# D.desiccata mating / laying with pics :)



## cat_h (Nov 6, 2017)

Hi all,

Finally had success with my D.desiccata. Here's a bit of backstory before the pics incase it might be useful to anyone in their own mating efforts....

I had read that the females could mate 4 weeks after their adult moult, and I think I had been sticking too rigidly to this expectation and trying to pair them before the females were ready. I tried both females at 4 and then 5 weeks with no interest by the male, no attempts to mount, even though to my eyes the females looked fat and ready. After this I stopped trying to force the issue and at about 8 weeks post adult moult both females starting showing calling behaviour in the evenings, even visibly secreting fluid onto their abdomens which I assume contains pheromones. They are also massively large in the abdomen at this stage. 

*Female 1: *  I put the first female out in the room on a mesh enclosure, and then placed the male behind her. She was clearly aware of him, and was flexing her abdomen and lifting her wings slightly. He took about an hour to hop on, then did nothing for 7 hours   When night came around I carefully put the pair into an exoterra to let things take their course. Within 15mins of the change in position (they were now hanging rather than standing) he had coupled up, and they stayed coupled for 22hrs before he jumped away. I was super happy at this stage... successful coupling, and male survived.

I took the male back to his bachelor pad and he munched a cricket and drank alot, must have expended alot of energy   

The next day, so only 24hrs after mating ended, the female went into the corner of the habitat and spent about 4hours laying a beautiful ooth. I'd expected it to take longer after mating, but obviously she was very ready to lay. 

*Female 2:  *This female was also massively fat, and calling every night. After giving the male a couple days to recover himself, I put the pair together yesterday. Same approach again, put the female out in the room on the mesh cage, then placed the male behind her. Once again she was clearly aware of him, had no interest in the cricket I tried to give her to keep her occupied. Took him about 2 hours to mount her, but this time he coupled straight away no waiting. I had thought that perhaps I would need to change the angle they were perched at once he was onboard to trigger him to mate her like the first time, but no need this time. 

Again at night I put them into an enclosure to keep them warmer, but still with enough room for the male to get away from her when he's done. Its been about 20 hours and they're still coupled up.

*Lesson I learned: *read the information thats available, but follow the body language and cues of your females when it comes to readiness to breed. I have a heatmat on the females' enclosure to bump it a bit above room temp, and the temps stick between 21 and 26 celsius. I think if they'd been warmer they'd have been ready sooner, but I think having temps at this range drew out the maturation process slightly.

And now for the pics... not the best but I was trying to limit disturbance and so taking them through glass.

I like this pic because it shows how tightly he tucked his head behind her shield. He did the same with the other female, literally resting it on her back. Must be instinctive, very cool to see  







This is the pair this morning.. you can really see how much more massive she is than the male.







Close up of the business end... check out how distended the segments are.







And finally... the first female laying her ooth. She's right at ground level, her head was on the substrate by the time she finished the ooth.







Thanks for looking  

Cat


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## Connor (Nov 6, 2017)

Congratulations! Beautiful looking mantis and ootheca.


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## cat_h (Nov 6, 2017)

The ooth ended up about 3x the size you can see in the pic. She was so skinny after compared to how she was before. Currently eating everything I put in front of her


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## Connor (Nov 6, 2017)

Nice. Hundreds of little babies coming your way. My females always seem hangry after laying a ooth lol


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## Ocelotbren (Nov 8, 2017)

Awesome pictures, and good advice too!  Glad it went well in the end.


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## Mystymantis (Nov 10, 2017)

Congratulations! Awesome pictures too.    Glad the male survived too, that is always a plus.


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## cat_h (Nov 10, 2017)

Thanks all  

The male survived the second female too and was safely returned to his bachelor pad. 

The second female laid an ooth the day after, stuck to the netting on top of her enclosure.


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