# Mantids inbreeding



## fmonea (Aug 29, 2021)

Let's say I take 2 pairs (male-female) from the same ootheca, they each make one ootheca ( O1, O2 ) then I take another 2 pairs females from O1 and males from O2, and breed them and then repeat, etc.. how much of a difference would it make if any from just breeding them from one ootheca (brother-sister) for many generations? would there be at least some gene pool difference after some time?


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## guapoalto049 (Aug 29, 2021)

Great question! In my opinion the amount inbreeding plays is overblown. I can’t imagine there is a ton of movement in nature for a particular species within a 10 year period in a normal setting. 
My Deroplatys truncata have been interbred for 6 years straight and my hatch rates, adult size, and any other noticeable parameter all seem about the same to me. 
I just don’t think people breed mantises in numbers enough to really gauge the effect. For example, if you have a group of 8 pairs of a species, some males will just never show interest and some females will never call. It’s just the way it is. Now if one of those individuals was the only one a person had, they often blame it on inbreeding. It’s just luck of the draw when one keeps very few individuals


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