Mantid Ootheka Help!

[Tobi2501]

Hey guys,

I've caught a female praying mantis a few weeks ago and she is right now attaching a Ootheka to a stick in her terrarium. I've read a lot about Mantids and I am pretty sure the one I caught is an African Praying mantis, she has pretty short wings and you can see the last 4 segments so i guess she is pretty young?

I didn't put a male in the terrarium and she has been in there for almost a month so I'm not even sure if that is a fertilized Ooth, though I don't know if something like that exists for mantids. :huh:

And if it actually is a good one I have some questions:

-Is she gonna die soon after she layed the egg? (I know spiders do)

-How do I make it hatch?

-Do African Mantids need a diapause?

I tried to find a topic about this in here but its alwys really unclear since it is generally for all mantids and it says every kind has its own needs so I would really appreeciate if someone helps me on this. :lol:

Here's what it looks like

 

[massaman]

should introduce yourself in the introduce yourself section and need to tell where you are from and what not and it is highly unlikely it will need a diapause and if you are from africa as well then there is no need to let it diapause unless the species is from a area where there is a winter seasons!

 

[minard734]

That is not African mantis. It is Stagmomantis carolina or as it is often called, The Carolina Mantis. It is a fun mantid to keep and it doesn't REQUIRE diapause though it would help it hatch at the correct time if you did do that with it. If you keep it at room temp it will hatch early, meaning it will be harder to find food for it (so if you want to leave it at room temp make sure you CAN provide proper food during the winter). It will hatch out about 30-50 mantids probably. PM me if you want more info or look it up. I need go for now.

 

[Tobi2501]

Thanks,

Sorry that I didnt introduce myself yet, no im living in virginia and i thought it was an african one i heard they were imported to here or something and they kinda looked like mine. So is it even possible that this Ooth is fertilized?

And if i what will the nymphs eat is there a alternative to fruit flies (there kinda hard to catch and to find) :wacko: , would they eat dead insects?

 

[RevWillie]

Fruit flies are easy to raise, with 1 culture and about $20 in supplies you can have all the fruit flies you need for 6 months or more. I get my flies and supplies here: http://mantisplace.com/feederinsects.html#FF

Mantis usually need live food, it's the movement that causes them to grab and eat it. You can offer them fresh-killed insects with tweezers and if you wiggle it they will grab it if they are hungry (they have to 'tune out' those big tweezers behind the fly).

FYI if a mantis has wings, it is mature and won't grow/shed any more. It is possible that your female mated before you caught her; they will lay eggs whether they have mated or not so time will tell if your ooth will hatch. Your female will live for weeks/months after laying and might lay another ooth.

 

[Tobi2501]

thank you very much so I'll just wait 'til it hatches I was already surprised that she ate that much, she ate two grasshoppers about half of her own size the last two days.

 

[gripen]

you have a beautiful carolina mantis! most likely the ooth (egg sack) is fertile. you can buy great fruit fly cultures at petco that lasts months. good luck with your first mantis!

 

[Tobi2501]

you have a beautiful carolina mantis! most likely the ooth (egg sack) is fertile. you can buy great fruit fly cultures at petco that lasts months. good luck with your first mantis!

I can buy them in a petco store? i thought i could only get them by ordering them online good to know thanks

 

[gripen]

yeah you can get them precultured and hassle free.

 

[massaman]

you can get fruit flies cheap also at josh's frogs thats where I get all my fruit flies exclusively

 

[Tobi2501]

I wanna get the Ooth in a seperate housing but the problem is its attached to a stick, could I just carefully take it off or should i leave it in there?

 

[gripen]

i would just take the stick out and snip around. make sure it drys out first though!

 

[Tobi2501]

I think ill just leave it in there for a while, the mantis is sitting on it all the time seems like shes protecting it

 

[massaman]

it wont be a problem to take the ooth out and take care of it instead of leaving it where crickets would get at it when feeding the female its better to remove the ooth and put it in a deli cup to hatch by gluing it to the lid of the cup with paper towel or toilet paper in the bottom of the cup and mist that once every other day

 

[lancaster1313]

Depending on her age, your Stagmomantis carolina may lay many oothecae in her lifetime. Mine have all laid at least 6 each.

Also, the few female spiders that I have kept, have all laid more than one eggsack while I have kept them. In my experience, egg laying doesn't have to be a death sentence, at least with the species of spiders that I have kept.

 

[ShieldMantid1997]

Everyone /\ is correct but one thing is always left out i have noticed, when glueing the ooth to the top make sure the zipper (the part on top that will be raised up a little higher than the rest of the ootheca,) is facing down and is not glued. The zipper is where the nymphs will emerge. Just a little thing to remember.

 

[Psychobunny]

you can get fruit flies cheap also at josh's frogs thats where I get all my fruit flies exclusively

That is my favorite place to get ff's.

Their cultures last a long time and you get a continous high wield.

Plus, they are great guys!! I was in a big hurry for some, called them, (needed them NOW!!) and they came through

for me and I get them the next morning.