Spring comes early in Texas

[yen_saw]

So the weather been warming up here lately and we have mid 70s in the afternoon sometimes. But i was not ready for what could have happen on one weekend. These are just some that hatched.

The first to swarm me on Saturday morning was a record hatch for Creobroter pictipennis (80 nymphs from one ooth!) Here is just the lid

The Creobroter gemmatus (Thai) come next

Acromantis japonica (Thanks Luke!)

The next hour was Pseudocreobrota wahlbergii, one of the longest ooth at about 3.5 inches long. The newly hatched nymphs were still in lighter color.

Counted about 70 PW nymphs hour later

This one doesn't surprise me as it has been hatching 5-10 nymphs every morning for the past 10 days. The wild collected Stagmomantis carolina ootheca, a common sight every morning.

Besides hatching, this Hierodula patellifera i was planning to bring it to the museum layng ootheca in the container.

 

[yen_saw]

The next day i was greeted with more hatchling.

Hestiasula brunneriana

Budwing mantis

Grass mantis

Tiny hatchling

And a surprise Yersiniops sophronica hatch! The parents were wild caught in Tucson and mated in captivity too. I left a batch of oothecae in room temperature and another batch overwinter. Now the ootheca which stay outdoor for a month has started to hatch after nearly 5 months, so maybe this species do need a cool period as the one kept indoor has no sign of hatching yet.

this thing looks exacly like the parents except it is only the size of pinhaed!! now i wonder if they can handle the smallest frtuif lies. the hatchling also mimicking the newborn grasshopper

Cute little thing

Not every hatch bring cheers.... yeah the parasitic wasps

 

[yen_saw]

More hatches... by this time it is no longer fun and i am counting my fruit flies cultures

Asian giant mantis

Newly hatched Pseudocreobotra ocellata

Another few creobroter, Miomantis sp, and Hestiasula brunneriana also hatched to make thing worst i need more flies. Thanks for Dustin for the two D. hydei cultures!

With oothecae hatching left and right i have decided to start collecting ooth from a large net cage where i left about dozen pairs of C. gemmtus before nymphs hatcing out in the cage, this is what i found.....

This is what happen when i don't have time to collect the ooth for a long time

and you know it is long due when.....

It may look like a nightmare but still a great sight watching all the ooth hatching

 

[revmdn]

Wow!

 

[robelgado]

Wow that is incredible.

I hope you have enough fruitfly cultures!

I always make 4-5 new cultures 2-3 weeks before hatching.

 

[Pelle]

Damn Congrats!

 

[Katnapper]

More hatches... by this time it is no longer fun and i am counting my fruit flies cultures It may looks like a nightmare but still a great sight watching all the ooth hatch.

:huh: :lol: Oh my goodness, Yen!! Congrats (I think :lol: ) on all the hatches! That old saying, "When it rains, it pours" comes to mind, hehe. I know how long it takes me to feed the ones I have.... I don't know how you do it. Seems like there wouldn't be enough time in the day!

 

[hibiscusmile]

:lol: gonna have to put sign out front, free babies....PLEASE!

 

[Gurd]

The old wives tale 'it never rains it pours' comes to mind mate

Congrats and I hope you have a good supply of FF's

 

[Kruszakus]

How humid are conditions for C. pictipennis ooths? I try to keep them at 80%, but my hatching rate is hella poor.

 

[Frack]

Very cool, gratz on all the new additions! I hope you have enough ff it looks like you need a ton lol. What do you do when they lay ootheca over each other? I had one do this recently and Im not to sure if I can safely seperate them or not.

 

[Rick]

Have fun Yen! Do you keep the boxers together?

 

[Kaddock]

awesome yen! the nymphs you sold me are still looking amazing! looks like you have a lot of work on your hands with the new batch!!!! :lol:

 

[Emile.Wilson]

Wow!

 

[pohchunyee]

Sound like you are having a few thousand mouth to feed!! OMG

 

[Dinora]

OMGoodness!!!

Well, let me know when I can come over and start window shopping!

Thank you again for my pair of girls I got from you Saturday, one already laid an ooth last night!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

 

[bassist]

Wow congrats Yen I may be ordering from you soon again LOL.

 

[yen_saw]

Thanks all. Now each species is in their own net cage with plenty of flying fruit flies (D. melanogaster). Luckily i have enough of the fruit fly cultures and couple more D. hydei cultures from Dustin help feeding mantids that graduated into larger fruit flies, and free up extra DM for the hatchling.

Oh my goodness, Yen!! Congrats (I think ) on all the hatches! That old saying, "When it rains, it pours" comes to mind, hehe. I know how long it takes me to feed the ones I have.... I don't know how you do it. Seems like there wouldn't be enough time in the day!

With all these little escapees it will take me forever to separate them individually i put them together with plenty of fff that cover larger area in the net cage. They will still eat each other that's better than having to stay inside the bugroom literaly 24 hrs separating them and catching the runaways!

The old wives tale 'it never rains it pours' comes to mind mate Congrats and I hope you have a good supply of FF's

Yeah instead of raining dogs and cats (and donkeys and monkeys ), it was raining mantids, mantids, and more mantids!!!

How humid are conditions for C. pictipennis ooths? I try to keep them at 80%, but my hatching rate is hella poor.

It depends on what you mean by poor hatching 80 nymphs hatch out rate is uncommon. Normally i get about 25-50 from each ootheca of this species. So no worry if you get less than 80. I notice humidity doesn't really affect hatching rate for this species. I have them in 50-60% well ventilated area in my bug room while those i sent to museum where kept in constant high humidity, and both hatched out fine although the one in the museum yield slightly less number. So if your C. pictipennis ooth is hatching less than 10 it could be from other reasons.

Very cool, gratz on all the new additions! I hope you have enough ff it looks like you need a ton lol. What do you do when they lay ootheca over each other? I had one do this recently and Im not to sure if I can safely seperate them or not.

Hey Dustin yeah your grass mantis ootheca also joinned the hatching "parade"!

On the multiple oothecae sticking together, i just apply lateral force and the top ootheca will slide off without problem. Avoid pulling it off from one end it might break halfway, especially for long and thin type of ootheca.

Have fun Yen! Do you keep the boxers together?

I keep them together, with plenty of food/space this species do much better than hierodula species together. Cannibalism level can be as low as the Arizona unicorn mantis.

awesome yen! the nymphs you sold me are still looking amazing! looks like you have a lot of work on your hands with the new batch!!!!

Glad they are doing alright for you!! let me know if i can "unload" some more your way

OMGoodness!!! Well, let me know when I can come over and start window shopping!

Thank you again for my pair of girls I got from you Saturday, one already laid an ooth last night!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Glad the mantis are doing well i think she likes her new home and wanted to give you a late valentine's gift with that ooth

No window shopping!!! pick it up if you like

Wow congrats Yen I may be ordering from you soon again LOL.

Hey there! Yes i remember now thanks for reminding i still holding on your previous order.

 

[Dinora]

No window shopping!!! pick it up if you like

SCHWEET!!! Just let me know when you are ready!!! :lol: