female laid a ooth with male on top

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massaman

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I got a interesting situation as I got a male budwing who spend the last day or 2 on my female and she has laid a ooth with him on top of her so just wondering would the ooth be fertile as he did spend alot of time on her but wondering if it would be fertile once he stopped connecting to her but still on the top of her though!

 
It takes about a week or more after mating for the ootheca to be fertile

 
It takes about a week or more after mating for the ootheca to be fertile
Do you have a reference for that?

If she mated it will be fertile but if you did not witness a connection I would assume it was not fertile. But it won't hurt to just incubate it and see.

 
Do you have a reference for that?

If she mated it will be fertile but if you did not witness a connection I would assume it was not fertile. But it won't hurt to just incubate it and see.
Experience.

If the male was still on her back when she laid, even if he mated with her just before laying, it wont be fertile. Its too soon.

 
I would say the likelihood of the ooth being fertile is extremely low (unless of course this wasn't the first attempt of mating). On average mantids take about 2 weeks between mating and laying an ooth. The release of the spermatophore alone can take several hours to a day "There is no way you can tell if the female has been fertilized or not. She will produce ootheca even if she has not mated. When the female processes the spermatophore of the male, you can find a small white spermatophore leaving her body a few hours / day after mating. If you see this, mating was probably succesfull, but even then you cannot be 100% sure.

When a female has mated, she will remain fertilized all of her life! It is wise to have her mate again if she has produced a lot of ootheca (say after 4 or 5 oothecas)." - http://www.keepinginsects.com/praying-mantis/breeding/

I haven't mated my budwings yet but it appears they follow suit with the average dates and numbers http://www.mantisonline.eu/index.php?lan=en&show=species_mantids_view&content={%22subshow%22:%22species_mantids%22,%22level_right%22:%22%22,%22level_left%22:%22pqr%22,%22genus%22:%22parasphendale%22,%22level_left_view%22:%22%22,%22level_left_species%22:%22index%22,%22species%22:%22agrionina%22,%22level_left_species_mode%22:%22breeding%22}

 
As long as there was a connection prior, which from your post it sounds like there was, then there is a good chance the ootheca will be fertile. Some boys are just really silly and overstay their welcome. Personally I remove any males that are just hanging around to get a free piggy back ride.

 
As long as there was a connection prior, which from your post it sounds like there was, then there is a good chance the ootheca will be fertile. Some boys are just really silly and overstay their welcome. Personally I remove any males that are just hanging around to get a free piggy back ride.
ive only had that issue with orchids lol

 
Sounds like it could very well be a fertile ooth from what I've found. While looking more into parthenogenetic mantises I found this at Peter Clausen's (our forum root admin) website.

If a female has already begun to produce an ootheca within her, but has not yet begun to lay it, a late arriving male will still be able to fertilize her eggs. After mating, it may take from a day to several weeks or more before she lays the ootheca, depending on whether she was preparing one within her already and whether she has eaten enough to provide the energy needed to form the egg case.
 
ive only had that issue with orchids lol
I've seen a number of users posting about similar occurrences with some of the more communal species. I can't get over the fact these were budwings though considering how feisty female budwings are often described as being.

 
I've seen a number of users posting about similar occurrences with some of the more communal species. I can't get over the fact these were budwings though considering how feisty female budwings are often described as being.
i never would expect popa or parasphendale or anything with short wings allowing thative seen hierodula males stay on too long but then the females got a nice snack

 
I've seen a number of users posting about similar occurrences with some of the more communal species. I can't get over the fact these were budwings though considering how feisty female budwings are often described as being.
I had some budwings who were totally chill when mating, but i had this one female who i referred to mentally as "the b*tch" LOL she was such a brat and violent and struck me alll the time. My other one was a sweetheart.

 
Lol, it is always fun to see the different temperaments in individuals. It is one of the things that makes keeping mantises so much fun even after doing it for years and years.

 
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