First time mating P. Ocellatas

[Mantida]

So today my male is three weeks old and I decided to try and mate him with one of my females. He mounted her from the side (which scared the bejeebers out of me, but she didn't seem to notice), and quickly assumed the mating position but never initiated mating. I gave the female a cricket to keep her occupied, but 10 minutes later she was almost done and the male still hadn't started yet. I didn't want to leave him with her so I had to literally pry him off of her. I'm going to try again later seeing as he is not ready... but what can you guys who have had experiences with mating P. Ocellatas say? Do your males generally take a while to initiate mating? The female did not seem to notice the male at all; does this usually happen during P. Ocellata mating? Any input/advice/experiences would be wonderful.

 

[Andrew]

I'd say ten minutes isn't long enough. Most mantids take longer than that to get going. I would suggest just waiting and watching carefully for a while and be ready to pry them apart if she decides to eat him. From the sound of it both were ready.

 

[Mantida]

Yeah, I guess. He also started to nibble on her wings, and I saw what Yen's little male P. Ocellata did to the female so i also got a bit nervous there also. I think he was just thirsty, so after I had watered him I put him back. I'll try again tomorrow and give a little more time... does it usually take P. Ocellatas a long while to initiate mating? All species I've tried to mate have started right upon mounting.

 

[asdsdf]

Yep, as you may know, I have P.Ocellata. I've successfully mated 5 out of 6 females so far, with 3 males. You should give him more time to do his thing. In lots of places advising about breeding mantises, they always say that he could take hours before starting. Give him more time. Also, if you stuff the female to the point where they drop food while eating, then you shouldn't really have any worries about whether the male would get eaten(You'll also get a nice big ooth). Also, if you notice the female doing her best in trying to get the male off(dragging side on ground, using arms, legs, etc.), it's perfectly fine and she will still succumb to mate. Good luck!

P.S. He's ready all right. The ones that aren't ready just run away or just stand there looking at the female.

 

[Mantida]

Thanks for the feedback... this morning I paired them up again after giving the female a couple of crickets. She was originally fat so I didn't have to feed her much to get her to reject some prey. I introduced the male and it took a while this time (he kept staring at her and acting like he wanted to mount but didn't) but he did mount and hasn't done anything yet. He actually seemed like he forgot he mounted at first: he started grooming his legs and his forearms while still on her and almost walked right off of her. :lol: After blowing on the female a little bit to get her rocking, I think he realized that he was on top of her since he stopped moving around. From what I've read about this species from previous topics, it looks like it could take a couple of days for him to start mating sooo, the wait begins.

 

[hibiscusmile]

Oh I hate that!

 

[Mantida]

Oh I hate that!

Me too.

He still hasn't done anything yet. I've let them loose and they're sitting right next to the computer. :lol:

 

[Precious]

I have a parrot ladder/perch that I use for mating. I prop it up on pillows in front of the TV. They take hours at a time (sometimes) and over several days. They hang out, watch the tube he climbs all over her, goofs around and one day, they do their thing. I use a large aquarium generally, but when they don't get right down to business, the TV occupies her (and me) while he figures out what to do.

 

[Mantida]

I have a parrot ladder/perch that I use for mating. I prop it up on pillows in front of the TV. They take hours at a time (sometimes) and over several days. They hang out, watch the tube he climbs all over her, goofs around and one day, they do their thing. I use a large aquarium generally, but when they don't get right down to business, the TV occupies her (and me) while he figures out what to do.

I remember seeing your parrot ladder when you mated Lydia and Spazz. Hehe.

Well my male finally started mating! And it took him 8 hours to do it. :lol: I hope they don't stay attached too long. I'm going on a trip Sunday afternoon so I hope they separate by then.

 

[Mantida]

Edit: He finished up and they've separated! Now I'm left with one gravid female.

 

[macro junkie]

nice work..im about to start breeding these in few months..im glad u sorted it before u go away..good timing ..

 

[asdsdf]

Congrats!

P.S. When she lays an ooth, can you send me a pic? I think one of my females has a genetic trait which makes her ooths smaller. You may have seen it already(Topi: Spiny Flower Mantis) , and she laid a second one today. Both are pretty small compared to my others, and slightly smaller than the average. Same diet, almost same amounts as well....Hmmm....

 

[Mantida]

Yup! I'm glad they separated before I left for the trip.

Good luck with breeding them. They're fairly easy actually. I thought they would've been slightly hard since the male was so skittish and the female didn't move much to attract attention and is aggressive. She didn't even notice him on top of her though.

Alright asdsdf, I'll send you a pic once she lays her first ooth! Though I wouldn't worry too much about the smaller ooth, some mantids lay smaller ones and fertility/health of the ooth has nothing to do with the size.

 

[asdsdf]

Thanks! I'm not worried too much about the health/fertility of the ooth, but instead, the amount of nymphs that will come out. :lol:

 

[yen_saw]

AH congrate!! Actually the species that chewed up his mate's head was P. Wahlbergii (not P. ocellata).

When pairing up spiny flower mantis, i leave lot of blue bottle and leave a pair together for a day. Best of luck, should have lot of P. ocellata babies for you soon In fact, i think there will be lot of spiny flower in the USA in near future

 

[Mantida]

She layed her first ooth yesterday!

asdsdf, here's a pic. I didn't have a ruler at hand so I compared with a quarter.