were scavenged from the wild except the nine my girls layed. So not all may hatch but remember these are from the same area and 1 mated girl will lay 3-6 eggs. I'm saving them for the summer and then i will have millions!!! lol Trust me I am very prepared because i do this every year but this is the first time i've had this many lol.


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## Rick (Feb 15, 2007)

What are you planning to do with those? I can go into my backyard and find that many but whats the point? One chinese ooth worth of nymphs is more than enough. I hope your plan is to place them outside. I would be interested in buying one of those european ooths from you if they are wild collected.


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## padkison (Feb 15, 2007)

What the heck are you going to do with all those Chinese Ooths? :shock:

BTW - I have 10 I collected. If I don't sell them this winter, I will set them up back in the wild where I got them.


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## robo mantis (Feb 15, 2007)

Ok this is my plan. I will incubate them in spring then when they hatch i will got to local forest preserves and my backyard and let them go. I also have an aunt that is a science teacher and i have given her eggs before and her class loved them then she let them go by her house. Yes Rick the European oothecas are wild collected. I'll pm you later and figure out the European ooth deal.


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## OGIGA (Feb 15, 2007)

That's amazing! I would make a whole bug house for all those. Even then, it'll probably be overcrowded.


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## robo mantis (Feb 15, 2007)

Yeah do you think i have the record for the most chinese eggs on the forum LOL


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## Rick (Feb 15, 2007)

> Yeah do you think i have the record for the most chinese eggs on the forum LOL


No. Like I said I have probably ten times that many in the field behind my house. Glad to hear you aren't trying to keep all those and hatch them. I bet you wouldn' t be able to raise even 20 adults from all those. Glad to hear they are being released. Keep them outside or they're going to hatch. :wink:


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## AFK (Feb 15, 2007)

do an experiment and put all those ooths in one small-sized jar to see how the mantids cope for the sake of science


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## robo mantis (Feb 16, 2007)

Yeah i plan on hooking some up outside and some incubating in my house just in case the outside ones get eaten. Lol AFK they wouldn't even fit lol and that would be choas lol.


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## yen_saw (Feb 16, 2007)

:shock: ok you win robo!  

I released some chinese mantis into my backyard last year, most of them didn't make it. I have to "rescue" some of them and keep them till L2/L3 before releasing them again, and they appeared to do far better. This year, am planning to hatch the ooth around April (will be warm here in Houston) but keep them till they are L2/L3. The surviving rate is lot better that way. Also, check the weather forecast to ensure that the coming next few days be warm before releasing them. If you just let the ooth outside, it will hatch naturally when the weather is warm enough. Look for the place where it is heavily infested with aphids and little bugs, but not near ant nest, also remember to protect them from the parasitic wasp. It will be a miracle if 10% or more manage to reach adult hood.


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## robo mantis (Feb 16, 2007)

Yeah I'm going to raise a few eggs indoors till L1 i was thinking then letting them go. Yeah i learned the hard way with ants  . Like one year i was letting them go in my garden and ants swarmed them  i killed like half the colony of ants lol.


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## OGIGA (Feb 17, 2007)

The ants swarmed them and the ants died? How well did the mantises do?


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## robo mantis (Feb 18, 2007)

the ants like to kill mantids  only 1 survived to adult that i saw.


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## Ian (Feb 18, 2007)

Wow, nice find. I purchased a batch of Chinese ooths from the US, and unfortunately they started hatching on me. :/


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## robo mantis (Feb 18, 2007)

that stinks i hate when they swarm lol


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