# Egg case! ...no mate.



## Hyperiant (Dec 5, 2010)

My mantis (unknown species, she looks to be native to California) is currently laying what appears to be an egg case hanging from the top of her enclosure. But she doesn't have a mate. Unless she mated with one of the crickets I've been feeding her, there shouldn't be any reason for this...should there?


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## PhilinYuma (Dec 5, 2010)

Hyperiant said:


> My mantis (unknown species, she looks to be native to California) is currently laying what appears to be an egg case hanging from the top of her enclosure. But she doesn't have a mate. Unless she mated with one of the crickets I've been feeding her, there shouldn't be any reason for this...should there?


Yep. Unfertilized females regularly lay sterile eggs for your ooth collection!

P.S. Can you show us a pic of your mantis so that we can guess what she is?


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## Rick (Dec 5, 2010)

Like PHil said, mantids lay ooths whether they are mated or not. It just won't hatch.


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## warpdrive (Dec 5, 2010)

I know a girl from the chameleon forums that will eat that ooth for a dollar... :blink: 

she takes paypal.

Harry


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## dgerndt (Dec 5, 2010)

Like everyone said, they will lay eggs even if they aren't fertile. But if she is a wild-caught mantis and was caught as an adult, she is probably fertile. So you might want to take care of the ooth (eggs and case) as if it were fertile. You don't want to kill a bunch of baby mantids on accident!


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## Jesskb (Dec 5, 2010)

Deby said:


> Like everyone said, they will lay eggs even if they aren't fertile. But if she is a wild-caught mantis and was caught as an adult, she is probably fertile. So you might want to take care of the ooth (eggs and case) as if it were fertile. You don't want to kill a bunch of baby mantids on accident!


+1

was she wild caught?


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## Hyperiant (Dec 5, 2010)

I caught her wild, but as a nymph. I don't think she's pregnant. Here's some pictures, too!


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## dgerndt (Dec 6, 2010)

Hyperiant said:


> I caught her wild, but as a nymph. I don't think she's pregnant. Here's some pictures, too!


Well then she definately isn't fertile. You might want to take a picture of her not through the screen lid so we can better ID her.


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## Hyperiant (Dec 7, 2010)

Oh, sorry...see if these are any better.

I can't figure out the settings on my camera for close-ups. This one didn't turn out too bad, but...yeah.


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## dgerndt (Dec 7, 2010)

Hyperiant said:


> Oh, sorry...see if these are any better.
> 
> I can't figure out the settings on my camera for close-ups. This one didn't turn out too bad, but...yeah.


Oh, she's beautiful! I'm still a n00b, so I can't place an ID on her... but I'm sure someone a little more experienced here can help. Oh, and try looking for the macro setting on your camera. Or if your camera is like mine, there are settings like "Portrait" and "Pets", etc. I use the "Flowers" setting.


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## lancaster1313 (Dec 7, 2010)

She looks like a pretty Stagmomantis _carolina_ AKA (Carolina mantis), to me.


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## Hyperiant (Dec 8, 2010)

Thanks for the ID! I just took out the egg case, but I'm a little worried if she'll start stressing out over it. She was being very protective of it earlier. When should I take out the case next time?

EDIT: Also, thanks for the tips, Deby. My camera has a flower setting, but I always seem to have issues with the camera trying to focus on something _behind_ her instead of _on_ her.


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## dgerndt (Dec 8, 2010)

Hyperiant said:


> Thanks for the ID! I just took out the egg case, but I'm a little worried if she'll start stressing out over it. She was being very protective of it earlier. When should I take out the case next time?
> 
> EDIT: Also, thanks for the tips, Deby. My camera has a flower setting, but I always seem to have issues with the camera trying to focus on something _behind_ her instead of _on_ her.


You don't have to worry; she's not upset. Mantids don't take care of their eggs or babies so they don't mind if we take over after the laying is done.  In general, you just want to make sure the ooth has hardened before you try to remove it.

You're very welcome.  It takes a lot of fiddling around and practice to get nice pictures of insects. You really have to sit down and figure out how your camera works. With my camera there's a little box in the center of the screen that indicates where the focus will be when I take the picture. If your camera has that, make sure you use it. I also try not to use the zoom; it usually just ends up blurry. I find white light or natural sunlight to be best for close up pictures. I hope this helps!


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