Laid an ooth then died.

[MantidLord]

Hi all, a while back I asked if the myth that mantids die soon after laying ooths was true to those who laid infertile ones. Well, my chinese female laid an ooth yesterday after eating a cricket, and soon after began to slow down entirely. And right now, she's laying beside me, head down and extremely weak (typical of a dying mantis). So weird, because days prior,and the day of her laying, she was so vibrant and active, hunting down crickets. Now after laying, she's gone.

I had two adult males with her, but I never witnessed mating, so I can't be sure if they mated. Even so, the males have been adults for a nearly 2 weeks. Quick question, if a female is days away from laying an infertile ooth, and she mates, do the eggs going inside the ooth then become fertile? It sucks because I feel like if they'd molted a little sooner, she would've been guaranteed a fertile ooth.

Now my two young males are just sitting in the container. I'm keeping the ooth. But it looks like I might have to start looking for another female.

 

[hibiscusmile]

No reason why they won't be fertile then, Keep the ooths for 7 weeks at least.

 

[ismart]

It's not a myth really. They use alot of energy when laying. Some continue on, while others just become to weak. If she was already pretty old then that was all she probably had left. Hold onto the ooth and see what happens?

 

[dgerndt]

I'm sorry to hear that you're losing a mantis. It's always hard. At least you have her ooth, and hopefully some cute little nymphs will make it out.

 

[MantidLord]

Hi, I'm keeping the ooth and have it incubating just in case. It's not a standard looking chinese ooth, but then again I attribute this to the surface she was laying it on, not the usual weird looking ooths you see in old females. But who knows, it could be due to both factors. Hopefully they did mate with her in the late hours of the night, however I'm still looking for a female for my two guys, just in case.