# Newbie in the House



## dwa_lampa (Nov 19, 2009)

Hi guys! So one day, I accidentally spotted a praying mantis chillin in the flower garden right outside of my apartment. Thought it was super cool as it was my first time seeing a mantis up close! Did some research online and found out that they can be kept captive. Went back snooping in the garden two weeks later and SURPRISE!!! She was still there!!! Made a home for her out of gallon water jug and some twigs/branches. Started feeding her crickets and whatever insect I could find. (Developed this habit of looking around for "food" when walking outside of my place  ) Anyways, about two and a half weeks later, I found a male mantis chilling on the ceiling 2 feet away from the front door of our place. Made another ghetto enclosure out of gallon water jug. Wondering if the male was attracted so close to my apartment due to the female's pheromone, I decided to toss him into the queen's lair. Within a matter of seconds, the male hopped onto the female and started doing its thing!!! (Later found out how lucky I was to have um... such horny couples? As it can take A LOT longer before a pair of mantis actually mates :lol: ) 4 days later, the female laid an ootheca!! Saw it while she was giving labor!! Experiencing and witnessing everything taking place within the last month seems surreal!! Well, that's basically what lead me to this forum.

Got couple of questions for yall mantid-experts! First of all, would someone be so kind to tell me what kind of species this is? Didn't find any ootheca that looked like hers in the ootheca ID tread, so was never 100% sure. Second, how long does it take for the ootheca of this particular species to hatch?? I'm in Pasadena, California. Would i have to stick the sac in the fridge for a certain amount of time to create the diapause? Here are couple of pix! Thanks in advance!!


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## Katnapper (Nov 19, 2009)

Congrats on finding your first, and second mantis and catching "the bug!"  And welcome to the forum... glad to have you here.  Your species is a _Stagmomantis sp_., but I'm not sure which. If you were here in Illinois, I'd tell you it would certainly be _S. carolina_. But California has _S. limbata_ and _S. californica_ (at least). I've never kept either of these species, so maybe some of our other California residents can give their imput.  Again, welcome!


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## Rick (Nov 19, 2009)

Welcome. Stagmomantis sp. for sure. The care is the basically the same for all of them.


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## hibiscusmile (Nov 19, 2009)

Welcome to the forum, hope u have a good long stay here! fun to have new mantis insite! from OHIO!


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## ismart (Nov 19, 2009)

Welcome to the forum!  Looks very much like a _Stagmomantis limbata_ to me.


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## revmdn (Nov 19, 2009)

Welcome.


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## ZoeRipper (Nov 19, 2009)

S. Limbata, aka the Border Mantis/Arizona Mantis for those who don't have the genus-species memorized. And for some reason the way you posted reminded me of the Fresh Prince of BelAir theme.

Anyhoo, welcome!


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## d17oug18 (Nov 19, 2009)

welcome


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## dwa_lampa (Nov 19, 2009)

Thanks for welcoming me &amp; the ID of the species! Will try to utilize all the info on this site as much as I can!  

@ZoeRipper - Fresh prince of bel air! LOL


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## [email protected] (Nov 19, 2009)

Welcome to the forum.


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