Some super-novice questions about hatching a tenodera sinensis ooth

[PaxALotl]

About 25 years ago, I had an ooth which I hatched out, let all the nymphs go except 1, and fed that one bugs we found around the yard and house. It grew up and was magnificent! Now I want to try again,  and hopefully to do ghosts and orchids. But, I have a tenodera sinensis coming and will start with that, since I think it's easy and a good species to get started with. I had a few things I was curious about:

1) I am in Denver, CO and if I'm understanding correctly, it will be OK to simply release the extra nymphs, keeping one to raise to adulthood. Is this correct? Since I only want 1,  when would be the best time to release all of the others? I mean, if I did that on day 1 and the one I kept didn't survive, that would be disappointing so I thought to maybe keep them all for a few days or weeks, then release the rest. Is there a rule of thumb or anything here?

2) I have seen the little nymphs and they are pretty quick!  If the ooth is going to hatch in a vented 32oz deli cup, how am I going to get the fruit flies in there for them to eat without having tons of them cruise out of the opening and take residence in my office?  I see that the wingless flies are easy to chill and then sort of pour in, but those little mantises are fast!  

3) The office where these guys will be is stable at 30 degrees humidity. Will it really be enough to mist the cup a few times a week, and have the coconut fiber substrate retain the moisture? Denver is so dry, and with the AC/heat running in the office much of the year, I'm worried these little guys will dry out.

Sorry if these simple questions have already been covered , I searched around but didn't find anything specific. 

thanks!!

 

[lovemymantisfriends]

Hi! 

1) I am in Denver, CO and if I'm understanding correctly, it will be OK to simply release the extra nymphs, keeping one to raise to adulthood. Is this correct? Since I only want 1,  when would be the best time to release all of the others? I mean, if I did that on day 1 and the one I kept didn't survive, that would be disappointing so I thought to maybe keep them all for a few days or weeks, then release the rest. Is there a rule of thumb or anything here?

It looks like you are able to release Chinese Mantids in Colorado, but they most likely will not survive the winter.  Based on this article, the European Mantis does well there:  https://extension.colostate.edu/docs/pubs/insect/05510.pdf.  I also recommend keeping a few, in separate cups, in case you have some that don't make it.  It is usually recommended to release/separate them within 48 hours or they will start cannibalizing, even with a good food supply. 

2) I have seen the little nymphs and they are pretty quick!  If the ooth is going to hatch in a vented 32oz deli cup, how am I going to get the fruit flies in there for them to eat without having tons of them cruise out of the opening and take residence in my office?  I see that the wingless flies are easy to chill and then sort of pour in, but those little mantises are fast!  

I would recommend separating the ones you would like to keep and release the rest.  From there, feeding and misting can be much easier.  Don't let those fruit flies fool you, they are quick and jump!  Transferring some to a cup with a lid or a cup with a thin layer of vaseline so they cant climb out helps a lot-it wont take long for them to warm up!  Tap the amount of fruit flies you want in each container.  

3) The office where these guys will be is stable at 30 degrees humidity. Will it really be enough to mist the cup a few times a week, and have the coconut fiber substrate retain the moisture? Denver is so dry, and with the AC/heat running in the office much of the year, I'm worried these little guys will dry out.

I mist the sides of my mantid cups daily.  I have a paper towel at the bottom of each of their cups instead of coconut substrate.  If you are not going to mist daily, at least mist more frequently close to molts.  

 

[Predatorhousepet]

1. Praying mantids commonly found in the wild in Colorado are the Carolina Mantis, California Mantis, European Mantis, Chinese Mantis and two species of Ground Mantis: Litaneutria minor &  Yersiniops solitarium. Only Carolina, California and the Ground mantises are native. European and Chinese are introduced species. Chinese are commonly sold for pest control in gardens but in reality they aren't much good for that purpose because they eat both pests & beneficial insects, they are only able to produce one generation per year so their numbers don't increase if there is an explosion of pest insects and they rarely survive the cold, dry winters in CO. So yes, you can technically release Chinese mantids but they will have a tough time establishing themselves in that environment...not necessarily a bad thing because they are not a true native species.

2. Once hatched into the 32 oz cup you will need to separate the nymphs into individual cups or they will cannibalize each other. The cups can start out small such as 4 oz or 8 oz cups when they are newly hatched then increase to 32 oz cups when they get larger. (A large portion of them will probably die off before you need to move them.) One nymph per cup is much easier to deal with than 50+ in one container.

3. You may need to mist as often as once or even twice a day, depending on how dry the air is and how fast the water evaporates. 30% humidity is much too dry for the Chinese mantis, you will need to mist as many times as necessary to keep their enclosure at the 50 to 65% humidity range. When your mantis is about to molt you want to stay at the higher end of that range. I generally mist once a day and increase to twice a day when I think they are about to molt. Get a temperature & humidity gauge, it will help you figure out how often you need to mist. Using a substrate such as coconut fiber or sphagnum moss that absorbs moisture will help to maintain humidity. Some use paper towels to line the cups which is convenient for cleaning but paper towels dry out quickly so you will probably have to mist more often than if you used coconut fiber. 

 

[Darth Mantis]

Its fine to release them I think because they already are all over the place like they said. They cant make it past winter but the eggs do (at least where I live) which is why they have become invasive. I live in North Carolina and 99.9 percent of the time when you find a mantis outside its a Chinese mantis they survive very well around here. Like they said I would keep more than one of the hatched nymphs because they tend to have a lot of deaths when they are young (maybe thats why they hatch so many at a time. my egg case hatched more than 100 and my mantis was old when she laid it). I had two oothecas (whats the plural for that) that hatched way way more than 100. I let more than 100 go and kept around 30 and I only have 7 left. (although Its mostly my fault, I under estimated how much they would kill each other). If I was you I would keep around 10 to 30 (I lean towards 30 but that may be a lot to take care of.) and let the rest go and then wait a few molts and let others go If you want. I would keep as few in a cup as you can to reduce deaths because that was by far the biggest cause of death for me. after around 3 molts the amount of mantises that died from none cannibalism deaths dropped dramatically, for me at least.

like they said you should split them up between containers  otherwise it will be hard to control them and when u open the container it helps if you have a big box or something you can open the cup in so they might stay more contained.

 

[PaxALotl]

Thanks, all, for this great info. 

It's going to be super easy to control the temperature in here, so I'm really just worried about the humidity. Am I overthinking the difficulty of this? I'm looking at my monitor and it's currently 75 Fahrenheit and 27% RH in here.  That's typical. If I give each of the cups a good misting every day, will that really be enough to maintain the humidity adequately? Keep in mind we're also at 5280 feet above sea level, so Denver is very desertlike in the summertime. 

I am still determined to figure out an automated way to keep the humidity in check. Not because it's necessary, but because I automated every aspect of my aquariums and am hooked on tinkering with this kind of thing. I might go for a Rasberry PI controller with a fogger, but that's another story. Also, I travel a lot (usually for 2 or 3 days for work), and while my kids are happy to help with this kind of thing, I love the challenge of creating a stable environment for the critters using some kind of gadgetry!

But for now, is it really that simple that some moisture-holding substrate and a mister will do the trick? 

 

[lovemymantisfriends]

But for now, is it really that simple that some moisture-holding substrate and a mister will do the trick? 

Sure is!  You can also change the type of lid you have on your cups.  Screens are great for more arid species and you can put hot glue a  piece of coffee filter on to the lid opening to help hold in moisture.  

 

[Predatorhousepet]

The misting serves two purposes, to increase the ambient humidity and provide a source of drinking water for the mantis. They will drink from water droplets left on the sides of their enclosure, a fogger will increase humidity but it may not produce enough droplets. If you can figure out how to do both with an automated system go right ahead.

Sure is!  You can also change the type of lid you have on your cups.  Screens are great for more arid species and you can put hot glue a  piece of coffee filter on to the lid opening to help hold in moisture.  

You can buy lids that have screen or ready-made polyfiber lids that serve the same purpose as gluing on a coffee filter. It depends on the species' humidity needs which type of lid you should use. If they need more ventilation get a screen or plastic waffle lid, if the mantis needs more humidity or you want to contain fruit flies get polyfiber lids.

 

[lovemymantisfriends]

You can buy lids that have screen or ready-made polyfiber lids that serve the same purpose as gluing on a coffee filter. It depends on the species' humidity needs which type of lid you should use. If they need more ventilation get a screen or plastic waffle lid, if the mantis needs more humidity or you want to contain fruit flies get polyfiber lids.

They are relatively inexpensive to purchase (shipping is a bear tho, have you found somewhere that will ship for under $12?).  I like to get "crafty" here and there so I have made my own as well.  

 

[Predatorhousepet]

They are relatively inexpensive to purchase (shipping is a bear tho, have you found somewhere that will ship for under $12?).  I like to get "crafty" here and there so I have made my own as well.  

LLLREPTILE  has pretty good bulk prices and shipping starts at $6.99.

 

[PaxALotl]

Sure is!  You can also change the type of lid you have on your cups.  Screens are great for more arid species and you can put hot glue a  piece of coffee filter on to the lid opening to help hold in moisture.  

Ok, then I won't worry about it for a little while and I can get a feel for everything! 

The misting serves two purposes, to increase the ambient humidity and provide a source of drinking water for the mantis. They will drink from water droplets left on the sides of their enclosure, a fogger will increase humidity but it may not produce enough droplets. If you can figure out how to do both with an automated system go right ahead.

You can buy lids that have screen or ready-made polyfiber lids that serve the same purpose as gluing on a coffee filter. It depends on the species' humidity needs which type of lid you should use. If they need more ventilation get a screen or plastic waffle lid, if the mantis needs more humidity or you want to contain fruit flies get polyfiber lids.

I have a little fogger I've used i the past, and wow this thing can crank out enough fog to have the whole place dripping in a few minutes. I can run the fogger for, say, 3 minutes and there will be very tiny droplets of water all around. So, I can probably get it right if I experiment a little. 

But those lids you linked to - the look like regular plastic mesh. Where's the fabric?

 

[Predatorhousepet]

But those lids you linked to - the look like regular plastic mesh. Where's the fabric?

It's hard to tell in that pic but the fabric is glued to the inside of the lid. '.The description does say "Fabric 4.5" Vented Lid for Insect Deli Cups"

 

[lovemymantisfriends]

LLLREPTILE  has pretty good bulk prices and shipping starts at $6.99.

Thanks so much!  I have looked all over!  

 

[PaxALotl]

Ooth is arriving today!