Normal
The technique I use with my mantids: with one hand gently holding the female's forelegs (but do not let go) and the other hand holding the male, what I do is shove the male onto the female's back. Then, with the same hand I'm holding the male and pressing him on her back, I use my fingers to push the male's abdomen under the female's abdomen. If he's ready to mate, he'll try to connect. If he doesn't attempt to connect or has low vigor, I give up the mating attempt. If there's a connection, I slowly release the male and then the female. If the female doesn't show any annoyance with the male on her back, then I'm good. If she's annoyed, I give her something to munch on to distract her. If that doesn't work, then the male is a goner (but hey, at least you got the male to connect which should give some level of fertilization depending on how long you wanted to hold the female's forelegs). I don't have all the time in the world to watch my male slowly approach the female that's why I try to make them quickly get down to business.
