Phantom Pregnancy

[TheTranquilEye]

Hi all

I woke up this morning to find my unmated female Sphrodromantis Linolea had started laying an ooth.

Is this normal?

 

[CosbyArt]

@TheTranquilEye Yes, all adult mantid females lay ooths if they mated or not.

 

[TheTranquilEye]

@TheTranquilEye Yes, all adult mantid females lay ooths if they mated or not.

Everyday's a schoolday! I've never heard that before and I thought I'd done some serious reading up.

I thought she was acting weirdly over the last few days. She kept falling off the roof and being very agitated.

I think now that her gigantic abdomen was the cause. Hopefully she'll have a bit of relief!

 

[CosbyArt]

Everyday's a schoolday! I've never heard that before and I thought I'd done some serious reading up.

I thought she was acting weirdly over the last few days. She kept falling off the roof and being very agitated.

I think now that her gigantic abdomen was the cause. Hopefully she'll have a bit of relief!

That it is, not everything is easy to find even if searched for. She will be tired from the strain/remarkable effort of laying her ooth, and she will be quite hungry. Feed her as much as she wants today, and it will help her return to normal soon (at least until she starts on her next ooth).

The agitation was most probably her preparing for the final event, as they prefer to be left alone the day of two especially leading up to the laying process. Also some females can be rather protective of their laid ooths, so it could have been her motherly instincts already as well.

Her falling though is a concern, even more so when she is gravid (pregnant) as she can be injured much easier during that time due to her enlarged abdomen. I would suggest changing or adding material on her lid to offer her better grip. For example plastic/fiberglass mesh typically works great, but some can require a bit more and the "rubber" shelf/drawer liner material is the best.

 

[TheTranquilEye]

That it is, not everything is easy to find even if searched for. She will be tired from the strain/remarkable effort of laying her ooth, and she will be quite hungry. Feed her as much as she wants today, and it will help her return to normal soon (at least until she starts on her next ooth).

The agitation was most probably her preparing for the final event, as they prefer to be left alone the day of two especially leading up to the laying process. Also some females can be rather protective of their laid ooths, so it could have been her motherly instincts already as well.

Her falling though is a concern, even more so when she is gravid (pregnant) as she can be injured much easier during that time due to her enlarged abdomen. I would suggest changing or adding material on her lid to offer her better grip. For example plastic/fiberglass mesh typically works great, but some can require a bit more and the "rubber" shelf/drawer liner material is the best.

All good advice there, thank you.. She's in a Exo Terra Nano and stays on the lid mostly. That about as 'grippable' as anything.

Luckily, she's not hurt herself yet, there's a good layer of vermiculate on the floor, so that probably helped.

I shall endeavour to tempt her with a waxworm and crickets later then, with a honey dessert!

 

[CosbyArt]

All good advice there, thank you.. She's in a Exo Terra Nano and stays on the lid mostly. That about as 'grippable' as anything.

Luckily, she's not hurt herself yet, there's a good layer of vermiculate on the floor, so that probably helped.

I shall endeavour to tempt her with a waxworm and crickets later then, with a honey dessert!

That is the second recommendation was to suggest some floor substrate for padding. Looks like you have her setup the best possible, perhaps she is just a bit clumsy.

Sounds good, and I imagine she will really enjoy the feast.

 

[TheTranquilEye]

That is the second recommendation was to suggest some floor substrate for padding. Looks like you have her setup the best possible, perhaps she is just a bit clumsy.

Sounds good, and I imagine she will really enjoy the feast.

She's all good now. Much, much thinner and absolutely ravenous. She chomped her way through two waxworms and a cricket in no seconds flat.

Out of curiousity, I cut open the ooth to see what they are like and I have to say, the design is quite breathtakingly complex. How they do that with two little appendages (I'm sure they have a technical name but can't be bothered to look it up right now) and some 'foam'. Isn't nature wonderful?

 

[CosbyArt]

She's all good now. Much, much thinner and absolutely ravenous. She chomped her way through two waxworms and a cricket in no seconds flat.

Out of curiousity, I cut open the ooth to see what they are like and I have to say, the design is quite breathtakingly complex. How they do that with two little appendages (I'm sure they have a technical name but can't be bothered to look it up right now) and some 'foam'. Isn't nature wonderful?

Glad to hear she enjoyed her feast and is back to normal. :clap:

The two appendages are called cercus/cerci. The internal structure of a ooth is truly amazing. I have some photos with my USB microscope in my topic here related to parasitic wasps, and the wasps themselves here. It would be interesting to see some various ooths opened up and displayed that way, perhaps another project, as I never have enough time now.