ootheca blackness?

[ethanblaze1017]

I just received 5 ooths from Poland. 4 of the five seem to have a blackness between the ootheca segments. It scares me... They're dry, to be expected with this journey, but does this mean That the nymphs tried to emerge and got caught inside because of the lack of humidity? That was my original thought.. Please let me know

 

[CosbyArt]

Depends on the species if there is any black coloration (as some do have black around the hatch area of the ooth); however, even if the ooth dried out, some mantids may still hatch. In regards to nymphs being stuck it is much more likely there would be a at least a few that can be identified as nymphs and not just coloration. If you post a photo that would help.

I've talked with one other member here that bought some from overseas and feared the worse too, but after letting them incubate they did indeed hatch.

 

[Sticky]

Who did you buy from?

 

[ethanblaze1017]

Thanks Thomas so much for the info! And sticky, I'd prefer not to say his name, Just because his future customers may take this as something negative, which it ABSOLOUTLY IS NOT. He's a very reputable breeder who I've done multiple deals with and will continue to deal with. Everything he sends is packed extremely well. This one was USPS's problem . the package sat in customers for 5 days which was ridiculous . and it's all in the risk of having ooths imported. But long story short, he's just an excellent breeder based out of Poland.

 

[CosbyArt]

Your welcome, and below is a ooth chart I found online at bugnation, photo credit to yen_saw (I enlarged and sharpened it to make it more readable). In it you can see several ooths have black on them too.

Ha, it was the seller I was thinking and is a popular and great seller. There is also another seller from Malaysia that is popular too for overseas shipments.

Sorry to hear your package got delayed so long in customs. Seems they either get sent right out almost (24 hours or less) or sit there for nearly a week - guess it depends on their workload and if your package gets flagged. Best of luck with incubating, surely you will get a few nymphs at least, and let us know the outcome.

 

[ethanblaze1017]

Ah the ooths do seem to have a small amount of blackNess. When I'm home from work I'll send you pictures thomas. And Just saying, I only have good things to say about the polish breeder. But I know the exact Malaysian dealer that you're talking about and I've had a God awful experience with him... No names mentioned of course

 

[ethanblaze1017]

And thanks for the photo you posted. Super helpful !