# Mantid identification and ooth clarification



## Hayley (Jul 29, 2008)

Hi everyone, just wondering if you guys could give me the thumbs up in ooth care.

Before I do that, I must first applaud this forum. I have searched everywhere for advice on how to care for ooths all of which were ither incomplete or vague. The sticky ooth topic has helped me a bunch so thank you!  

Ok, to cut a long story short, I purchased a praying mantis from a petshop roughly about 3 weeks ago now (I think she is a species of African mantis but am not sure). Speaking of which, how often are african mantids supposed to be misted? I have heard a varity of different humidities and misting reccomendations althought I have been misting her twice a week to be safe. the petshop owner informed me she was going to lay an ootheca.

Well three weeks later here we are with a new ooth. I think it is abit pointless asking questions as all of my questions have already been answered!  However, am not happy removing the ooth off the branch incase I damage it. So I just wanted to post up a few pictures of the ooth to see if its positioning is ok. If so then i'll be taking a trip down to the petshop tomorrow to pick up a critter cage of the same size so the branch will fit  .

I think the only other question I can add to this is how can you tell if an ooth is fertile or not? I know it is difficult to tell... But is there any way I could find out? I am fully aware of nymph care as I currently have two Chinese mantis nymphs that I purchased at l1 both are now l4/l5 and are thriving.

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ooth pictures

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Mantis pictures

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*note she isn’t always on branches this thin. This was for photography purposes only*

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*note that some of her feet are missing and her wings are damaged. She was already in this state prior to purchase and despite this defects, is a happy healthy mantis with a ferocious appetite!*

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Thank you for your help!  

Hayley


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## mrblue (Jul 30, 2008)

in some species you can tell if it may be fertile but i dont think with this one, sorry. if she is wild caught there may be a good chance she mated before being caught. twice a week misting sounds fine. positioning looks ok (if a little close to the floor) , every time i have had a mantis lay an ootheca it has been in a ok position to hatch, i only move them for my own convenience.


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## Giosan (Aug 20, 2008)

Poor little wings... I would never sell a mantis who looked so bad! did you pay a lot? Glad you are happy though!  that's more imported.

About the ooth.. hang it up and just wait and see  If nothing happens in about 8 weeks you COULD slice a bit open to see how it's going in there (if it is moist or if you see nymphs)


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## Rick (Aug 20, 2008)

YOu can leave the ooth where it is. There is no way to tell if it is fertile by looking at it. You will just have to wait.


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