bugboymark
Well-known member
I paired my hierodula venosa female and male on a vertical screen surface. I think having enough room is important, but there's all different ways to accommodate that. I did originally try to get them together too early. The female was a couple weeks old (male was 3 weeks old) and she showed now signs of calling yet. He ignored her entirely. A week later, when she was calling and well-fed, I placed him about 10 inches behind her and he locked on and made the leap within 10 seconds! He was completely engaged with the female within a minute and mating lasted a few hours. A week later, I mated them again just to be safe. She gave me 4 big ooths before dying a couple months ago. The first three already emerged with the first ooth giving me well over 300 nymphs. Never seen that many before.
Anyhow, from my small experience with them...mating is pretty simple. Not sure if there are distinct trends and mating behaviors across all species or not. Mating my S. gastrica pair a couple months ago was a LOT of work. The male was completely goofy and preferred my finger over the female 75% of the time! Regardless, if she's ready and the male is mature enough, he'll figure out a way to make it happen in almost any setting! Best to have supervision though...as we all know how it can turn out! ?
Anyhow, from my small experience with them...mating is pretty simple. Not sure if there are distinct trends and mating behaviors across all species or not. Mating my S. gastrica pair a couple months ago was a LOT of work. The male was completely goofy and preferred my finger over the female 75% of the time! Regardless, if she's ready and the male is mature enough, he'll figure out a way to make it happen in almost any setting! Best to have supervision though...as we all know how it can turn out! ?
