i put paper towels on the floor to prevent water from standing and killing nymphs
My damaged wild ooth hatched
- Thread starter CosbyArt
- Start date
Help Support Mantidforum:
Had just one nymph hatch from ooth #10 again. Sounds silly but it was just him so far, and he wasn't left behind from the previous hatchings.
Alright thanks, it is a duh moment for sure on that one. I've been holding off misting in case anymore hatch - now I won't have to.
AWESOME!!I finally had something hatch from my incubating ooths that wasn't a parasitic wasp! I noticed the new nymphs around 6 pm yesterday (Sunday Jan 4), and in a strange coincidence about 4 hours later my first (and only till then) mantis Susanna was dying. She died shortly after midnight, here is the post about Susanna.
The ooth that hatched was one I found outside on the wooden fence running along my carport area. It was a Stagmomantis carolina ooth, and had some damage. Under a close inspection (USB microscope) it showed a few mites inside the damaged area. Here is the original topic about the ooth.
It took 44 days of incubating, after 3 weeks of natural freezing/wintering diapause, to hatch the ooth.
As I know fruit flies can escape through the screen mesh, heck Hydei ones can eventually let alone the Melanogaster which I must feed the nymphs - What is a good additional screen mesh/cover to use to keep the fruit flies in? I seen someone mention pantyhose so if nothing else I'll try that.
I was inspecting my incubating containers as I do several times a day, and rotating/watering as needed, I discovered several tiny Carolina nymphs all over the inside walls of one of the containers.
I immediately hurried to finish the new habitat I was building for any hatched nymphs, the final walls were left to add. It is a 35 pound (5 gallon?) jug that holds frying oil for restaurant use. It measures (inside where the mantis is) roughly 13" x 9" x 10". I found the plastic is a bit thin (that's why they have it in a box with the lid area cut out), but works fine. Inside is lined completely with screen mesh, has a top and bottom feeding tube, and a large 5" screw lid for access inside.
The nymph home has a thin layer of coconut fiber (Plantation Soil) to help with humidity and a place for the Springtails to live - as I read nymphs eat them as well (confirmed) and as they help keep the tank clean.
A rough count of the nymphs once they were in their new home and calmed down, counting each wall quickly, I counted 68, just short of 70. Also after removing the crimped paper substrate from the incubation container I found 3 that died during hatching (mis-molts).
Ooth #10 (the chamber has 2 ooths and is the one on top) hatched 4 more wasps which were killed during the nymph transfer too. Thankfully the nearly hatched wasps are unable to fly, making it easy to dispose of them.
Watching the new nymphs I saw one of the baby mantises twist it's head staring at a Springtail, then it grabbed and ate it. Seems the new mantises are just like the adults and are ready to go.
The photos below are of the newly hatched Carolina nymphs from discovery to in their new home. Too bad the one photo didn't get focus on the nymphs on the branch as it was a funny sight to see so many mantises lined up under it - I thought it was worth including anyway.
Wow that's an incredible shot of the nymph, up close!
Haha I also find it funny, how all the nymphs line up, or gather together in the same area. So alike they are!
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks, I hope to get some more shots soon.
Lately their favorite spot has to be on the habitat lid - seems if one goes to another area the others often follow soon afterwards.
The nymphs sure do
I also had one more hatch yesterday. Third day in a row now only one more hatched, wonder how long this will keep going
Last edited by a moderator:
Lol they are siblings after all! Before i separated mine theyd be in a big groupThanks, I hope to get some more shots soon.
Lately their favorite spot has to be on the habitat lid - seems if one goes to another area the others often follow soon afterwards.
PrayingMantisPets
Well-known member
Beautiful!
how r the babies doing?
if u have too many extras when they reach L4 or so let us know
if u have too many extras when they reach L4 or so let us know
LAME
Tenodera sinensis (the one and only)
LOL
my man Cosby's swimming in a sea of nymphs at the moment. With as many ooths as this guys currently got in stock he should be LOADED with stagmos.
my man Cosby's swimming in a sea of nymphs at the moment. With as many ooths as this guys currently got in stock he should be LOADED with stagmos.
I put together some nymphs cups for individual nymphs - and they seem to like them. The nymphs are so small though I had one escape from the feeding hole and had to be careful and coax him back into his cup.
Here is a GIF I did showing the various steps of the cups I made - don't worry it will only loop so many times and stop so it isn't overly annoying (click the image to show the animation if it isn't showing for you). I hate that the cups are black, but with the lids and mesh there is no shortage of light as I have a fluorescent overhead light running the length of my shelf.
From the estimated 80 to 90 nymphs that hatched I have 14 in cups. One though is not going to make it as it has two bad walking legs that are dragged straight behind him. From what I can find from reading, I found that a estimated 15% to 25% survive. If that is true my survival rate with this round is about right at 16% to 18%.
I have to ask will more survive if put straight into individual cups? As it seems such a shame to loose so many babies, if I can avoid it.
I learned quite a bit and should do much better with future hatches. Looking at my mantis log, I should have more ooths ready to hatch in about 2 weeks.
Here is a GIF I did showing the various steps of the cups I made - don't worry it will only loop so many times and stop so it isn't overly annoying (click the image to show the animation if it isn't showing for you). I hate that the cups are black, but with the lids and mesh there is no shortage of light as I have a fluorescent overhead light running the length of my shelf.
I got them transferred to individual cups (with coconut substrate, branch perch, mesh lid, and feeding hole with sponge). They are happily eating flies and hanging from their lids.how r the babies doing?
if u have too many extras when they reach L4 or so let us know
From the estimated 80 to 90 nymphs that hatched I have 14 in cups. One though is not going to make it as it has two bad walking legs that are dragged straight behind him. From what I can find from reading, I found that a estimated 15% to 25% survive. If that is true my survival rate with this round is about right at 16% to 18%.
I have to ask will more survive if put straight into individual cups? As it seems such a shame to loose so many babies, if I can avoid it.
I got a low tide at the moment; however, with 4 known fertilized ooths, and 8 that are unknown, all unhatched - I imagine that low tide won't last long.LOL
my man Cosby's swimming in a sea of nymphs at the moment. With as many ooths as this guys currently got in stock he should be LOADED with stagmos.
I learned quite a bit and should do much better with future hatches. Looking at my mantis log, I should have more ooths ready to hatch in about 2 weeks.
Last edited by a moderator:
Great set up for the nymphs!I put together some nymphs cups for individual nymphs - and they seem to like them. The nymphs are so small though I had one escape from the feeding hole and had to be careful and coax him back into his cup.
Here is a GIF I did showing the various steps of the cups I made - don't worry it will only loop so many times and stop so it isn't overly annoying (click the image to show the animation if it isn't showing for you). I hate that the cups are black, but with the lids and mesh there is no shortage of light as I have a fluorescent overhead light running the length of my shelf.
I got them transferred to individual cups (with coconut substrate, branch perch, mesh lid, and feeding hole with sponge). They are happily eating flies and hanging from their lids.
From the estimated 80 to 90 nymphs that hatched I have 14 in cups. One though is not going to make it as it has two bad walking legs that are dragged straight behind him. From what I can find from reading, I found that a estimated 15% to 25% survive. If that is true my survival rate with this round is about right at 16% to 18%.
I have to ask will more survive if put straight into individual cups? As it seems such a shame to loose so many babies, if I can avoid it.
I got a low tide at the moment; however, with 4 known fertilized ooths, and 8 that are unknown, all unhatched - I imagine that low tide won't last long.
I learned quite a bit and should do much better with future hatches. Looking at my mantis log, I should have more ooths ready to hatch in about 2 weeks.
Yes more will survive if they are separated. Ive had not a single death since transferring them (the only deaths that came about were mismolts when hatching).
Youre doing better than I did with my first hatch!
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks, I attached some more photos of the cups with the mantises inside (one a close-up with the mantises in the center of their cups and one of all the cups). I kept thinking the cups were too small at first, but after putting them inside, it is obvious how huge the 3.25 ounce cups are to them at L1.
That's what I was thinking too of separating them straight to cups - and next time I will.
Last edited by a moderator:
Awesome! I like how you got a poster on the wall there, behind them all. Id done that before but now am using that background for my sensitive frog. Haha its true, theyre so small, even sauce cups seem big for them! I use cups intended for jello shots, LOL.Thanks, I attached some more photos of the cups with the mantises inside (one a close-up with the mantises in the center of their cups and one of all the cups). I kept thinking the cups were too small at first, but after putting them inside, it is obvious how huge the 3.25 ounce cups are to them at L1.
That's what I was thinking too of separating them straight to cups - and next time I will.
Last edited by a moderator:
I figured the background would be better than a plain wall. It is a aquarium one I bought from the pet store for Susanna, it's about 24" tall and 4'+ long (a few inches longer than my self on both ends) - it's a wood forest scene.
That is for sure they are so dang tiny, and when they crawled around on me during the transfers I had to look to tell where they were.
Your right, but what has me worried if anything is two more ooths will be hatching soon (another week or two). If I put them into individual cups from the start I got to make 100+ more of those small cups too.
Last edited by a moderator:
Six of the nymphs that hatched January 4th molted today. I was watering/misting them and noticed one seemed much larger, nearly double in size. A closer look and I found a shed exoskeleton and it became obvious. Later on in the day I also got to witness one of the nymphs in the final stages of pulling itself free of the old L1 shed.
Here are images of the shed exoskeleton from the new larger nymph - their first molt and mine as well
Here are images of the shed exoskeleton from the new larger nymph - their first molt and mine as well
Last edited by a moderator:
