Ootheca Questions / Curiosity

[lectricblueyes]

I've had my Ootheca for a little over a week now and just have a few questions.

1. Will the Ootheca feel heavier when it gets closer to the hatching time?

2. Will I see movement or hear anything coming from it days/hours/minutes before they hatch? Any signs to look out for?

3. Will the ootheca appear any differently?

4. How do they get out of the shell? Eat? Scratch?

5. What's going on in there? Anyone have a picture of the inside? I'm so curious!

Thanks!!!

 

[PhilinYuma]

I think that it would be great for six different people to each answer one of your questions. Here's the answer to #1: No.

Think about it. The formation of the nymphs in their eggs comes from reorganization of cells, not the creation of new ones out of nothing. The situation is different in placental mamals, of course.

When they do hatch, you will find that you cannot feel any "weight" even if you hold all of the nymphs in yr hand at once (though they won't let you! ).

Still, interesting question!

The waiting is driving you nuts, isn't it? :lol:

 

[Rick]

No to all your questions. They just kind of worm their way out through that area on the top that looks like a line or a zipper as some people call it. They will then drop down on a thread and basically molt. They may hang there awhile before crawling away.

 

[Katnapper]

I've had my Ootheca for a little over a week now and just have a few questions.1. Will the Ootheca feel heavier when it gets closer to the hatching time? No.

2. Will I see movement or hear anything coming from it days/hours/minutes before they hatch? Any signs to look out for? No.

3. Will the ootheca appear any differently? No.

4. How do they get out of the shell? Eat? Scratch? No and no. Not sure about the exact mechanism of hatching, but Rick described it pretty darn good.

5. What's going on in there? Anyone have a picture of the inside? I'm so curious! They are developing from eggs to larvae in preparation to hatch when it's time. Don't have a pic, but don't cut it open to see (will kill some, possibly all nymphs inside)! All you can do is try to control yourself and wait. A great thing to do would be to research extensively on mantids and mantis keeping in general, and the specific species you currently have or intend to keep! This fills up oodles of time, and will make the waiting more bearable and you a better mantis keeper!

Thanks!!!

 

[PhilinYuma]

A great thing to do would be to research extensively on mantids and mantis keeping in general, and the specific species you currently have or intend to keep! This fills up oodles of time, and will make the waiting more bearable and you a better mantis keeper!

Good idea, Katt, and since I haven't mention it before, this month, a good place to start is with Orin's book: Praying Mantids Keeping Aliens. It's comprehensive, inepensive, and you will find it at

http://www.elytraandantenna.com

 

[kamakiri]

4. How do they get out of the shell? Eat? Scratch?5. What's going on in there? Anyone have a picture of the inside? I'm so curious!

Thanks!!!

:lol: Yeah, 'No' to all the first four questions.

I could take some pictures of a hatched one opened up...

And for pictures of the hatching itself there are many examples in the mantis photo forum below.

But having opened live egg cases before, in early development, the individual eggs are usually a light yellow goo...much like chiken egg yolk but lighter colored and translucent.

I've also seen late phase embryos about a week prior to hatching and they basically look like the emerging nymphs, but stuffed in a miniature condom. (please edit if that's too adult a description) ...maybe long, clear balloon?

Infertile dead eggs harden like chicken egg yolk on a hot sidewalk...

 

[lectricblueyes]

Good idea, Katt, and since I haven't mention it before, this month, a good place to start is with Orin's book: Praying Mantids Keeping Aliens. It's comprehensive, inepensive, and you will find it athttp://www.elytraandantenna.com

Got it!

Thanks everyone for answering the questions event he dumb one(s)! lol

 

[hibiscusmile]

Hey Lectric, some people say that an ooth will darken when getting close to hatching time, I think it is just with age, u know like old people get those spots on their arms :mellow: . Not me of course, but some people. So a whole week, wow, I hope you make it! ps btw, I was spraying ooths of the boxer today and the one had a tiny pinhead size baby running around on the lid, it was so cute, I felt sorry for it when it took off and was running away, looked lost poor little fella!

 

[Katnapper]

PS.... Just so you know.... here's a tidbit about the scientific name of this species by Christian, a most knowledgeable and highly respected entomologist who happens to belong to our forum:

Tenodera aridifolia sinensis is WRONG, because it is outdated.T. sinensis is right. It was treated as a subspecies of T. aridifolia for a long time, but this was an error, as both species are as different as T. sinensis and T. angustipennis are, for instance.

The confusion only arose because this species was often used in scientific studies whose authors, being not taxonomists, used this name (T. a. sinensis) for decades, although it was corrected by taxonomy much earlier.

T. aridifolia is, of course, closely related (otherwise there would be no confusion), but distributed more in the tropics, while T. sinensis is its subtropical and temperate counterpart. The distribution in N-America is of no importance in this regard, as it was introduced there.

[Christian] - http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?sh...amp;#entry75856

 

[lectricblueyes]

Hey Lectric, some people say that an ooth will darken when getting close to hatching time, I think it is just with age, u know like old people get those spots on their arms :mellow: . Not me of course, but some people. So a whole week, wow, I hope you make it! ps btw, I was spraying ooths of the boxer today and the one had a tiny pinhead size baby running around on the lid, it was so cute, I felt sorry for it when it took off and was running away, looked lost poor little fella!

lol Well, it's still super-glued to the roof of the enclosure. It's only been 9 days since I got it in the mail. I'm busy with my 7 new nymphs thanks to Katnapper Also, today I ordered that stuff from your place. I'm excited!

 

[lectricblueyes]

PS.... Just so you know.... here's a tidbit about the scientific name of this species by Christian, a most knowledgeable and highly respected entomologist who happens to belong to our forum:[Christian] - http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?sh...amp;#entry75856

This guy knows his stuff! Interesting bit of history. They were named wrong by the people who sold me the Ooth which was a green nursery.

 

[Rick]

Hows the waiting going? I predict 14 days.

 

[lectricblueyes]

Hows the waiting going? I predict 14 days.

I'm so funny, I check that Ootheca RIGHT when I get home. I barely set my keys down. So far, nothing yet. I don't know the real age of the ootheca so it might be hard to determine. I got it from Green Methods. (GreenMethods.com) I think they keep them in the fridge. I got it on the 17th. It's been at room temperature for 10 days. For a few hours a day, I bump it up to 80-90 degrees with a heat lamp. I'm not consistent with this though, most days it's just 65-75.

We will see! 14 would be cool

 

[Katnapper]

I'm so funny, I check that Ootheca RIGHT when I get home. I barely set my keys down. So far, nothing yet.

:lol: Don't worry... we know the feeling, lol.

14 would be cool

But don't hold your breath while you're waiting!

 

[lectricblueyes]

:lol: Don't worry... we know the feeling, lol. But don't hold your breath while you're waiting!

lol for sure, the instructions that came with it say "Allow up to 14 weeks"!!

 

[Rick]

I'm so funny, I check that Ootheca RIGHT when I get home. I barely set my keys down. So far, nothing yet. I don't know the real age of the ootheca so it might be hard to determine. I got it from Green Methods. (GreenMethods.com) I think they keep them in the fridge. I got it on the 17th. It's been at room temperature for 10 days. For a few hours a day, I bump it up to 80-90 degrees with a heat lamp. I'm not consistent with this though, most days it's just 65-75. We will see! 14 would be cool

Heat lamps are the easiest way to fry an ooth. I would just leave it at room temps. I have never used an external heat source on any ooth but I do keep my mantids in the warmest room. This room houses computers so it is a little warmer than the other parts of the house.

 

[bassist]

This guy knows his stuff! Interesting bit of history. They were named wrong by the people who sold me the Ooth which was a green nursery.

Named wrong by a lot of people it's kinda a pet peeve for me now.

 

[Katnapper]

Named wrong by a lot of people it's kinda a pet peeve for me now.

Ya, Tommy... I pretty sure it was your post about it in a different recent thread that gave me the link to Christian's post. Probably couldn't have found it if it weren't for you! I've got it copied and bookmarked for reference now though, lol. :lol: