Unexpected Ooth Hatching!

[gm88]

Just woke up at around 6 am and heard one of my adult females rustling around in her enclosure so I went to check on her and noticed a little baby nymph on a box next to it, then another one. I panicked for a second thinking somehow the ones I had just got had somehow escaped and then I noticed they were everywhere! I had found a gravid female outside months ago but figured by now the ooth was infertile hence why there was no lid on the container it was sitting in (I still have three more unhatched ooths). Caught many of them in various cups and makeshift containers but there are still some loose.. seemed like close to a hundred mantises, how they all fit in that tiny ootheca is a mystery to me.

So now I have to figure out what the **** I am going to do with all these unexpected mantids! One question I have is are the one I put fruit flies in with going to be ok? I didn't consider that they might not immediately be hungry and put some fruit flies in one of the containers that I had put a bunch of them into. Also I can't release them since it's getting cold out right? I don't think they would survive.

Now off to try and round up some more loose mantids :helpsmilie:

 

[hibiscusmile]

They wont survive outside, later today mist them with really warm water. don't feed till middle of second or end of second day. Most will perish, sell off what you don't want! Put the other ooths in the fridge, but not any that are over a month old and you probably have 2 that are that old. You could sell them to with around the dates on them so people know when they will hatch. Was it Chinese?

 

[gm88]

Thanks Hibiscusmile, I know they have a high mortality rate when this young I was just wondering if I should try to somehow separate the ones which are currently in a container with fruit flies until they are ready to eat. My thoughts are that maybe this will stress those ones out too much, of course there are a lot of them so I don't forsee a shortage either way. If anything I need to invest in a more serious fruit fly culture or start my own out of my current store bought ones.

I caught most of them and am making some makeshift containers as I write this. Also the one other ooth is around the same age as the one that just hatched the other two are more recent.. I will try putting them in the fridge, thanks for the tip

 

[Lannister]

I received a number of P. wahlbergii oothecae once that showed up broken in a bunch of pieces. I tossed everything into a cup on the shelf with the assumption that they were no good and soon enough I had nymphs everywhere. Ever since then, I've been extremely careful about considering any oothecae down for the count unless it's just been way too long or it smells like rot.

 

[gm88]

Yes, Lannister they are persistent.

So far they are not eating, some have died off. I tried to seperate them into as many different containers as possible to give them more space. Also the mantis who laid the ooth just made another one last night

 

[Rick]

You just reminded me I need to do something with those five ooths sitting over here on the cabinet....

 

[devetaki9]

Hahahahaa Rick ^.^ I sure got a surprise Sunday morning lol. I kept meaning to put my ooths on the porch in a bin and now I'm making all those little 4oz ventilated, mesh topped condiment cups about a hundred little ones and four more ooths yet.

I'm going to take the latest ones laid and put them I'm cool down but I don't want to chance losing the ones that could hatch soon

 

[gm88]

I have 5 more unhatched ooths sitting around one of which should hatch anytime now. Two are probably a little over a month old but I might try refrigerating them all (minus the one closest to hatching) just because I definitely won't be able to take care of all those mantis babies and I was hoping to release many of them once warmer weather comes (winter just getting started here in MD).

Also I have around 25 left of the ooth which hatched in the initial post (not bad for my first time, right?). Some of them died off and I think a few cannibalized each other but i have tried to keep them happy with lots of fruit flies and misting Haven't seen any molt yet tho. Hey devetaki thanks for the idea I need to find time to start making individual containers for all of them!

 

[devetaki9]

Lol you're welcome I got the idea from Octoberrainne, she gave me the idea of the mesh fabric(cheap at Walmart) and the little condiment cups. I got some nice 4oz ones from the little country store where we get lunch at a lot . Lots of cutting and supergluing lol.

At this point I have approx 65 babies rough count. They seem to be doing really well so far. I put the last three ooths that were laid in a plastic bin on our porch so I hopefully will only have two more hatch this fall/winter ^.^