My first mantids

[Moosashi]

so, after finding 2 carolina ooths in my girlfriend's yard, keeping one in the fridge for about 2 and a half weeks (I got impatient), and incubating it for 7 weeks, 4 carolina mantids hatched from the ooth this morning while I was in class!! The little tan nymphs are so cute and tiny, they follow me and the fruit flies with their little heads, pivoting whenever movement is detected. So, what is the protocol to follow when caring for newly hatched nymphs of this species? The four are moving around in the cup, running really fast when excited and such. I misted the cup with some water and some of them went to the drops and drank from them. However, they're ignoring the drosophila melanogasters I introduced, so I'm guessing they are not ready to eat yet? (I'll get some pictures as soon as my batteries charge).

 

[hibiscusmile]

wow, by tomorrow sometime they will eat a little, water is what they need first. the nymphs are always thirsty. so about 48 hrs they start to eat, some a little sooner, some later. good job!

 

[Moosashi]

thanks for the advice Still waiting for the Religiosa ooth to hatch but it does look kinda bulgy in places unless that's my imagination, probably is since people say you can't tell when they'll hatch.( I guess the administrators should maybe move this to the nymph care section, since I listed it under just general mantids thinking because it was a personal story I should list it in general mantid, but then I started asking for advice so this probably belongs in the nymph care section.) Those little guys are so cute, the way they sit on my finger and dance and sway as I play with them, wiggling my other finger in the air around them. :lol:

 

[Hypoponera]

About how large was the ooth? 4 nymphs seems kinda on the low side. I would have expected a greater number to hatch out. Don't throw out the ooth as there may be some more nymphs hatching over the next several days! You should be able to keep all the nymphs in a small tank until they molt a few times. That makes care a bit easier at first. You mist the tank and dump in a load of fruit flies.

 

[Andrew]

Four nymphs is a ridiculously small number. Keep the ooth, it should hatch much more than that.

 

[Moosashi]

yeah I think it will, because the zipper whitish part in the middle of it hasn't even begun unraveling, if that's any indication. It was infested with about 30 parasitic wasps that have continuously hatched out over the weeks, but today the 4 mantid nymphs finally emerged, and I think there will be more. It's a normal sized ooth I think. I have two and they're about the same size.

 

[macro junkie]

It was infested with about 30 parasitic wasps that have continuously hatched out over the weeks, but today the 4 mantid nymphs finally emerged, and I think there will be more. It's a normal sized ooth I think. I have two and they're about the same size.

dont be so sure..if 30 parasitic wasps have emerged fomr the ooth my guees is the eggs have been eating allready

 

[Rick]

Just remember that the nymphs are very fragile and many die for no obvious reason. Just don't want you to get too upset if you lose the four.

 

[Orin]

99% of the time (with exception of Brunneria) if a couple nymphs hatch and the rest don't hatch within 48 hours you'll never see another nymph.

 

[Moosashi]

update: this morning at 10:22 A.M. more mantids began hatching and I got to see about 10 hatch before leaving for class, and when I got home I see there are at least 20 in there, can't count them as they move fast and often. Mantids galore!!

 

[Moosashi]

saw one of them hit a fruit fly trying to snag it, but the fly just bounced off and fell. Guess the mantids are a little uncoordinated at first? when should I start worrying if they don't seem to be eating?

 

[obregon562]

even my big mantids occasionaly miss targets. I laugh at them; it reminds me of when i miss my mouth while eating. :lol:

Dont worry about eating/not eating. If they want to die of starvation, so be it. Dont mess with my mantid gene pool!

...Darwin at it's finest...

If at all possible, i would seperate all the little guys into a few (2-3) containers so you dont have to worry about cannabalism later on. It's easier when they are smaller.

 

[sk8erkho]

Cool, Moosashi!! You are really going to enjoy your new little dudes or dudettes!! We were left with 6 (SIX) ooths from a Chinese female my nephew rescued last September of 2006!! It was because of these ooths that I joined this forum and the advice from forum members has brought me all the way to this point were I have purchase others. But, when those ooths are finished hatching you'll enjoy those little guys running and jumping around like crazy! When our ooths hatched they were in a 5 gal. fish tank complete with substrate, leaves, twigs and we lined the walls of the tank with mesh so they could grip better. My nephews and I sat for hours (over time) watching them snag each other of their perches and food. :angry: They jump from place to place and it's sometimes hilarious what they do. Each ooth yielded us at least 100-150 nymphs so you can imagine what that must have been like!! When the cannibalism set in although it was kind of sad some of it was also funny to watch. Like one or two would decide on who the next victim would be and then one would go for the kill. During the fight you could look around and see others watching and then one would get bold enough to jump in and either attack the attacker or try to steal his food. Some mornings we would come to spray them to find the little bodies still clinging to the mesh or twigs minus a head. :blink: There would be body parts all over the tank. But, just as in nature it was survival of the fittest! Sad but true. Anyway, good luck with them and take the advice of the members here, man. They helped me through some of the toughest times with my babies!!!

Good luck and ,

Cheers! :lol:

 

[Moosashi]

Another update: At 10:16 AM, about 18 more mantids hatched today.Got to see some of the older ones eat their first fruit flies, woot! thanks for all the advice, everyone.

 

[Giosan]

...it was also funny to watch. Like one or two would decide on who the next victim would be and then one would go for the kill. During the fight you could look around and see others watching and then one would get bold enough to jump in and either attack the attacker or try to steal his food.

lol that sounds both sad and funny, I hope I can experience that some time

 

[macro junkie]

99% of the time (with exception of Brunneria) if a couple nymphs hatch and the rest don't hatch within 48 hours you'll never see another nymph.

ok there might be luck for me yet then..cant see it tho..man this dont make sense..3 flowermantis nympths hatch and no more?i dont get it..conditions are perfect

 

[hibiscusmile]

lol that sounds both sad and funny, I hope I can experience that some time

You will!

 

[Moosashi]

many of my mantids have molted to L2 now. Man are they cool-looking when they first moult or what! They go from being brown with greenish arms and green/brown abdomen to having a bluish green head, legs and arms. Then they harden off so that they're mainly brown with alternating green on the legs,etc.

Oh! and one of my L2 mantids extremely delighted me today with such a lovely display of savagery as I could not foresee! One of the bigger mantids was hanging from the cup lid and chomping on a melanogaster when another fly started running around the mantid. He stopped eating, still holding the fly in one claw and started watching the annoying second fly zipping around him. He started to do the little trembly vibrational tactic they perform when they're inching their way closer to potential prey. Because he was currently eating a fly and had simplly paused to glare at the second fly, when he drew up his claws and crouched, I thought he was going to only hit the second fly and knock it to the bottom of the cup so he could eat in peace. However, what he did that surprised me so much was that he, while holding the first fly in his right claw, struck out and caught the second fly with his left!! He then proceeded to finish his first fly off while the second squirmed and kicked its legs in the air futilely in his left claw. After finishing the first fly, he began tearing into the second and actually finished it off.

I was both surprised at his new trick and amazed that he could eat so much at once, lol. I hope to see more of this behavior. It'll be really cool too if they get big enough to catch a Hydei in each hand, woot!

 

[MantidLord]

Any update on your mantids?