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nicks75

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So earlier this year I purchased 28 Chinese mantis oothes, I kept them in a brown paper bag in my fridge for about a month and put them out at random spots in my back yard late april. So far none have hatched any, I took one out of curiosity and tore it open and seen a few really small dead black looking larvae,after seeing that I tried another to the same result and one more to be certain. None of the others have any holes in them so I'm guessing they are all dead. I expected a few infertile but 28? I live in pa and purchased them from someone in pa off of ebay, we had a really cold winter, -15 fahrenheit as well as several other days close to it.

Is it possible it was just too cold in the area and it killed them?

I'm assuming they were kept outside since they were all attached to twigs but not 100% certain as I no longer can get a hold of the seller. I didn't pay a major amount but I'm still upset as I was expecting a nice population in my yard this year, it's been years since I've seen any in my area.

 
Well on the bright side there aren't 28 ooths worth of non-native mantids. I'm sure the natives appreciate it. :stuart:

 
I wish there were some natives around to appreciate it. Unless your including flies,hornets, wasps, mosquitos and stink bugs.

 
This is a prime example of why I will not shop e-bay. I'd recommend in doing a little research on where and whom you get you creatures,foods, or any supply from. There's plenty of reliable sites for your needs, and you've also got to keep in mind... You get what you pay for. Especially when eBay comes into play. I give you props for the efforts though.

 
That is weird, I thought it would have days or nights lower in temperature than that for a few weeks last year in Pennsylvania because other states got much colder. Chinese mantises were actually first introduced to the United States in Pennsylvania in or near Philadelphia in about 1896 (At about the same time as European Mantids?): http://books.google.com/books?id=KcvwAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA122#v=onepage&q&f=false. Does anyone know where the Chinese Mantids in the US are from?

The oothecae do not get soaked easily. How did you put them outside?

nicks75 said:
I wish there were some natives around to appreciate it. Unless your including flies,hornets, wasps, mosquitos and stink bugs.
Click to expand...
Stagomantis carolina are native.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
happy1892 said:
That is weird, I thought it would have days or nights lower in temperature than that for a few weeks last year in Pennsylvania because other states got much colder. Chinese mantises were actually first introduced to the United States in Pennsylvania in or near Philadelphia in about 1896 (At about the same time as European Mantids?): http://books.google.com/books?id=KcvwAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA122#v=onepage&q&f=false. Does anyone know where the Chinese Mantids in the US are from?

The oothecae do not get soaked easily. How did you put them outside?

Stagomantis carolina are native.
Click to expand...
Well negative 15 was the coldest temp it was last winter, neg 22 I believe is the all time record low for my area. It's not common to get that cold here but it happens on rare occasions. Though -15 was the coldest it got it did remain below 0 for a good while so I'm guessing that could have been a factor but I don't know the what coldest temp a Chinese mantis oothe can withstand. I have in the past seen them in the wild, though I don't even see native ones anymore and I live in a pretty heavily wooded area with lots of different bushes and weeds in my backyard I purposely let grow in for making a good habitat for them.

I stapled the twigs they were attached to in various places slightly elevated with no obstruction to block them in the egg, most were under cover to help protect them from getting too soaked from rain, dead branches, tree stumps, under my deck etc. I was hoping to get a good enough of a population to insure the cycle going each year which is why I bought so many, I'd love to get native oothes but they are harder to come by than the Chinese. Really sucks I missed my window to get more and for them to get old enough to mate.

 
You probably do not need many to start them in your area if they can live there. I am guessing that the males can sense the pheromones and fly from far away to mate with a female. Where in Pennsylvania do you live?

 
I live in New York. I purchased local mantid and chinese mantid ootheca at my garden center in March. I hung them in a cage and kept them in my garage, misting them with water once every two weeks. As the weather warmed I would mist them once a day. They just hatched end of June which is about right for my area.

 
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