How long until the first molting for California mantids?

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Zeede

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It's been a tumultuous couple of weeks. I've had one major wave of nymphs hatch (and at least six hanging from one ooth, I guess it was too dry, they couldn't detach :( ) and it looks like another ooth is hatching as I got another sixteen or so yesterday.

My question is when they will begin their first molting into L2? I obviously don't want to bump them when they start, but I want to know when to keep an eye out for that.

Also, is there any physical indication they are molting? I mean, they tend to hang around from surfaces all day, unlike my butterfly caterpillars which almost never went up under the lid until it was time to cocoon.

Cameron

 
Your looking at about 14 days or so, give or take a day, depending on how warm you are keeping them? Prior to a molt they will stop eating. At this point they should be nice and plump, and smack food away. They will also try and hang from the highest point in there enclosure.

 
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You should still mist their enclosure every day, even if they're not eating. They need to drink and humidity is crucial for a proper molt.

 
When they molt they will leave the old molt behind correct?

My chinese mantids hatched on the 14th. It's been 12 days today and they look bigger, but can't tell if it's because their eating and growing ovbiously or because they are L2 now. They seem to hang from the FF cup always so I can't tell if their molting or doing as they always do. I also don't have time to look at 40+ FF cups and see if their all eating and which ones are not. So back to the main question. Will they leave their old encasing behind?

 
Yes, they will leave there old exoskeleton behind. You should also keep chinese nymphs at around 60 to 70% humidity. They tend to miss molt if not kept humid enough.

 
The first ones hatched on the 8th, so that means they should've molted on the 22nd, which they haven't...

I did have them in suboptimal conditions, so maybe that delayed things a bit (they were all in one big container together, very poor, very poor, lesson learned). Now they are in small plastic cups, max of four in one cup, and I have started misting and feeding daily (PetSmart had fruit flies that were twice as big as regular fruit flies, and the nymphs simply couldn't catch them.

I'll have to watch carefully then, and it's bad because I don't have the nymphs separated by the date I found them when I woke up in the morning. So it's possible I have some in the same cup with nymphs that hatched three days apart.

I presume they hang from a high perch and stop moving completely? If this is the case, then that will help because usually when I gently pick up their cup, the nymphs look around or otherwise show interest.

Cameron

 
If you're a very close observer, you can actually see a mantis shake when they're getting ready to molt. I've only witnessed this a few times, and I love to watch my mantids.

Jeff Parker, you'll know for sure when your Chinese molt. They get significantly bigger with each molt. It's very surprising.

 
Ntsees said:
It depends on the temperature (like someone said) and also the amount of food they have.
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Hmm, I wasn't feeding them that well since they were all in a large communal container. Now that they are separated out they should be getting fed more reliably.

I've noticed a few look noticeably plumper in their abdomen. Some actually look a bit longer than when I first got them, so either they molted and I can't find the old "skin", or I'm just imagining things :blink:

Cameron

 
Zeede said:
Hmm, I wasn't feeding them that well since they were all in a large communal container. Now that they are separated out they should be getting fed more reliably.

I've noticed a few look noticeably plumper in their abdomen. Some actually look a bit longer than when I first got them, so either they molted and I can't find the old "skin", or I'm just imagining things :blink:

Cameron
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With the right temperatures, keeping them plump (not bursting plump) is the objective. This is what I do to my mantids as instars: after they molt, they are larger and back to being skinny again; when they are able to eat again after their exoskeleton hardens, I gorge them with food with as much food as they can handle; once they become plump, I stop feeding them and give them the occasional small meal; I continue giving them these small meals about once per day or two until their next molt; if they happen to digest the food and become slightly slim (which does happen), I gorge them again.

 
Ntsees said:
With the right temperatures, keeping them plump (not bursting plump) is the objective. This is what I do to my mantids as instars: after they molt, they are larger and back to being skinny again; when they are able to eat again after their exoskeleton hardens, I gorge them with food with as much food as they can handle; once they become plump, I stop feeding them and give them the occasional small meal; I continue giving them these small meals about once per day or two until their next molt; if they happen to digest the food and become slightly slim (which does happen), I gorge them again.
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+1, that's what I do too.

 

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