Female ghost mantid is laying othca

[Tonypace2009]

Hey Kermit,

I already have a batch of 32 ounce deli cups, which is where I am hoping to keep the ooths for hatching, as well as the newly hatched ghost nymphs. How many nymphs should we keep in each deli cup? And how long should I leave them in the deli cup in which they hatch, before trying to separate them into smaller batches?

Also, I keep regular fruit fly cultures going, so I am not worried about that either. So no fruit flies for 2 days, and a fine mist every 2 to 3 days? good to know! Thanks as always for letting us know exactly what we need! CONGRATS TONY!

I just asked DeShawn pretty much the same question. ( If keeping communally, you can keep 10-15 in a 32oz until L3, then usually better to move to a bigger enclosure.) Hope this helps 

 

[Sarah K]

Thanks Tony!

 

[Kermit]

Sorry guys for the delayed response! This job thing keeps getting in the way of what I really want to do which is talk about praying mantis LOL!

I agree with DeSean. You will have some cannibalization but that is normal and infrequent as they are relatively communal species. I believe most incidents are accidental and happen when they are trying to feed on fruit flies. But it does happen.

After L3 males and females can pretty much be told apart. The biggest feature is the shape of the head crown. The female will be square-shaped and the male will look like a crooked hat. As they get a little bigger you will notice the male has more prominent antenne thicker and longer.

To prevent future cannibalism it is important that you separate them into male and female colonies after L3 or L4.

One of the nice features of the ghosts is that they can be kept in colonies so it is easier to feed them and that's where a larger enclosure comes into play.

32oz are great to hatch oothecas, and will work for the first couple of weeks. 

 

[Tonypace2009]

• Sorry guys for the delayed response! This job thing keeps getting in the way of what I really want to do which is talk about praying mantis LOL!
  
  I agree with DeSean. You will have some cannibalization but that is normal and infrequent as they are relatively communal species. I believe most incidents are accidental and happen when they are trying to feed on fruit flies. But it does happen.
  
  After L3 males and females can pretty much be told apart. The biggest feature is the shape of the head crown. The female will be square-shaped and the male will look like a crooked hat. As they get a little bigger you will notice the male has more prominent antenne thicker and longer.
  
  To prevent future cannibalism it is important that you separate them into male and female colonies after L3 or L4.
  
  One of the nice features of the ghosts is that they can be kept in colonies so it is easier to feed them and that's where a larger enclosure comes into play.
  
  32oz are great to hatch oothecas, and will work for the first couple of weeks. 

  I plan on trying the pop up cubes when they reach L3 I am looking to get a couple at the beginning of April from DeShawn. How many nymph's male and female do you recommend keeping out of each ooth for future breeding. I was thinking 5  total from each ooth. (3 males and two females) or at least I am thinking of ending up with 6 females and 9 males total. Iam also trying to stager nymph's from each ooth so Iam sure to have ghost maturing within a week or so of each other. I know over thinking it but this is how my brain works.
  
• Anyway separate male and females  at L3 or L4 gotcha thanks.
  

 

[Kermit]

Tony... I suggest 6f, 9m like you said. I kept 5/5 and there were times I wondered if I should have kept more. Fluke things will always happen (as you've seen).

I did get 6 solid oothecas for my special "Vader" experiment! Ended up with 2 exceptional breeding momma's, and one stud of a male... It was close!

Next time I will keep a few more males.

 

[Tonypace2009]

Tony... I suggest 6f, 9m like you said. I kept 5/5 and there were times I wondered if I should have kept more. Fluke things will always happen (as you've seen).

I did get 6 solid oothecas for my special "Vader" experiment! Ended up with 2 exceptional breeding momma's, and one stud of a male... It was close!

Next time I will keep a few more males.

Cool thanks  I will keep an eye out for a dark one to send your way.

I went ahead and put the youngest mature  male in with female she is already fed up nicely and also released some moths in enclosure. So hopefully he will find her by tomorrow morning.

 

[Sarah K]

Hey guys, I got some L2 ghost nymphs a few weeks ago, and now they are all L3. I would like to separate them into male  and female colonies, as you all suggested, but I am having such a hard time telling the difference in thier crowns. They all look kind of like crooked hats to me, and none of them look square! Can anyone post a picture of L3 ghost nymph male and female?

 

[CosbyArt]

My Ghost photos don't have clear shots of their crowns at that age, and typically I don't bother to properly determine their sex as I don't breed them (pets only). I did find a couple of photos showing the difference, but they are both adults; however, the crown if correct should still be identifiable.

Here is one from the UK mantis forum, and from Andrew Mitchell on Flickr. See if that helps Sarah.

 

[Tonypace2009]

Hey guys, I got some L2 ghost nymphs a few weeks ago, and now they are all L3. I would like to separate them into male  and female colonies, as you all suggested, but I am having such a hard time telling the difference in thier crowns. They all look kind of like crooked hats to me, and none of them look square! Can anyone post a picture of L3 ghost nymph male and female?

this may be L4 but look at the crown red arrow (this female) the notch on the males is deeper here and notch on top of crown is also deeper making it to appear to be a crooked hat.Also female has 6 segments underside of abdamon the male has more ( if I remember right 8 segments ) these are hard to count they dont stay still very long at this stage at least when you are looking at them. I dont have a clear picture of male . 

 

[Kermit]

Sarah would be easier if you send a few pics of your L3s and I will try to ID for you

 

[Sarah K]

Thanks Tony! 

Kermit, we are heading out on a road trip tonight, but I am bringing the ghost nymphs with me, so I will get a picture in the next few days. 

 

[Sarah K]

Sorry for the delay, but I was having trouble posting pictures from my phone while I was away, and did not have access to a computer again until today. 

Here are two pictures of the same mantis, different angles:




 here are two of the same mantis, but different from the mantis above:



 

 

[Sarah K]

Here are a few more:




 



 

 

[LAME]

Looks like a female, based off the squared crown. The males have more jagged crowns.

 

[Sarah K]

Looks like a female, based off the squared crown. The males have more jagged crowns.

I have posted pictures of multiple mantises.....do you think every image here looks like a female? 

 

[DeShawn]

The pic before last is a male.  The rest are females.

 

[Kermit]

This is a male

Crooked hat!

 

[Kermit]

This is a female

More of aa square or block hat

 

[LAME]

What they said, sorry I've been at work. I didn't even see that males photo Lol ^_^

 

[Sarah K]

Thanks guys! So, it has more to do with the difference at the base of the crown, versus the top? As pictured below:

I guess I was just confused because the end of the crown on both genders seems to look the same, where it curves off to one side.