How Long Should I Wait?

[MantisTrainer]

Hi everyone, in October of last year I collected a wild Mantis religiosa ootheca and kept it in the refrigerator for a while. I put it in warmer conditions (about room temperature) on April 15, 2024. I've been waiting almost 3 months for it to hatch and I'm wondering if it won't. I know that some species just take longer to hatch, and the general rule with incubating oothecae is to not give up on them. Should I keep waiting or has it been too long? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Mystymantis]

Hi everyone, in October of last year I collected a wild Mantis religiosa ootheca and kept it in the refrigerator for a while. I put it in warmer conditions (about room temperature) on April 15, 2024. I've been waiting almost 3 months for it to hatch and I'm wondering if it won't. I know that some species just take longer to hatch, and the general rule with incubating oothecae is to not give up on them. Should I keep waiting or has it been too long? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Hmm I haven't kept that species before but generally it should have hatched by now. I would wait a max maybe 3 more weeks but after that it probably won't hatch unfortunately.
Most wild mantis ooths hatch in spring. So maybe it was a dude ooth or old or something happened to it to cause it not to hatch.

 

[MantisTrainer]

OK, Thanks. I worried that it wouldn't hatch because I saw a little bit of mold growth on the bottom of it while it was in the refrigerator. I didn't think it was enough to cause significant damage though, but I know mold is usually a bad sign for mantids.

 

[hibiscusmile]

They do take a while, but it probably won't hatch. But, I have been surprised!

 

[MantisTrainer]

I've herd that dissecting an ootheca and looking at the condition on the eggs can help to identify what went wrong. However, I don't have dissecting tools with me, is there anything else I could use to open it up and see the eggs? I think I'll wait a few more weeks just in case but I would like to find out what might have went wrong.