Infertile ooth of D. Lobata? How do you tell?

[Mantless]

So about a month or so ago I attempted to breed two adult D. Lobatas in which the male was aggressively trying to get his chance. Though I wasn't sure if they mated or not, I saw she began to become a little intolerant of the male so I separated them again to play it safe.

Just today I came home from class to find she is creating an ooth sticking from the top, I've had her awhile and this is the first one she's ever made. I don't know if there's a difference, but is there any way to know if it's infertile or not? If I have a fertile ooth that would be awesome lol but I can't say for sure. All I can say is she did have a history with a male specimen.

 

[Aryia]

Generally fertile ooths are smaller and more smooth "compact" looking but there is no way to tell for sure unless they hatch or you cut the ooth open. Incubation times for this species if VERY long, the ooths can take up to 2-3 months to hatch so please do not cut into them until you are entirely sure they will not hatch. Keep them nice and moist and cross your fingers for some babies : ) The other way to tell of course is to cut it open after the 3 months and see what state the eggs are in.

The connection time of this species is very long as well. One of my pairs was connected for 15 hours, and the other by 18 hours. So unlike other species which are quicker, it's hard to miss if these guys are mating.

Hope it helps!

 

[Mantless]

Generally fertile ooths are smaller and more smooth "compact" looking but there is no way to tell for sure unless they hatch or you cut the ooth open. Incubation times for this species if VERY long, the ooths can take up to 2-3 months to hatch so please do not cut into them until you are entirely sure they will not hatch. Keep them nice and moist and cross your fingers for some babies : ) The other way to tell of course is to cut it open after the 3 months and see what state the eggs are in.

The connection time of this species is very long as well. One of my pairs was connected for 15 hours, and the other by 18 hours. So unlike other species which are quicker, it's hard to miss if these guys are mating.

Hope it helps!

That does help thank you! This is sort of a ridiculous questions, but what would happen if the mating process was interrupted? The male was very confident, but after about the first hour or so the female started to retaliate and shoved him off so I can't say they successfully mated because I have no real proof. If that were the case though, do you think it would still be successful?

 

[hibiscusmile]

She would prob be fertile, as he said you cannot tell unless it hatches or doesn't. There is no way to tell if fertile even when cutting open an ooth as unless it is near to hatching u will not see anything.

 

[Mantless]

She would prob be fertile, as he said you cannot tell unless it hatches or doesn't. There is no way to tell if fertile even when cutting open an ooth as unless it is near to hatching u will not see anything.

I sure hope you're right, this was my first time trying to breed D. Lobata, I was introduced to the species by a friend on another forum and they quickly became one of my favorite mantis species lol

 

[hibiscusmile]

I never got to mate mine, so you did good!

 

[Aryia]

What do you mean by interrupted? After my pairs are connected I can do whatever I want around them (including sticking my face so close that my nose is almost touching them) and at that point the male is so concentrated that he doesn't see whatever is going on. The last female carried the male around on her back while they were connected too. I had to separate a pair prior to connection because I was heading to sleep and it took me a looooong time to pry the male off the female without hurting either of them, so I doubt anything you do will really interrupt them.

I guess only time will tell : ) How long did you leave them together btw?

 

[Rick]

What do you mean by interrupted? After my pairs are connected I can do whatever I want around them (including sticking my face so close that my nose is almost touching them) and at that point the male is so concentrated that he doesn't see whatever is going on. The last female carried the male around on her back while they were connected too. I had to separate a pair prior to connection because I was heading to sleep and it took me a looooong time to pry the male off the female without hurting either of them, so I doubt anything you do will really interrupt them.

I guess only time will tell : ) How long did you leave them together btw?

I've had more than a few pairs get interrupted in some way resulting in the male leaving.

You cannot tell if an ooth is fertile or not by looking at it. If it hatches you will know it was fertile.

 

[Mantless]

I've had more than a few pairs get interrupted in some way resulting in the male leaving.

You cannot tell if an ooth is fertile or not by looking at it. If it hatches you will know it was fertile.

I guess I'm just going to take care of it as if it was fertile just to make sure. One last question, does this species in particular guard the ooth? I noticed that even though the ooth is done and secure, she really makes it a priority to stay close on top of it.