Ghost trouble

[Mystymantis]

Hello, so I am trying to mate my ghosts. But I have had no luck. They have been adults since late April so they are more then mature enough. But I can't get the males to connect. I put a male and female in a large next cage with sticks, and the male might jump on the back of the female but no connection occurs. Also my female, Ira, has laid some egg cases (non fertile), so she is ready. What am I doing wrong? why are they not connecting? any advice? is there some specific requirements or conditions that ghosts need to mate? Does it need to be a specific humidity, time of day or something else?

Why is the male just sitting on the female but never connecting? I have seen him try and curl his abdomen, but never connect. Are the female's wings to long for him to go around or something?

 

[Teamonger]

I'm not sure about conditions, I'll leave that bit to someone who has successfully matted ghosts. I believe I have read somethign about heating up the males but can't recall where. However I will admit getting right up in their business (my chines mantises) to help a male connect. Sometimes they just need a bit of a helping hand to get past the wings. Weird as it is blowing on them also helps usually, no idea why but it seems to spur them to action whether it be gaining the courage to jump on the female's back or to get the connection going. Definitely a strange way to spend and evening but its worked for me  

 

[Mystymantis]

Thanks for the advice. I will try heating the male up a little. Hopefully someone with experience with ghosts will answer my questions. I have mated Chinese mantises with no problems but these ghosts seem harder. Though I have had a few male Chinese mantises that just don't want to mate, in fact last year I had a male Chinese mantis that never mated but he lived for a very long time, into January, and he hatched around June 2016!

 

[Velve]

Have you been keeping them together for a longer period of time? If so, it's possible that they did mate overnight. It sometimes helps to put the male into a different room for a few days so he's no longer in contact with the pheromones. ~2 months is already old for the male though. They get ready after 1 week and often lose their drive after a few more.

 

[Kermit]

Put papertowls on the bottom of the net cage and spray them with a lot of water. Put the cube under a heat lamp and be sure to have flies available so they don't get hungry and turn on one another.

I agree male Ghost only last 6-8 weeks... Short lived.

Good luck

 

[Mystymantis]

I don't have a heat lamp, but I tried putting paper towels on the bottom with a lamp, but it didn't work. The male didn't stay on the female. Now he seems to just go on for a few minutes but then jumps off. If the male did manage to mate with the female in the night and I didn't notice, would that make the male not want to go on the female?

My female Ira keeps laying egg cases, she lays one every 3 days it seems! Sadly they are infertile since she never mated. Do Ghosts do parthenogenesis?

Is it possible my problem is just that my males are too old? they molted to adults in early May. I have tried putting the males in a different room it seemed to help a little but still no connection. They just don't seem to want to stay on the females.

 

[CosbyArt]

@Mystymantis If the male did mate through the night he would likely not mate again so soon. Your male though is so old he likely has zero interest in mating, no matter what things you alter.

The infertile ooths you can treat as they will hatch just in case; however, even if mating was witnessed it does not mean the ooths are fertile. The species can be very stubborn producing fertile ooths even if mated, as discussed in another recent topic here.

Nope, I haven't heard of any Ghosts (Phyllocrania paradoxa) ooths hatching from parthenogenesis. It also has not occurred a single time from the dozens of infertile Ghost ooths (and several that were suppose to be fertile ooths) that I had.

Regarding parthenogenesis, here is a list of mantid species I have put together from scientific papers and multiple instances from mantid keepers the past few years.

High Parthenogenesis
--------------------
Brunner's Mantis or Brunner's Stick Mantis (Brunneria borealis) -- No males exist. Ooths can spread hatches to two seasons/years.


Common Parthenogenesis
----------------------
Mediterranean Mantis (Iris oratoria) -- Ooths can also spread hatches to two seasons/years.


Rare Parthenogenesis
--------------------
African mantis, giant African mantis, and bush mantis (Sphodromantis viridis)
American grass mantis or Grass-Like Mantis (Thesprotia graminis)
Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina)*
Egyptian Pygmy mantis (Miomantis paykullii)
European mantis (Mantis religiosa)
Giant Asian mantis (Hierodula membranacea)

 

[Tonypace2009]

My female didn't produce fertile ooth but with collaboration from others on the Forum I did get them to connect. copy and paste in search and you can see my several week ordeal and tips from others. hope this helps.


(copy paste below in search) not sure how to make a link


 



Female ghost mantid is laying othca


Started by Tonypace2009, 2 Feb 2016

 

[Kermit]

I don't have a heat lamp, but I tried putting paper towels on the bottom with a lamp, but it didn't work. The male didn't stay on the female. Now he seems to just go on for a few minutes but then jumps off. If the male did manage to mate with the female in the night and I didn't notice, would that make the male not want to go on the female?

My female Ira keeps laying egg cases, she lays one every 3 days it seems! Sadly they are infertile since she never mated. Do Ghosts do parthenogenesis?

Is it possible my problem is just that my males are too old? they molted to adults in early May. I have tried putting the males in a different room it seemed to help a little but still no connection. They just don't seem to want to stay on the females.

Heat and humidity is your best chance at firing up the drive to mate.

For less than $10 you can get a 80 or 100 Watt bulb and a clip on reflector that would do the trick... With a wet medium in the cage it will warm up nice and raise the humidity.

Best advice I can offer.