Mantid identification and ooth clarification

[Hayley]

Hi everyone, just wondering if you guys could give me the thumbs up in ooth care.

Before I do that, I must first applaud this forum. I have searched everywhere for advice on how to care for ooths all of which were ither incomplete or vague. The sticky ooth topic has helped me a bunch so thank you!

Ok, to cut a long story short, I purchased a praying mantis from a petshop roughly about 3 weeks ago now (I think she is a species of African mantis but am not sure). Speaking of which, how often are african mantids supposed to be misted? I have heard a varity of different humidities and misting reccomendations althought I have been misting her twice a week to be safe. the petshop owner informed me she was going to lay an ootheca.

Well three weeks later here we are with a new ooth. I think it is abit pointless asking questions as all of my questions have already been answered! However, am not happy removing the ooth off the branch incase I damage it. So I just wanted to post up a few pictures of the ooth to see if its positioning is ok. If so then i'll be taking a trip down to the petshop tomorrow to pick up a critter cage of the same size so the branch will fit .

I think the only other question I can add to this is how can you tell if an ooth is fertile or not? I know it is difficult to tell... But is there any way I could find out? I am fully aware of nymph care as I currently have two Chinese mantis nymphs that I purchased at l1 both are now l4/l5 and are thriving.

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ooth pictures

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Mantis pictures

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*note she isn’t always on branches this thin. This was for photography purposes only*

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*note that some of her feet are missing and her wings are damaged. She was already in this state prior to purchase and despite this defects, is a happy healthy mantis with a ferocious appetite!*

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Thank you for your help!

Hayley

 

[mrblue]

in some species you can tell if it may be fertile but i dont think with this one, sorry. if she is wild caught there may be a good chance she mated before being caught. twice a week misting sounds fine. positioning looks ok (if a little close to the floor) , every time i have had a mantis lay an ootheca it has been in a ok position to hatch, i only move them for my own convenience.

 

[Giosan]

Poor little wings... I would never sell a mantis who looked so bad! did you pay a lot? Glad you are happy though! that's more imported.

About the ooth.. hang it up and just wait and see If nothing happens in about 8 weeks you COULD slice a bit open to see how it's going in there (if it is moist or if you see nymphs)

 

[Rick]

YOu can leave the ooth where it is. There is no way to tell if it is fertile by looking at it. You will just have to wait.