Ooth attached to plastic cage!

[cloud jaguar]

One of our S. Limbatas just laid an ooth at the corner of her plastic home, right on the clear wall. The enclosure is a clear plastic hermit crab habitat. I guess she liked that spot best, despite the pleathora of real and fake twigs in her enclosure. The thing is, the zipper on the ooth is facing straight out - parallel to the floor of the enclosure, not straight down. I suspect this is bad for nymphs and they will die emerging - should i be concerned? Better yet, how do i get the ooth off the enclosure without destroying it? it is right in the rounded corner. I am thinking that a razor will probably destroy the cage if i scrape it.

Thanks for ideas.

 

[Rick]

The opening can be facing to the side and they will emerge just fine so that is not a concern. My concern would be allowing it to hatch in there because many of those type containers have large vents on top which will allow the nymphs to escape and their fruit fly food will for sure get out. Let it dry for several days and use a hobby know of something to remove it. Often they can just be pried off.

 

[mrblue]

you probably mean perpendicular to the floor as opposed to parrallel, which like rick says is fine for hatching. maybe i havent had enough ooths laid but i have never had one layed that wasnt in an ok position to hatch (maybe some are in less than ideal places but they will still hatch ok). also if you just leave it to dry a few days and the surface it was laid on is smooth enough then you should just be able to pull/push/pry it off with ease.

 

[darkspeed]

The value of the ooth greatly outweighs that of the habitat. I say cutting habitat out around the ooth and then transplanting it into a more secure nymph container is the best idea the ooth.

 

[Rick]

The value of the ooth greatly outweighs that of the habitat. I say cutting habitat out around the ooth and then transplanting it into a more secure nymph container is the best idea the ooth.

I usually just pry them off after they are nice and dry. They come off plastic very easy. You try cutting that plastic cage around the ooth and you will damage the ooth too. Would be pretty silly to do that.

 

[darkspeed]

I was thinking along the lines of at least a 1 inch circle around the ooth... not close enough to the ooth to cut it. But yeah, if you can pry them off without damaging them go for it. I did that with my P.O. ootheca that were laid on the side of a plastic plant. Since the plant was flexable they popped right off. However only one of the 6 ootheca hatched, and it could have been for that very reason, so I'm kinda wary of messin with ootheca now.

 

[mrblue]

I was thinking along the lines of at least a 1 inch circle around the ooth... not close enough to the ooth to cut it. But yeah, if you can pry them off without damaging them go for it. I did that with my P.O. ootheca that were laid on the side of a plastic plant. Since the plant was flexable they popped right off. However only one of the 6 ootheca hatched, and it could have been for that very reason, so I'm kinda wary of messin with ootheca now.

hard to say for sure but i really doubt it was for that reason, they are made to give good protection to the eggs inside and will withstand a surprising amount of rough handling. my p.o ooths this generation have been laid on twigs, branches, plastic, even mesh and i have pried them all off and then restuck them elsewhere, all have hatched fine. i agree with rick that cutting the plastic would be overkill. there is really no need, the ooth will just pop off a smooth surface like plastic.

 

[cloud jaguar]

Good news! The ooth, laid in the rounded corner of the plastic cage, shrunk away from the corner as it dried. Today i accidentally brushed the ooth with my hand as I cleaned the mantids cage and it just popped off the side of the plastic enclosure. This is especially good news as I have just finished planting a Mantid Garden with my wife for next spring (see separate post in housing sub forum).

Our plan is to use low heat glue gun and attach this ooth with the zipper facing down onto a 3" x3" piece of wood to protect it from rain, and attach it to a stick at the center of our 14" Mantid Garden. Any additional ooths laid by our S. Limbatas will also end up in this garden.

In "Praying Mantids - Keeping Aliens" it talks about Mantid Garden and that most US domestic mantid types can remain together in the same garden because of different hatching times and because they inhabit different parts of plants and flowers.

Does anyone know, is that also true of Stagmomantis Limbata and European mantis that they can coextist in same garden? Thanks.

Arkanis

 

[darkspeed]

In a large environment like your garden the ability to coexist lies in the much much lower chance of them running into one another once they hatch. By the slim chance that they do run into one another, they still arent going to be friendly about it and one will still most likely become the other's lunch.

 

[Rick]

Good news! The ooth, laid in the rounded corner of the plastic cage, shrunk away from the corner as it dried. Today i accidentally brushed the ooth with my hand as I cleaned the mantids cage and it just popped off the side of the plastic enclosure. This is especially good news as I have just finished planting a Mantid Garden with my wife for next spring (see separate post in housing sub forum). Our plan is to use low heat glue gun and attach this ooth with the zipper facing down onto a 3" x3" piece of wood to protect it from rain, and attach it to a stick at the center of our 14" Mantid Garden. Any additional ooths laid by our S. Limbatas will also end up in this garden.

In "Praying Mantids - Keeping Aliens" it talks about Mantid Garden and that most US domestic mantid types can remain together in the same garden because of different hatching times and because they inhabit different parts of plants and flowers.

Does anyone know, is that also true of Stagmomantis Limbata and European mantis that they can coextist in same garden? Thanks.

Arkanis

I replied about your mantis garden in the other thread. I honestly think it will be a dissappointment. I love the idea but the areas that have the most mantids are those weedy meadows, overgrown lots, fencelines, etc. These places are full of food insects like grasshoppers. I don't think it will work as well in a garden. Mantids can be at any place in a plant. If they are in the same area the larger ones will eat the smaller species. They also mostly hatch at the same time. There is a limited warm season in temperate climates for them to grow, reproduce, and produce ootheca.

 

[Orin]

I know people who have done quite well with their mantis gardens and others who've had poor results (mantis gardens look more like a tiny field than a shrub garden and the wrong plants can ensure defeat). Adequate planning and understanding are key but of course nature is not easily controlled.

 

[darkspeed]

I dont know if the S. Limbata needs a diapause or not , but I assume you are planning on hatching them out in the spring. How does one keep a ooth from hatching without doing it permenantly. At any rate you could always go the extra mile to introduce more insects to your garden. by going and capturing insects and taking them back, or buying feeder insects like flies and whatnot. The problem is keeping them there. If the feeder insects leave, the mantids will most likely follow them to "greener pastures".

 

[MantidLord]

Some species have been known to coexist. I. oratoria and S. limbata coexist fine. And a friend of mine found a green budwing, M. religiosa, and a Stagmomantis spp. right in his backyard. I do agree that overgrown lots have the best populations, as that's where I find most of mine.