OMG I think my grass mantis laid an ooth!

[nursemelody]

She was captured from my backyard and I've been taking care of her for a few months... I only ever saw 2 molts.... and I saw a tiny oothlike thing, and looked online, and sure enough their ooth are tiny like! Do you think there's a chance it's fertile?

 

[Mr.Mantid]

Was she mated? If you caught her in the wild and she molted a few times she wouldn't be able to mate until adult. I doubt that it's fertile. There may be a chance that it might hatch due to parthenogenesis, but I'm not sure if this species of mantis does that and even if it did, it would probably be weak and die.

 

[dgerndt]

Was she mated? If you caught her in the wild and she molted a few times she wouldn't be able to mate until adult. I doubt that it's fertile. There may be a chance that it might hatch due to parthenogenesis, but I'm not sure if this species of mantis does that and even if it did, it would probably be weak and die.

Don't be such a Deby Downer! I had a female Egyptian mantis lay a parthenogenetic ooth, which later hatched, and one of her nymphs is still alive and growing. She's currently at L5.

 

[patrickfraser]

Don't be such a Deby Downer! I had a female Egyptian mantis lay a parthenogenetic ooth, which later hatched, and one of her nymphs is still alive and growing. She's currently at L5.

"Deby Downer"?

My favourite is "negative, nay-saying Nancy"

 

[dgerndt]

@Scott: My parents used to call me a Deby Downer when I was little and I was crying or I didn't want to do something. I think it's from an SNL skit. I also use "Negative Nancy", but the first one is my favorite. :lol:

 

[GreenOasis]

I don't think this species is parthogenetic, but it couldn't hurt to try.

BTW, Deby...I've now had no less than *4* Mio ooths hatch parthogenetically for me! All from the same mother! I still have some 10 nymphs from the first ooth and a few here & there from the next couple ooths for a total of like, 20. AND, the one that just hatched a few days ago had ANOTHER 20 babies! They seem to survive best by only VERY lightly misting once a day. (Only like 1-2 squirts from an ultrafine mister!)

 

[dgerndt]

Congrats, Carey! None of my other mio ooths hatched, and I only have one surviving "clone" left. Good thing I didn't send them all to you, or you would've been very disappointed. :lol:

 

[nursemelody]

Well I looked it up and they are parthogenetic.... so the ooth might hatch... But amazingly today while gardening I found a male grass mantid.... I saw the antennae and the wing buds just as mentioned before.... Is there still a chance for her to mate with him.? It looks like he needs a couple more molts to be fully grown, but if she is still kicking when he is full grown, you think it might work, even though she already layed an ooth? I have them separate right now....but I wonder if I could get them to mate....?

 

[Mr.Mantid]

Doesn't hurt to try. You would probably have a better hatch rate if you mate them.

 

[nursemelody]

Do I need to wait until he is full grown to mate them?

 

[hibiscusmile]

Yes, he has to be of legal age!

 

[dgerndt]

Keep in mind that males are smaller than females!

 

[nursemelody]

Yeah but he only has wing "buds" and not full wings, so I think he is not fully grown... He seems maybe two molts away.

 

[dgerndt]

So I just went on a search for an old topic of yours about your grass mantid's molt, because I recall Yen saying something about genders and wings for this species. Eventually, I found it here. Just so you don't have to go look, I'll quote what he said here.

"Adult female Thesprotia graminis has no wing. If your mantis is longer than two and a half inches it is likely an adult. Adult male of this species has wing, if you see wing bud with longer antennae it is a male instead"

I hope this helps. He probably only has one more molt to go, like you said.

 

[nursemelody]

Yeah. I remember him saying that cause I went to go look for wing buds right after, and didnt see anything that remotely resembled that... So I figured it was a girl... The only reason I knew it was a boy this time was because of the little wing buds! Now I know what they look like!

She is full grown... and I think he is only a molt or two away... He's got the buds, but they are pretty short.... I wonder if the greater part of the wings don't appear until the last molt?

 

[dgerndt]

Yes, the full wings come in last. You can tell when a sub-adult mantis is nearing their final molt because their wing buds become very swollen. If you're lucky enough to watch the final molt, you can see the wings come out crumpled, then they unfold and dry out. It's a beautiful sight to see.