I got an ooth, now what?

[December Mourning]

My first mantid (a wild caught M. Religiosa - I posted about it before here) just layed an ooth today. Now what?

I want to take it out of the cage the mantid laid it in but it looks all squishy and fragile. Will it dry out and be easy to handle in time?

I've heard you can freeze an ooth for a couple of months to delay it hatching, is this true? I was thinking about doing that and letting it hatch in time for spring so I could unleash lots of nymphs on my vegetable garden.

What about conditions it needs to hatch? Do I need to mist the ooth or keep it under a heat lamp of some sort?

 

[Rick]

Well depends on what you want to do with it. If you want to release them into your garden then go put the ooth outside and it will hatch when it naturally in the spring. If you want to hatch it indoors it will hatch way before spring is ever here. M Religiosa ooth have to have a cold period before they hatch. Put it in the fridge for a month or two and then it will hatch in the weeks after you take it out. Or you can put it in the fridge and take it out a month or so before spring to release the nymphs outside. The ooth will harden up and you can remove it from the cage but be careful when doing so. If you incubate it indoors do not use a heat lamp. Room temperature is fine. But remember that species must have a cold period.

 

[December Mourning]

Thanks. I should have mentioned that in addition to releasing the nymphs to the garden I was interested in keeping a few to raise by hand.

I was able to get the ooth out of the cage but in the process a little tiny part at the end ripped. It didnt actually rip completely - it just ripped a little slice of the outside skin/layer off. Is this nothing to be worried about?

If not, the ooth is going in the fridge for a couple of months.

 

[Rick]

No, don't worry about that. I would wait a couple weeks before putting it in the fridge. Remember though once you take it out it will hatch within a few weeks probably. If you intend to release any you should wait until winter is almost over before you take it out of the fridge.

 

[December Mourning]

Ok, so it would be ok to leave it in there for 3-4 months then?

 

[Rick]

It stays outside in the cold longer than that so it should be ok.

 

[LGMS]

Put it in the fridge for a month or two and then it will hatch in the weeks after you take it out. The ooth will harden up and you can remove it from the cage but be careful when doing so.

Hi Rick, got a surprise 2day as one of the females laid her ooth only a week after mating. Of course she placed it on the glass wall of the aquarium instead of the branch inside the tank.

Happened w/i the last 2 1/2 hrs as there was nothing there previously. It is hardened and I used a razor behind it to slice it away from the glass. I can see eggs (I believe) under the thinest part of the ooth wall, perhaps 10 eggs. Should I not worry about losing a few nymphs or can I try placing a piece of tape at that thin spot?

In nature the ooth is round, this one now has a flat spot. The nymph probably would come out of that area so taping it may be counter productive. You've reared enough ooths, what's your advice?

I do plan on hatching most of the ooths I get in the spring. A couple of local farms have stated they'd like to have the ooths hatch on their property. How soon should I store the ooth in the fridge? The lowest humidity I recorded in the fridge I'll use is 40% and goes up a lot from there. Should the ooth be in a sealed container like a prescription vial w/cap on or something else (your choice of containers)?

Rgds,

Louis

 

[yen_saw]

LGMS, you can keep the ooth in an air-tight container, so the moisture in the container do not dry up completely and dry up the eggs in the oothecae. Placed the ooth in the fridge one or two days after the female lays the ootheca. If you keep the ooth at room temperature for too long the nymphs may have developed and placing the hatching ooth in the fridge may kill the nymphs. Cool temperature is like a diapause (spelling) for mantis eggs and it delays the eggs development into nymphs. It will still take a full 4-6 weeks to hatch the ootheca after taking them out from the fridge. This method always work for all my chinese and european mantis oothecae. All the best.

 

[Rick]

The eggs you can see will most likely die. The rest should be fine. Do like Yen said and you should be fine. I don't see waiting a bit before putting it in the fridge a problem. After all it is still warm for a while after the mantids lay them outside naturally.

 

[December Mourning]

Another question - how do I know (or will I never know) if the ooth has eggs or is empty and won't produce nymphs as I read sometimes can happen?

 

[Jesse]

A normal looking ooth is never empty, it may be infertile or kept under the wrong conditions....but not empty. M. religiosa is the only known mantid species which goes through an egg diapause...meaning it must experience a cold period to "break" the diapause. After experiencing the cold period the eggs are stimulated to start developing. Many other temperate species egg development are just slowed/stopped by cold temperatures. Oh, and never put an ooth in the freezer! It is not the same as freezing temps outside!

 

[LGMS]

Yen, Rick, thanxs for the advice. We'll experiment a bit as I placed the egg case in a Glad sandwich bag and then enclosed it in another bag. Sealed it tight with tape, time will tell. The fridge I'm using for storage is an old one so it has plenty of moisture.

Next egg case will be stored differently. Rather than wait I stored it today. I'm under the impression that most matids around here would produce a case in October. I wonder how many (if any) early cases hatch immediately in nature? Overwinter is a term I'm more familiar with for plants, some won't put forth growth or flowers unless they experience a long cold spell. Could be the rule with many types of matid ooths too.

The eggs I think I can see are inside of the ooth but close to the surface. It won't be until I allow the case to hatch that I'll know if this was a problem. But if the mantids are true to form, 4 females should produce 12-20 egg cases before they die. I was only hoping for three ooths at the start of this hobby, guess I'll be busy this spring. But I may try my hand at hatching one sooner for the learning experience.

Rgds,

Louis

 

[Rick]

The eggs that are visible will die. Chinese ooths do not need a cold period. They will hatch four to six weeks after being laid if kept indoors.

 

[LGMS]

The eggs that are visible will die. Chinese ooths do not need a cold period. They will hatch four to six weeks after being laid if kept indoors.

All things considered, nature being what it is, I would think there is an overproduction of eggs simply due to the fact that many will not make it to adulthood. Not going to sweat it, losing a few eggs.

This morning I got up and checked the other female cages out w/something I'd read about mantids mating in mind. Not sure it will fall under the same rules but egg laying did commense w/the early light of dawn today.

The following description will be ho hum to those who've done this thousands of times but to the new readers, read on.

Female #2 laid her egg case in the hedge branches I stuffed the cage with. They could barely move for all the wood in there. This is the same hedge material where I found an ooth placed in, in my yard. I caught the very beginning of the process, guessing it started 15 min's previous. The ootheca was mercifully attached to a branch this time, not the glass of the tank. She seemed to weave up one side, down the other of the outer side of the case.

Then she'd go to the middle and lay eggs, then back to building the ootheca again. The froth seemed thick and the whole process took about 3 hr's. This egg case was much larger than the one laid by another female yesterday. I think I noticed more air bubbles in the mix as she neared the end of making the ootheca and was sealing the bottom of it.

I only video'd the last 30+ min's as I didn't want to risk disturbing her. An hr later she's still hanging in the same spot. Just watching her do all that work made me think of lunch :lol: After the last mantid laid her eggs I gave her a 1 1/2" grasshopper - she not only ate everything, she stalked the hopper.

Usually these mantids are spoiled, they pick and chose what they will eat since I feed them so well. They sense there is an abundance of food from what I've read. It'll be interesting to see how long they go before laying their next ooths.

Thanx to all who've posted helpful info on raising mantids. So far things are going well. Will try my hand at rasing fruit flies soon so I know what to expect when spring comes and I allow the ooths to hatch.

Rgds,

Louis