# Survivors!



## Butterfly (Apr 7, 2007)

So last year I found a Mantis Religiosa, a Stagmomantis Limbata, a male unknown and another that died the same day I found him. The limbata and the religiosa turned out to be females and laid me some ooths. And I found a random one or two in our trumpet vine.

Flash forward to the present....

Im in the middle of moving and my car died. I had a tank with 3 ooths from the limbata and an unknown ooth in a container in the trunk.

Yes I know, Im a baaaaad mommy. I left the ooths in the trunk a few days and when I went to unload it yesterday to take it to the shop I noticed they hatched. I had quite a few dead nymphs on things, I was so upset!

I had been waiting months for those darn things to hatch and now they hatch over a 3 day period in the trunk of my car?!

So I go to work thinking all is lost, I have no nymphs Im just gonna have to buy some live ones.

I get home and decide to take one last look at the tank I'd had the limbata ooths in and wouldnt you know I see a live one on the screen (darn guys are SO little Im amazed I found him) Then another on a branch!! So I grab the other container the random ooth was in and I find another 2 survivors!! I run to the phone dial 411 and call every Petco, Petsmart, or Pet People in the san Fernando Valley. I find one store with live cultures, so I rush down to get them.

I bought my little guys some raffia and a cracker container thats pretty shallow and moved them all to their new home to watch the fruit fly massacre begin. I've never had an ooth hatch, heck before last year I didnt know what an ooth was.

I'd had 4 last night, now I have 3. But hey Im just glad to have these 3!!

These are gonna be some fat and spoiled Mantids!

I guess the moral of the story is never leave your ooths unattended, or in your trunk!!


----------



## OGIGA (Apr 7, 2007)

What an adventure! I'm glad to hear that you saved a few of them.


----------



## wuwu (Apr 7, 2007)

i think the extra heat from being in the trunk caused the ooths to hatch.

congrats!


----------



## Butterfly (Apr 7, 2007)

> i think the extra heat from being in the trunk caused the ooths to hatch. congrats!


hmm, maybe when the car gets back from the shop I'll stick my Religiosa's ooths in there and check them EVERYDAY, lol.

I really want those ones to hatch, Thor was the coolest bug ever!

At least in my opinion she was, lol.


----------



## Rick (Apr 7, 2007)

Don't leave an ooth out either. Don't ask how i know. I am still finding little mantis corpses around the house.


----------



## yen_saw (Apr 7, 2007)

Ootheca from Stagmomantis species can continue to hatch for a period of 2 weeks or more. Keep the ootheca for another few more days, you never know more could hatch. Good luck with the little nymphs.


----------



## OGIGA (Apr 7, 2007)

Oh, no wonder my stamomantis californica ooth kept on hatching forever.


----------



## Butterfly (Apr 9, 2007)

> Don't leave an ooth out either. Don't ask how i know. I am still finding little mantis corpses around the house.


lol yep, poor little guys are all over my trunk, I need to get it back from the shop before I can clean it out. If I had thought about it at the time I shouldve checked the top inside of the trunk, maybe a few more were hanging out on top. O well, Im happy I found the few survivors I did!


----------



## jplelito (Apr 9, 2007)

Good job on the survivors!

I have had _Stagmomantis _ooths hatch over a period of two weeks. Don't give up hope yet!

The same can be true of _Mantis religiosa _ooths, they hatch over time. But they are very hard to rear.

Best bet on the _Mantis religiosa_ is a well planted terrarium with LOTS of small live food in there.

Good luck!


----------

