# HELP! Mantid Ootheca hatching, but what!!!



## Goodwin (Dec 14, 2007)

Hello,

I got sent two Cameroon import Ootheca, I have kept them for around two weeks and sprayed every few days, I now have a few hatchlings but to be honest I dont even know if they are mantid!

They dont have the long arms and have clear wings at this tiny size, their bums are a nice green colour and they are quite active. The rear legs look quite stocky.

I have attahced some pics of the ootheca and of the hatchlings, can someone let me know if these are what I should expect from this ootheca as its an import Im usure what could be hatching out!!!

From the ootheca identification page I think it could be:-

1 Sphodromantis Rubrastigmata (Red Armed African Mantis) ootheca

2 Parasphendale ootheca

3 Idolomantis Diabolica (Devils Flower Mantis) ootheca

4 Polyspilota aeruginosa (Madagascan Marbled Mantis) ootheca

HELP!!!

Thanks,

Craig.

The pictures are poor but they keep moving and have had to take them on my camera phone:-


----------



## Rick (Dec 14, 2007)

I can't really see em. If they are not mantids what are they? Parastic something maybe?


----------



## Goodwin (Dec 14, 2007)

I dont know, I will see if I can get a better picture of the little fellas! back in a few minutes.


----------



## Mantida (Dec 14, 2007)

They have wings?

Then they are not mantids. Mantid nymphs don't have wings prior to hatching. Probably something parastic, perhaps a wasp of some kind. Don't throw the ooth out, just keep spraying and rearing like you always do after you dispose of the parasites and mantids will probably still hatch out.


----------



## hogosha (Dec 14, 2007)

From the looks of them and you seeing wings on them I would say they are parasitic wasps. If the ooths were wild collected then it's not too uncommon to have a few parasitic wasps planted in there. If they are the wasps then get them out of the container before the mantids start hatching. I know the wasps eat the eggs while they are in the ooth but don't know if they will hurt the mantids after hatching. I wouldn't want to take the chance myself.  



Goodwin said:


> Hello,I got sent two Cameroon import Ootheca, I have kept them for around two weeks and sprayed every few days, I now have a few hatchlings but to be honest I dont even know if they are mantid!
> 
> They dont have the long arms and have clear wings at this tiny size, their bums are a nice green colour and they are quite active. The rear legs look quite stocky.
> 
> ...


----------



## Goodwin (Dec 14, 2007)

Ohhh, that doesnt sound good!

I will get these out, I havent seen anything that I think is a mantid, could this mean that the eggs are already gone?

I have two young children in the house, do these wasps sting/bite? I would rather play things safe.

more pics,


----------



## macro junkie (Dec 14, 2007)

your pics are not very good..cant tell..look at this link i gave u..does any of these look like your nympths? http://images.google.co.uk/images?sourceid...sa=N&amp;tab=wi

look like this&gt;?


----------



## macro junkie (Dec 14, 2007)

your in uk..wales..so it cant be wild..where did u get it from buddie?


----------



## Rick (Dec 14, 2007)

Not mantids! Looks like the little wasps. I would kill them.


----------



## Mantida (Dec 14, 2007)

The wasps probably haven't eaten all of the eggs, unless there are a whole bunch of the wasps. Your ooth should be fine. It will hatch out less nymphs than normal, but will still hatch a moderate amount of them.


----------



## Kruszakus (Dec 15, 2007)

Well, this is not the first time something like that happens - I'm afraid that the ooth is lost.


----------



## asdsdf (Dec 15, 2007)

Kill them all! :blink: 

Also, the ootheca isn't neccesarily lost. Those wasp larvae don't kill all of them unless multiple females laid eggs in one. Give it a try.


----------



## Moosashi (Dec 16, 2007)

asdsdf said:


> Kill them all! :blink: Also, the ootheca isn't neccesarily lost. Those wasp larvae don't kill all of them unless multiple females laid eggs in one. Give it a try.


yeah one of my wild caught carolina ootheca just hatched about 5 tiny parasitic wasps, gradually over 2 days (don't know if it's done yet) but don't know if the mantids are gonna hatch or not. Just gonna keep incubating the ooth and watching. The other ooth that I will keep in the fridge for a few weeks, just put in two days ago, had wasp exit holes when I found it, so I dunno what chance I have of getting mantids out of these but I bet it will turn out alright. I'll post updates on my quest.


----------



## Moosashi (Dec 20, 2007)

anyone know about how many wasp could hatch out and an ooth still have mantids remaining? Mine has already hatched 10 wasps at least. How many eggs does a single parasitic wasp inject into an ooth?


----------



## Borya (Dec 20, 2007)

I had about 10 parasitic wasps got out from the wild-caught Hierodula transcaucasica ooth, and after a week or two around 30 nymphs hatched. For Hierodula, that ooth was rather small; I think there were about 50 eggs or even less.


----------



## Moosashi (Dec 20, 2007)

good, sounds like the parasitic wasp nymphs don't eat very many mantid eggs each. Maybe they use the ooth more just to incubate their own eggs and for them to have a little snack when they hatch out before exiting?


----------



## macro junkie (Dec 20, 2007)

send them to me i want to macro them :lol:


----------



## Goodwin (Dec 20, 2007)

Just to update you, the little fellas were wasps or something similar, I removed them from the container.

Yesterday I had a burst of mantids hatch out, and today there are even more!!! I must have over 100 mantids in this container, I just picked up individual tubs for them when Im ready to move them across.


----------



## Goodwin (Dec 20, 2007)

Now that I have nymph's I wouldnt mind knowing what they are!!

Can anyone from the images identify the ootheca?

From the ootheca identification page I think it could be:-

1 Sphodromantis Rubrastigmata (Red Armed African Mantis) ootheca

2 Parasphendale ootheca

3 Idolomantis Diabolica (Devils Flower Mantis) ootheca

4 Polyspilota aeruginosa (Madagascan Marbled Mantis) ootheca

I will get some pics of the nymph's in a minute and post them up for you to take a look, they will be poor quality again but will get some better ones soon.

Thanks,

Craig.


----------



## Goodwin (Dec 20, 2007)

Photos included, not great but hopefully give you guys a clue.


----------



## yen_saw (Dec 20, 2007)

Goodwin said:


> Now that I have nymph's I wouldnt mind knowing what they are!!Can anyone from the images identify the ootheca?
> 
> From the ootheca identification page I think it could be:-
> 
> ...


Craig, it is likely to be the _Sphodromantis sp._. Idolomantis nymphs are huge and black, the Idolo ootheca is milky color too. THe nymphs could be Parasphendale if they are newly hatched but assuming nymphs have hatched for a while they should be darker in color. _P. aeruginosa _nymphs have stripe across the legs and lighter in color too so that's not it. Just my thought. Good luck with them you have loads! must be a nightmare for fruit flies to see this :lol:


----------

