European mantis laid ooth!

[Logan_123]

Okay so somebody found a wild female European mantis and gave her to me. She was skinny so I knew she probably has laid an ooth in the wild. (She was found in October which is late in the season) so I brought her home not knowing if she was fertile. I also have a wild male that I found. I let her adjust for a day or 2 at my house then introduced the male. He latched on and stayed on for hours, but never connected. I saw him try many times. So I figure that the female has already been mated. Anyways I fed her lots till she got plump and this morning I noticed she laid an ooth!! It's pretty small lol. But anyways I was wondering if you think it's fertile? 

Btw she is in a net cube and of course she laid it on the zipper part inside the enclosure ? is there any way to get it off?

 

[Connor]

Congrats on a ooth! It should be fertile.

Let it harden for a few days then try and get it off.

 

[Logan_123]

Here's a pic. It's actually such a small ooth lol. The picture makes it look big

 

[Mystymantis]

Congratulations. Yeah that is a small ootheca, which probably means she has already laid a few in the wild and most likely mated. And yeah my Chinese females in net cages seem to love to put their ootheca on the netting :huh: , instead of on the numerous sticks in their enclosure lol. What I do is wait for it to harden for 2 days or so and then very carefully and slowly peel it off. Luckily they haven't laid it on a zipper yet for me! Good luck!