Ghost mantis mating question

[Myrmecologist2]

My two males finally molted to adult the other week, and my females have been adult for about 3-4 weeks. Out of curiousity I Iet out my oldest female and a male (Who had just molted a mere 3 days ago!) and to my surprise he mounted her rather quickly. Several hours after mounting, after many failed attempts, I witnessed a successful connection by the male. It only lasted about 15-30 minutes though, and I was just wondering if this is the normal amount of time for mating itself for a successful fertilization. They've been mounted a good 10-12 hours and are still going.

 

[Termite48]

Not specifically about this species, but I have seen the connection last a lot longer than 30 minutes. Who knows for sure, if the boy is even able to provide virile sperm at such a young age. In my opinion you should write down this event on a log, but re-mate the pair again after one week and again after two weeks to be sure. Being that the female is so far ahead of the male in age, you do not want to see her go much longer before getting an "effective mating". If you check other members and see what they have experienced with this species, you might find that the male's age is ok for causing the female to lay a fertile ooth.

 

[Myrmecologist2]

Thanks, I was surprised the male was even interested, but I'm not too worried if it was an unsucessful mating, they should still have plenty of time. I am getting a little worried about the females producing their first ooths though. The male is still mounted on the female by the way, should I attempt to remove him?

 

[Myrmecologist2]

They've made a second connection! This time it's lasted about 40 minutes and they're still going, hopefully this will be a successful fertilization but I guess it wouldn't hurt to try again in a couple weeks.

 

[hibiscusmile]

Male ghost live very short lives, either from natural cause or female, so as slight as they are this is prob normal, but I don't get to watch much...

 

[Myrmecologist2]

It lasted about two hours and the male finally dismounted, and the female has been doing some funky stuff with her abdomen parts since.

 

[agent A]

It lasted about two hours and the male finally dismounted, and the female has been doing some funky stuff with her abdomen parts since.

the "funky stuff" is her putting the sperm from the spermetaphore in a spermatheca and pushing out the empty sack

 

[Myrmecologist2]

the "funky stuff" is her putting the sperm from the spermetaphore in a spermatheca and pushing out the empty sack

Ok cool, do you usually see the sack come out? How long after mating does it usually come out? She could have disposed of it while I was sleeping but this morning her abdomen is still slightly open.

 

[agent A]

Ok cool, do you usually see the sack come out? How long after mating does it usually come out? She could have disposed of it while I was sleeping but this morning her abdomen is still slightly open.

if she rejects it she usually expels a plump white ball but if not she absorbed sperm and ate the sack

 

[Myrmecologist2]

if she rejects it she usually expels a plump white ball but if not she absorbed sperm and ate the sack

There was a pale white flake stuck to her abdomen earlier, it looked chewed on, was this the sack partially eaten? Her abdomen closed up and returned to normal after I noticed this.

(And yay! My other pair are currently mounted, this male is also young at about 4-5 days!)

 

[agent A]

There was a pale white flake stuck to her abdomen earlier, it looked chewed on, was this the sack partially eaten? Her abdomen closed up and returned to normal after I noticed this.

(And yay! My other pair are currently mounted, this male is also young at about 4-5 days!)

if it was an empty, thin sack it should be ok

i always mate females of any species as many times as possible to be sure they mated successfully

 

[Myrmecologist2]

How long do I have to wait before mating the males again? A week? The first female laid an inch long ooth a few minutes ago, pretty expected since she's really small for a female. Hopefully my other pair mated, but I only saw a very short connection and had to sleep. How many ooths can a ghost female produce in her life span? Hopefully 1 infertile ooth each is not bad, since I'm not expecting much right now.