# Help! So tiny!



## meaganelise9 (Dec 25, 2011)

I had to work 12 hours today. While I was gone, I had an ooth hatch, so I'm kind of in freak-out mode. These things are _soo_ small. They're like eyelashes with legs. I guess that's what's freaking me out. I can barely keep track of them. I keep thinking one will jump away, and I'll never see it again (if they haven't already). So I'm having trouble feeding them so far.. I tried using my smallest fruit flies, but even those are too big and the nymphs are afraid of them. I have been keeping springtails in preparation, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to get the tiny little springtails into the cups. It's hard to handle something significantly smaller than a fruit fly. Should I just put the charcoal in the bottom of the cup? Ack.. This is tough. I knew Theopompa would be a challenge, and I want to put forth the effort, because if they don't die, that'd be awesome..

Anyway, any helpful tips are much appreciated. I haven't had anything this small before. (TWSS hurhur!)


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## jcal (Dec 25, 2011)

Try putting a leaf on top of the springtails. After awhile they will start crawling on the leaf. Then just put the left the enclosure.


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## meaganelise9 (Dec 25, 2011)

I keep trying that and they always run away from it. Should I leave it in there for a long time? They sure die easily if you touch them..


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## jcal (Dec 25, 2011)

Leave it for a while. They will crawl on the underside and stay. They quickly move to the nymphs!


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## twolfe (Dec 25, 2011)

Congratulations on your ooth hatching!

I'm not familiar with this species, but if they are like most other species, they don't need to eat for a while.


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## meaganelise9 (Dec 25, 2011)

Thanks, guys! Good stuff.


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## frogparty (Dec 25, 2011)

Flood your culture and pour the water / bugs in for your nymphs

Or wet a leaf and cover it with yeast. The springtails stick around much longer that way


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## meaganelise9 (Dec 26, 2011)

Thanks very much. On a side note.. I happened to come across a photo of another Theopompa ooth. It looks nothing like mine... Anyone have a good link for ooth ID-ing? There's one site I'm thinking of that I can't remember now.

Hrrmmm!


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## ShieldMantid1997 (Dec 26, 2011)

Eye lashes with legs sounds more like thesprotia graminis to me. Do you have a picture of the ooth and nymphs?


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## angelofdeathzz (Dec 26, 2011)

All good answers, but keep in mind new born's don't usually eat for a day or 2 after hatching, and nymphs can get stuck and drowned in a single drop of water.


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## gripen (Dec 26, 2011)

did you get these from frey? did your ooths look like thishttp://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=23544


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## meaganelise9 (Dec 26, 2011)

Yes, and it does kinda look like that.. I'll take pics, but my camera might not be up to the challenge of such small subjects.


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## gripen (Dec 26, 2011)

oh freys antics, do they ever get old!


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## meaganelise9 (Dec 26, 2011)

Heheh yeah, typical.. I can't really be shocked. Might as well, raise these alleged Oxyothespis I guess!


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## gripen (Dec 26, 2011)

yeah, if you can get some food in them lol!


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## meaganelise9 (Dec 26, 2011)

ha yeah..


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## happy1892 (Dec 26, 2011)

I keep a leaf in a springtail culture for about 4 days. That is when the leaf is rotten. That is when there are many springtails.


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## bobericc (Dec 26, 2011)

Take pics if you can

if you have potting soil you could layer the bottom of the enclosure and add some water in hopes of fungus gnats which are about half the size of mels. Keeping it moist and warm will speed it with a couple days of dryness after your first watering.

Goodluck


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## lunarstorm (Dec 26, 2011)

"Eyelashes with legs." Well said, I like that.  

Good luck with the springtails, I hope you do opt to share some pics. I have a tough time imagining a nymph so small that it runs from a d. mel. I've seen nymphs run from hydei but I've not seen it with d. mels yet (I haven't raised L1s or a species that requires springtails yet.)


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## Entomo-logic (Dec 26, 2011)

_I transfer Springtails using an Insect Aspirator it works like a charm. Just be sure to check the screen or you will be the one eating Springtails._


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## meaganelise9 (Dec 26, 2011)

Hahaha good idea


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## meaganelise9 (Dec 26, 2011)

Oy vey. This requires a macro lens. We'll have to deal with my point and shoot. So there's a (blurry) nymph on this coffee stir. Below is the hatched ooth next to forceps for size comparison.


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## lunarstorm (Dec 26, 2011)

Wow. Unless those are the World's Biggest Blue-Plastic Forceps, that's a *tiny* ooth.


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## meaganelise9 (Dec 26, 2011)

Indeed. Thinking it must be Oxyothespis dumonti. Hopefully they survive. If they do, I may be sharing at some point as my bug room is getting a bit cluttered. It was obviously a small hatch- only 11 and I have yet to see any die.


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## gripen (Dec 26, 2011)

good luck!


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## meaganelise9 (Dec 28, 2011)

No deaths yet, and some have started eating. So far so good! They're pretty cute. It's like Where's Waldo trying to find them..


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## gripen (Dec 28, 2011)

thats great! keep us updated!


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## Precarious (Dec 28, 2011)

Wish I'd seen this sooner...

Keep your nymphs in a cup with a very moist, loose substrate or moss. Then all you do is pour some of the water from the springtail culture into the substrate. They will then populate the cup. Just be sure to keep the substrate moist at all times because springtails require 100% humidity. Those that wander up out of the substrate will get chomped. Drop a grain of rice in the substrate now and then to grow mold that the springtails eat. They will likely also feed on other waste.

Hope this helps!  

I have no babies yet so I hope yours make it.


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## yen_saw (Dec 28, 2011)

Congrats! Looks like O. dumonti nymphs. They are tiny the size of mosquito but will grow longer with each molt. All the best with the mantis.


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## meaganelise9 (Dec 28, 2011)

Thanks! At least the hatch size is quite manageable. And it looks like we have several people with ooths now (and more for sale I see). It'll be fun to move forward with them (hopefully).


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## gripen (Dec 28, 2011)

keep up the good work! have you had any fatality's?


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## meaganelise9 (Dec 28, 2011)

Nope. Still 11.


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## gripen (Dec 29, 2011)

wow good job!


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## sinensispsyched (Dec 29, 2011)

Keep up the good work!


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## meaganelise9 (Dec 29, 2011)

well, thanks. no news (which is good news).


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