So I recently got Lilith and Peg leg (Gongylus gongylodes) to breed, yay! After they were done I put Lilith back into her own enclosure so she can fatten up good. I was making space for some banana cockroaches and decided I'd put my other adult female in with the males temporarily, only to find that Peg leg tried to mate with her! I didn't see if they had connection but I wasn't in the room for a good couple of hours. I would've thought she wouldn't accept him and maybe that she'd try to fight him off but she didn't seem to care. Is it possible that she has been mated even though she had her final molt not even 4 days ago?
Can mantids breed before 2 weeks?
- Thread starter Bathory
- Start date
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Nope. Even if he attempted she is not sexually mature and nothing will result from it.
Sometimes mantids can be a bit younger than the 2 week mark, in the neighborhood of 10-12 days; however, it's more common for females to take longer than 2 weeks rather than mature sooner.
For basic mantid mating help see the guide here.
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@CosbyArt That's what I thought. Though I have had some people tell me that there has been successful mating with very young female but it's highly unlikely. And don't worry I wouldn't be breeding if I hadn't read every online source I could find, it's just that there's no explanation as to why they're not ready until a few weeks after their final molt. I had the theories explained to me though 
I've been searching for a more conclusive response on the sexual maturity delay, but even the best scientific articles I've found only hint at the reasons. Such as the mantids ovaries and testes taking time to develop, and switching gears from molting to reproducing.@CosbyArt That's what I thought. Though I have had some people tell me that there has been successful mating with very young female but it's highly unlikely. And don't worry I wouldn't be breeding if I hadn't read every online source I could find, it's just that there's no explanation as to why they're not ready until a few weeks after their final molt. I had the theories explained to me though
Looking for a more definite answers I searched through The Principles of Insect Physiology. The book has a amazing section on molting/color changing/reproduction and other mantid related things, but is of no value in the maturity delay aspect either.
One of the free resources I found has a rather extensive reproduction section though, and one on the parasitic wasps that seem to be the bane of collecting wild ooths for me.
Hopefully someone will offer some more defining details of what is at play, but it seems that it is simply the time frame for insect puberty to start and finish.
