Hi,
I just joined this forum, and I'm so glad I found it; it's awesome and full of great info.
Last September I found two female Chinese mantids in my yard. After reading that they would soon die outside I decided to bring them in, and I'm so glad I did. They've been interesting, and endearing, I'm a huge fan now.
I do have some questions, that I hope can be answered.
The biggest mystery is that I don't know how long they'll live, and frankly, I'm surprised that they have both lasted this long. One laid 2 oothecas and the other laid 4. They have definitely slowed down a lot lately, the one that laid 4 has suffered damage on the ends of 4 of her legs, some of them got stuck in the egg case and broke off a bit. The other one has been "throwing up" the last few days, although they both still eat.
I hope I'm not told to put them in the freezer!
The second issue is that I am keeping the ooths in the garage, where it's definitely cold. I didn't put the first 2-3 outside for almost 3 weeks, since I didn't know what to do with them. Was that too much time to effectively start a diapause?
Thanks,
Zhongrong
I just joined this forum, and I'm so glad I found it; it's awesome and full of great info.
Last September I found two female Chinese mantids in my yard. After reading that they would soon die outside I decided to bring them in, and I'm so glad I did. They've been interesting, and endearing, I'm a huge fan now.
I do have some questions, that I hope can be answered.
The biggest mystery is that I don't know how long they'll live, and frankly, I'm surprised that they have both lasted this long. One laid 2 oothecas and the other laid 4. They have definitely slowed down a lot lately, the one that laid 4 has suffered damage on the ends of 4 of her legs, some of them got stuck in the egg case and broke off a bit. The other one has been "throwing up" the last few days, although they both still eat.
I hope I'm not told to put them in the freezer!
The second issue is that I am keeping the ooths in the garage, where it's definitely cold. I didn't put the first 2-3 outside for almost 3 weeks, since I didn't know what to do with them. Was that too much time to effectively start a diapause?
Thanks,
Zhongrong
I'll let one of the more experienced member answer most of your questions better. They tend to live 10 to 14 months from what I understand. I myself just started with nymphs for the first time. Before, I always found them outside and released a short time later. But it sounds like the ooths will be ok. Sounds like there will be lots of babies in the spring! 
