# Thesprotia graminis, I want info please



## agent A (Jan 25, 2010)

a few questions:

can ooths of this species diapause?

what kind of food can adults take?

is the female wingless as adult?

is the female is wingless as an adult, how can you tell she's an adult?

will anyone be selling some of these in spring (april/may)?

what are the caging, temperature, and humidity needs for these guys?

are they communal?

thank you! I am thinking of getting some in the spring. :lol:


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## [email protected] (Jan 25, 2010)

Most of your questions are answered here, your on yens sight all the time right???http://www.usamantis.com/grassmantis_species.html


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## agent A (Jan 25, 2010)

Chase said:


> Most of your questions are answered here, your on yens sight all the time right???http://www.usamantis.com/grassmantis_species.html


O'm on that site everyday, I still wanna know if they're communal and how many times they molt. also, can I put an ooth in the fridge for winter time?


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## Emile.Wilson (Jan 25, 2010)

agent A said:


> O'm on that site everyday, I still wanna know if they're communal and how many times they molt. also, can I put an ooth in the fridge for winter time?


-.- no mantis species is communal


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## PhilinYuma (Jan 25, 2010)

agent A said:


> a few questions:can ooths of this species diapause?
> 
> what kind of food can adults take?
> 
> ...


Ah! Excellent, Alex! The perfect example of a useless set of questions -- why info on diapause if you won't get them until spring? How many threads on "communal mantids" here in the past two weeks? -- most of which, including # of molts, diapause, sexual dimorphism, etc, can be found with Google (still your friend) in 5-10 minutes.

I shan't answer any of them and those who want to help you achieve your goal won't either. &lt;_&lt;


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## yen_saw (Jan 25, 2010)

agent A said:


> a few questions:can ooths of this species diapause? - *Cold weather could delay ooth hatching, but prolong freezing temperature will harm the ooth *
> 
> what kind of food can adults take? - *Despite the small forelegs (especially the tibia), this species can handle prey as big as blue bottle and mid-size cricket*
> 
> ...


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## yen_saw (Jan 25, 2010)

agent A said:


> O'm on that site everyday, I still wanna know if they're communal and how many times they molt. also, can I put an ooth in the fridge for winter time?


I could be wrong. Both female/male go through about 6 molts. Putting the ooth in the fridge for more than 2 days will kill the eggs.


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## agent A (Jan 26, 2010)

yen_saw said:


> I could be wrong. Both female/male go through about 6 molts. Putting the ooth in the fridge for more than 2 days will kill the eggs.


wow, 2 days! then diapause is not a good idea. I'll be looking for some in spring, I want to keep at least 1 native species. chinese mantids are no longer seen around here and im not sure why. ah well.


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## PhilinYuma (Jan 26, 2010)

agent A said:


> wow, 2 days! then diapause is not a good idea. I'll be looking for some in spring, I want to keep at least 1 native species. chinese mantids are no longer seen around here and im not sure why. ah well.


Yes, it's always a good idea to keep some native species. You may have noticed that the majority of native species live in the southern states. The winter temps there would not be sufficient to break diapause.

I am not sure, but your comment that "diapause is not a good idea" suggests that you believe that "diapause" and chilling are synonymous; a number of members still appear to, despite the occasional post to the contrary! In fact, chilling serves to _break_ diapause in an ooth sent into diapause by the days getting shorter after it is laid. So, since days get shorter everywhere in the fall, why don't all mantis ooths go into diapause? No one --as usual -- has really studied the mechanism in mantids (at least, not to my knowledge!) where it is fairly rare. There seems to be some connection though, in other insects, between latitude and production of the hormone that causes diapause. Part of the confusion is due to the fact that some members refrigerate ooths to slow down development. This is called "quiescence" and is altogether different. This always happens if an ooth is laid indoors and gets the same amount of light each day prior to refrigeration. Some members like Rick, do this regularly and with success, but it is virtually the opposite of breaking diapause. Rick, can you tell us again, the native species that you do this to?

It may well be that the last process in a modified form, takes place among the ooths laid in the southern states. Yen has noted that _Stagmomantis limbata_ ooths do best when allowed to overwinter outside in a climate that matches what would occur in nature, and I have found the same to be true in AZ. I'll tell you a joke, Alex. I found about the benefit of quiescence in_ S. limbata _ while trying to prove another member wrong. I thought at the time that I was proving/disproving diapause, but I was not, and I accidentally found a handy way of telling the difference. If you chill a diapaused ooth for a few weeks, egg development will restart, but the eggs still won't hatch until some time after the weather has become warmer (the whole purpose of diapause after all). The guy with whom I (and everyone else!) was arguing quit the forum and I brought the ooths in in early March. It was still to early for the ooths to hatch naturally, but within a few days of indoor warmth and daily moisture, they hatched. Great fun!


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## Rick (Jan 26, 2010)

Usually now days I just stick the ooth outdoors for a couple months.

Alex, you said you will be looking for some. I don't believe they are found in your area.


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## massaman (Jan 26, 2010)

unless he plans to buy some from someplace and maybe he should buy some chinese ooths and re-insert them in his area to try to bring the population up a bit!


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## massaman (Jan 26, 2010)

can always look for europeans in the late spring or summer being the state insect and all as well and they are a native species!


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## agent A (Jan 27, 2010)

Rick said:


> Usually now days I just stick the ooth outdoors for a couple months. Alex, you said you will be looking for some. I don't believe they are found in your area.


they are not found in Connecticut. they seem pretty cool though



massaman said:


> can always look for europeans in the late spring or summer being the state insect and all as well and they are a native species!


funny thing is I don't see that many europeans, there are a lot in vermont, but Europeans are harder to find. indian rock has some, I saw an adult female one year in late July.


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## yen_saw (Jan 29, 2010)

agent A said:


> wow, 2 days! then diapause is not a good idea. I'll be looking for some in spring, I want to keep at least 1 native species. chinese mantids are no longer seen around here and im not sure why. ah well.


and you are welcome


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## agent A (Jan 29, 2010)

yen_saw said:


> and you are welcome


yes, thanks for the info. I'd love to stay and talk to you about native mantids (I also saw your site update, that mantis kinda looks like a hestiasula), but I've gotta go in a few minutes. Talk to you later!


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## PhilinYuma (Jan 29, 2010)

agent A said:


> yes, thanks for the info. I'd love to stay and talk to you about native mantids (I also saw your site update, that mantis kinda looks like a hestiasula), but I've gotta go in a few minutes. Talk to you later!


You've gotta wait yr turn, Yen, like everyone else, but at least you have something to look forward to!


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## yen_saw (Jan 30, 2010)

agent A said:


> ....(I also saw your site update, that mantis kinda looks like a hestiasula), .....


If you are referring to the Decimiana bolivari, that species is more similar looking to Acanthops sp than Hestiasula sp.


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## agent A (Jan 30, 2010)

yen_saw said:


> If you are referring to the Decimiana bolivari, that species is more similar looking to Acanthops sp than Hestiasula sp.


hmm, never heard of the Acanthops species before. I'll take your word for it.


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## hogosha (Feb 1, 2010)

agent A said:


> funny thing is I don't see that many europeans, there are a lot in vermont, but Europeans are harder to find. indian rock has some, I saw an adult female one year in late July.


Back around 10 years ago (been that long since I moved away) I used to see the Chinese mantids quite often in the southern part of the state. Near Trumbull, Bridgeport, Stratford &amp; Milford areas. The winters near the Long Island Sound were a little milder than you get up north. Maybe that made a difference?

Good hunting!


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