mantis religosa ooth cold period

[joossa]

Joosa, you seem to have some good experience with this species? I placed an ooth in the fridge on 9/29. It received about two weeks of cold weather and rain prior to that. I was going to wait until december, but maybe it would be fine to bring it out now? How long does incubation last?

Yes, I hatched ooths of the species some years ago for a friend. I did it twice, each instance around October. I was told to place them in the fridge for at least three weeks, in order to get good hatch rates. I ended up keeping them inside the fridge for about a month and a half. In the end both ooths hatched out plentiful nymphs. I guess incubation time depends on what temperatures you provide for the ooth combine with how long you kept the ooth in cold storage. IMO, it is imperative to mimic the conditions an ooth would experience in the wild. This goes for temperatures, humidity, photoperiod, etc. Of course I have never tested all these factors myself to any significant extent, but if you can mimic nature, why not do it?

It's better to keep it in a cold garage because the refrigerator can desiccate an ootheca easily, especially if kept in there more than a few months.

Orin can you elaborate a bit? Have you had an ooth completely dry out in the fridge? How do you keep them once placed inside? Do you provide moisture?

 

[jplelito]

M. religiosa tend to need a cold period because it breaks the chemical dormancy put in place when the eggs are deposited. It would be very odd to see this species hatch without it, at least from North American stock. I can't speak for European stock of this species.

I've tried to hatch M. religiosa without at least a cool period (i.e. at least 10-15 degrees below room temp) and it never succeeds even if they are kept humid, with a proper light cycle, etc. It works much much better if you keep them outright cold (i.e. in the fridge or outside in the winter where you get snow, ice, etc.). It may pay off to cool them slowly, in terms of increased hatch, but I just let mine sit at room temp. for 2 weeks at least, then toss them in my vegetable crisper in a tightly sealed tupperware type thing, with a paper towel and just a few drops of water on it. Keep them that way for a month or so, then bring them out and they will hatch. Drying out really isn't too much of an issue as long as they are not exposed directly to the dry air of the fridge, which will desiccate them. They should be kept in containers.

 

[Mantis Keeper]

Keeping them in a container also gives them the gradual cooling off they need. The room temp air in your container doesn't just get cold instantly, it gradually cools as the sides of the container cool.

 

[hibiscusmile]

Yes, I am not Orin, but I do this myself to get ready for spring here, I put them in fridge in a container where air can get to them, if they are not misted properly, they do indeed dry out and will not hatch, due to the forced air in the fridge. The air is not moist, as the moisture is pulled out of a fridge or room as in using an air conditioner in summer, they remove the moisture in the air to cool the air . Not really scientific answer, but that is the giest of it!

 

[yen_saw]

I used air-tight container or ziplock when keeping ooth in the fridge, it trap the moisture and not drying out if you just leave it on the fridge tray. I kept the european ooth for close to two months in the fridge and it hatched out alright.

 

[Rick]

I have an ooth that is starting to hatch right now. It was laid around 9/6 and was put in the fridge for 2 months and is hatching after being out of the fridge for about 25 days.