Yay! My first O. distinctus ooth hatched :)

[Mantida]

A couple more crappy pictures. The flash of the camera seemed to produce a better pic when shooting this mantis.

 

[yen_saw]

Ah nice, i like how they start to "punch" whenevr you take them out for a photo session.

 

[Mantida]

Ah nice, i like how they start to "punch" whenevr you take them out for a photo session.

I like when they're walking away from you. Their little heads are pointed at the top, and it makes them look like they're wearing a hat. :lol: And, when they walk away from you, their little heads and 'hats' wobble back and forth.

More little monsters!

Another ooth hatched, this time with 11 nymphs. Now that I have 16, they're together in 2 oz. deli cups by threes.

 

[Andrew]

Watch out...I think had around 10 from three ooths - then one surprised me with around 25!

 

[Kruszakus]

A little question - how often you mist their containers?

Has anyone kept them together?

By the way - I'm out of Melanogaster, so I fed some Hydei to my little nymphs, which hatched yesterday - well, they tackled them

 

[Mantida]

A little question - how often you mist their containers?Has anyone kept them together?

By the way - I'm out of Melanogaster, so I fed some Hydei to my little nymphs, which hatched yesterday - well, they tackled them

I do not mist much, every week, but I take them out to actually give them water. I had a couple of molts and my other two ooths hatched out.

I am currently keeping the L1's together. I noted my first cannibalism a couple days ago. I saw a head on the bottom of the cage unfortunately, even with a constant supply of melanogaster. I have to constantly throw in some food, otherwise they eat it all in 15 minutes. Seems like they are getting more aggressive. :blink: Since the cannibalism occured, I am separating the L2's from the L1's once they molt.

 

[asdsdf]

Oooh. Congrats for you. Out of the seven I had, 1 was cannablized at L4 so I separated them. Now, they are all subadult.

Also, does anyone know how long it takes for male to become adult? Female?

P.S. I like how it is so easy to determine the sex.

 

[Kruszakus]

I believe that they go through the same number of molts - so sexing isn't so important, besides my female molted into adult 10 days after the previous molt, the males needed 2-3 weeks - the female does not have to "fill" the wing buds, so she usually matures faster.

 

[asdsdf]

I believe that they go through the same number of molts - so sexing isn't so important, besides my female molted into adult 10 days after the previous molt, the males needed 2-3 weeks - the female does not have to "fill" the wing buds, so she usually matures faster.

:blink: Oops...I need to heat up the males then(I kept females hot, and males cold)....How long after they matured did you breed them? Thanks.

 

[Kruszakus]

:blink: Oops...I need to heat up the males then(I kept females hot, and males cold)....How long after they matured did you breed them? Thanks.

You mean how much did I wait before mating them? Well it way ten days, the female did not want to eat anything, so I assumed that it was safe to let the male inside her container - after the light were turned off, they started doing some funky stuff - and a couple of hours later, the first ooth was laid and this week twenty little babies sprung out of it, sweet B)

But do not keep the adult males too hot - they may die after only one month, it's best to have them molt into maturity one week after the female.

 

[Mantida]

Oooh. Congrats for you. Out of the seven I had, 1 was cannablized at L4 so I separated them. Now, they are all subadult. Also, does anyone know how long it takes for male to become adult? Female?

P.S. I like how it is so easy to determine the sex.

Cannibalism at L4?

I think mine are extra fiesty. I found half of an L2 today and it was still alive in a container with a bunch of L1's. The small ganged up on the big! :blink:

 

[asdsdf]

Cannibalism at L4? I think mine are extra fiesty. I found half of an L2 today and it was still alive in a container with a bunch of L1's. The small ganged up on the big! :blink:

Yep, although I fed my mantises till their little abdomens were huge in contrast with their body.

Wow.... :blink:

 

[Kruszakus]

Damn it! Two nymphs died today - both with large abdomens - I do not know what happened...

 

[Mantida]

Damn it! Two nymphs died today - both with large abdomens - I do not know what happened...

Aw, that stinks. How many do you currently have?

I just did a headcount, I have 35. :lol:

Mine seem to be quite hardy, the only deaths I've had so far are from cannibalism, which is quite surprising since they are still at L1.

 

[Kruszakus]

It's worse... four more died today, all with full abdomens - I should not have given them aphids, most likely little nymphs foud them poisonous...

So that leaves me with 30 nymphs - and a large number of ooths, no need to panic there.

 

[drizzt]

I do not mist much, every week, but I take them out to actually give them water. I had a couple of molts and my other two ooths hatched out.I am currently keeping the L1's together. I noted my first cannibalism a couple days ago. I saw a head on the bottom of the cage unfortunately, even with a constant supply of melanogaster. I have to constantly throw in some food, otherwise they eat it all in 15 minutes. Seems like they are getting more aggressive. :blink: Since the cannibalism occured, I am separating the L2's from the L1's once they molt.

They eating D. hydei very well, even in L1 stage

 

[Mantida]

They eating D. hydei very well, even in L1 stage

Mine kept running away from the d. hydei I gave them , but they tackled smaller d. hydei instead of the normal sized ones.

The oxypilus from the third and fourth oothecae seem to be a lot more skittish than the first. Most of them haven't even touched a melanogaster and it's been around five days since they hatched. Some are evidently going to starve.

 

[idolomantis]

Mine kept running away from the d. hydei I gave them , but they tackled smaller d. hydei instead of the normal sized ones.The oxypilus from the third and fourth oothecae seem to be a lot more skittish than the first. Most of them haven't even touched a melanogaster and it's been around five days since they hatched. Some are evidently going to starve.

do they dont have colembola(hoppingtails) in the usa?

 

[asdsdf]

I personally hate the nymphs that won't eat....I would just put some flies in there. The ones that eat, food for them, yay, they get to live.....the others, well, there ends the no-eating gene.

 

[Mantida]

do they dont have colembola(hoppingtails) in the usa?

Hoppingtails? I'm afraid I don't know what that is.

Do you mean springtails? If yes, then yes.