My mantis (unknown species, she looks to be native to California) is currently laying what appears to be an egg case hanging from the top of her enclosure. But she doesn't have a mate. Unless she mated with one of the crickets I've been feeding her, there shouldn't be any reason for this...should there?
Egg case! ...no mate.
- Thread starter Hyperiant
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PhilinYuma
Well-known member
Yep. Unfertilized females regularly lay sterile eggs for your ooth collection!
P.S. Can you show us a pic of your mantis so that we can guess what she is?
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dgerndt
Well-known member
Like everyone said, they will lay eggs even if they aren't fertile. But if she is a wild-caught mantis and was caught as an adult, she is probably fertile. So you might want to take care of the ooth (eggs and case) as if it were fertile. You don't want to kill a bunch of baby mantids on accident!
Jesskb
Well-known member
dgerndt
Well-known member
Well then she definately isn't fertile. You might want to take a picture of her not through the screen lid so we can better ID her.
dgerndt
Well-known member
Oh, she's beautiful! I'm still a n00b, so I can't place an ID on her... but I'm sure someone a little more experienced here can help. Oh, and try looking for the macro setting on your camera. Or if your camera is like mine, there are settings like "Portrait" and "Pets", etc. I use the "Flowers" setting.
lancaster1313
Likebugs (site changed my name😐)
She looks like a pretty Stagmomantis carolina AKA (Carolina mantis), to me.
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Thanks for the ID! I just took out the egg case, but I'm a little worried if she'll start stressing out over it. She was being very protective of it earlier. When should I take out the case next time?
EDIT: Also, thanks for the tips, Deby. My camera has a flower setting, but I always seem to have issues with the camera trying to focus on something behind her instead of on her.
EDIT: Also, thanks for the tips, Deby. My camera has a flower setting, but I always seem to have issues with the camera trying to focus on something behind her instead of on her.
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dgerndt
Well-known member
You don't have to worry; she's not upset. Mantids don't take care of their eggs or babies so they don't mind if we take over after the laying is done.
In general, you just want to make sure the ooth has hardened before you try to remove it.You're very welcome.
It takes a lot of fiddling around and practice to get nice pictures of insects. You really have to sit down and figure out how your camera works. With my camera there's a little box in the center of the screen that indicates where the focus will be when I take the picture. If your camera has that, make sure you use it. I also try not to use the zoom; it usually just ends up blurry. I find white light or natural sunlight to be best for close up pictures. I hope this helps!
