Baby carolina!

[charleyandbecky]

One of the carolina ooths I found about 8 weeks ago started hatching today. I had doubts that it was fertile, and it was sitting on my desk in a jar. I sat down to the computer to work with my little girl on something and suddenly she said, "A baby mantis is crawling on my arm!" Sure as the world, there was a tiny little mantis. I looked at the ooth and there were two that had come out and unfortunately passed away. This little baby is spry, though...very fast and looks healthy. Am I right that it may continue to hatch more? How long do they usually hatch? I've read that they can hatch up to 2 weeks later, a few at a time. Is this correct? I've always kept carolina adults and hatched Chinese babies, but never hatched any carolina babies before.

Rebecca

 

[ismart]

There is a very good chance that ooth will hatch more nymphs. It can take up to two weeks or so for it to completely hatch. I would mist the ooth once a day to raise humidity. Good luck!

 

[Katnapper]

There is a very good chance that ooth will hatch more nymphs. It can take up to two weeks or so for it to completely hatch. I would mist the ooth once a day to raise humidity. Good luck!

+1

 

[charleyandbecky]

There are six more babies this morning. No more activity coming from the ooth just yet, but sometime during the night more hatched. Yea!

 

[Katnapper]

^_^ Congrats, Rebecca, and probably more on the way. Also thanks for reminding me I need to get my own S. carolina ooth inside a cage. It's getting near hatching time, and I've just got it sitting out, along with a few (cough, cough) others that also need to be corralled. I'm such a procrastinator. No wonder I've got several different species of renegade hatchlings living loose in the bug room, hehe.

 

[charleyandbecky]

Just an update...I have about 6 more babies tonight. All have been misted and fed, but no one has eaten yet. Lots of spry little babies and only the two deaths so far that I mentioned earlier.

 

[charleyandbecky]

I think I have around 15 now. We've had about 5 deaths but I know that is to be expected. Most occurred just after hatching. But, the 15 are doing great. As I type, six of them are eating. No activity from the ooth since late last night, but maybe more will come. It looks like it has hatched from the "bottom up" so far, and it appears about 1/2 of it has hatched, judging from the threads left hanging.

 

[yen_saw]

I think I have around 15 now. We've had about 5 deaths but I know that is to be expected. Most occurred just after hatching. But, the 15 are doing great. As I type, six of them are eating. No activity from the ooth since late last night, but maybe more will come. It looks like it has hatched from the "bottom up" so far, and it appears about 1/2 of it has hatched, judging from the threads left hanging.

Hi Rebecca, does the ootheca experience any cool period before incubating? The Stagmomantis ooth here appear to have better hatching rate and healthier nymphs after a prolong overwintering. Thanks and all the best with the babies.

 

[charleyandbecky]

[Hi all...just reviving this thread to update you all on my babies.

Yen...I apologize but I just now saw your reply to this old thread. This particular ooth was found in early October, before we had any freezing weather at all. I thought it was a dud, but it ended up hatching. So, it never really had a cool period at all...maybe a few nights around 40 degrees but not much. I was completely surprised by the hatch.

An update...I ended up getting about 30 babies from this ooth. About 10 passed away, but I have about 20 now that are doing great. Some have shed twice. One has shed 3 times. They are so fun. I never had any carolina babies before now, just adults I found. I only have experience with the chinese babies. These little ones are really fun and a couple of them seem really big. I have brown, green, gray and striped.

Since I've only had carolinas as adults, about how many sheds does a typical carolina have before being an adult?

Rebecca

 

[PhilinYuma]

If you found it in early October, Rebecca, and it was laid in late September, then it is likely that the ammount of daylight/day (photoperiod) might have only lessened by 10-15 minutes before you brought it indoors. This apparently was not enough to induce diapause, so a cold spell was not needed to break it.