# Long spiny flower mantis ootheca



## yen_saw (Jul 1, 2007)

I was shocked to see this ootheca couple of days ago when this female finally pop one about 3 weeks after mating. Here is the pic... almost 4-inches long :shock:


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## robo mantis (Jul 1, 2007)

What the heck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That should be in a museum :shock: :shock:


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## Asa (Jul 1, 2007)

OMG!!

That is so thin, too!


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## OGIGA (Jul 1, 2007)

Wow! How long are they usually?


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## Techuser (Jul 1, 2007)

###### :shock:

is it fertile?


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## Rick (Jul 1, 2007)

Nice one Yen. What was her diet?


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## yen_saw (Jul 2, 2007)

> OMG!! That is so thin, too!


THat's the standard "thickness" for a PW ooth. It is actually thicker than most of the PW ooth. The "extra" length of the ootheca makes it look thinnner but it is actually not. However, if you are comparing it with ootheca of Sphodromantis sp or Parasphendale sp, then PW ooth is thin.



> Wow! How long are they usually?


2"



> ###### is it fertile?


she was mated so hopefully it is.



> Nice one Yen. What was her diet?


Thanks. Fed her mainly blue bottles and house flies. But occasionaly bumble bees, moth, butterfly or damserfly caught in the park.


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## Asa (Jul 2, 2007)

I've never had one of these lay an ootheca. I couldn't find a male to mate.


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## yen_saw (Jul 3, 2007)

A female will lay ootheca with or without a male to mate.


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## Asa (Jul 3, 2007)

> A female will lay ootheca with or without a male to mate.


Whoops, I meant fertile oothecae. The oothecae it laid looked nothing at all like that.


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## yen_saw (Jul 3, 2007)

PW ootheca is always long and thin, it must be some other species or severely deformed ootheca if it did not look anything like that.


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## Asa (Jul 3, 2007)

She actually got stuck in her own ooth :lol: :shock:


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## Ian (Jul 7, 2007)

Killer ooth Yen! Nice work. Will be interesting to see how many nymphs it pops.


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## yen_saw (Jul 9, 2007)

Yes Ian, the longest yet for me. I hope to see a good hatching rate on this one, finger crossed.


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## colddigger (Jul 9, 2007)

how fat was she?

in comparison to others


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## yen_saw (Jul 11, 2007)

SHe was as fat as others well fed female, it was just that it took her a longer time to lay this ooth, as compared to others.


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## colddigger (Jul 11, 2007)

maybe the eggs are more spread out?

i wonder if her young would do the same...probably not though....


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## MikhailsDinos (Jul 16, 2007)

Congratulations! :wink:


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## yen_saw (Jul 20, 2007)

> maybe the eggs are more spread out?i wonder if her young would do the same...probably not though....


Good question! wish i have the answer, but guess only the PW female knows why is she holding on all those eggs for a long time. Maybe she was hoping i could "upgrade" her to a 5-star suite but decided to lay this one after givign up hope, who knows :roll:

This female is from another female which laid a deformed looking ooth (that i never thought would hatch).






So far all the females from this generation hasn't laid a single deformed ooth, so i am glad they didn't "inherite" this trait


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## yen_saw (Jul 21, 2007)

One of the ootheca hatched today  not the longest ootheca but still great to see my second generation, it is especially sweet after i failed to continue them last year, ironically, after the second generation too.


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## Asa (Jul 21, 2007)

Congrats!


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## Ian (Jul 22, 2007)

Excellent stuff Yen, do you have a rough idea of how many hatched out?


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## yen_saw (Jul 23, 2007)

About 60 nymphs hatch out on this one. This morning another one hatched out 33 nymphs, and some will go for sale soon.


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