Carolina Mantid help

[Brandonparro]

I have a female and she just laid her fourth ootheca. Is it normal that they lay this many?

Also, how do I know when her life cycle is coming to an end? What kind of behavior will she exhibit?

To all you experts out there, thanks : )

 

[Sticky]

Where did you get her from? Wild caught?

Its quite normal for females to lay a bunch of ooths. The first signs I notice of old age are the feet stiffening and breaking off. 

 

[hibiscusmile]

Ditto, she could lay 4 or 5 more.

 

[CosbyArt]

@Brandonparro Just depends on how many she laid already in the wild (if wild caught), and how many she has in her (they can vary), but my female Carolina's (Stagmomantis carolina) if I raised them as pets or captured as a wild nymph lay about 8 ooths on average. Wild caught females on average for me lay about 3 ooths, as I catch them later in the fall to ensure they laid some outside too for next year.

Regarding signs of old age a easy sign is females will quit laying ooths. Once they are done laying ooths they tend to live typically a month more at most (2 months if they are well kept). Your notice that your female is likely laying ooths with the same amount of time between ooths, my girls lay a new ooth about every 7 days, then it will take longer nearing the end between ooths. Eventually she will quit laying altogether, and if you notice no more ooths for about 2 weeks you will know she laid her last one.

Other signs - mantids breaking off their tarsi/feet or even bigger pieces of their limbs is common too, and some will start to show some black color on their abdomens especially near the very end. Also they will slow down and are not active for anything, and will eat less food (and even take longer to eat too). My last adult mantis ate her last prey the same night she pass away (about 5 hours before), and it took her nearly 3 hours to eat it, when just about a week before it only took maybe 15 minutes.

 

[Brandonparro]

Awesome, thanks for the info again. I'm not sure if she laid any eggs in the wild. She was living in my garden and one day I saw that she took a mate. At that point I decided to take her in (after the mating of course lol) the next day. 

Ill keep my eye out for when she finishes laying ooths. I understand this species requires a diapause. I have them in a ventilated plastic container. And I keep the container in my refrigerator. Is this sufficient? And when should I take them out of the refrigerator? My end goal is to hatch them and keep a very few nymphs and release the rest outside.

 

[CosbyArt]

Awesome, thanks for the info again. I'm not sure if she laid any eggs in the wild. She was living in my garden and one day I saw that she took a mate. At that point I decided to take her in (after the mating of course lol) the next day. 

Ill keep my eye out for when she finishes laying ooths. I understand this species requires a diapause. I have them in a ventilated plastic container. And I keep the container in my refrigerator. Is this sufficient? And when should I take them out of the refrigerator? My end goal is to hatch them and keep a very few nymphs and release the rest outside.

Diapause is not necessary for them to hatch. Stagmomantis carolina ooths I've kept at room temperatures hatch in 80-90 days typically. Ooths that I kept in the fridge diapaused hatch in 30-40 days typically once at room temperature (diapaused for 2 months recommended minimum amount).

In order to release them in spring outside you will need to keep them diapaused of course. Everything you may want to know about diapause I wrote here, but if you have a question afterwards just ask.