male orchid mantis sitting on female

Here is a pic of my male orchid mantis sitting on his female



He was on her for about 6 hours, mated several times and continued to drum on her back with his front legs untill i removed him.

madlan.

Good stuff, has been a while since I bred these, definately want to keep them again soon.

Congrats and good luck with ooths.

Dave

Congrats I hope to breed orchids in a few weeks. Was it hard to get them to mount?

nice one! I believe they are quite a challenging species to breed.

Cheers,

Ian

Size difference is amazing in those.

i want orchids next time i get new mantids

ill prolly get 2 pair

build a half hex cage sne have it split in the middle have a male on one side and a female on the other so people can see the diffrence.

The difference between T.Elegans is worse, have you ever tried mating them!?!

I lost 1 male, walked away for less than a minute and she had removed his head!

This time i watched them non stop for the whole time, he took a good 2 hours to slowly move towards her and mount, while i fed her about 6 moths!

madlan.

Does anyone have any general advice on ootheca care and lvl 2,3 care?

I have raised them from L4 upwards.

Anything different from the usual? i guess the same conditions as the adults, can they manage fruit flies as a first food?

thanks.

madlan.

What I do....

1. Set the ooth in an airtight container (plastic 32oz cup or a jar).

2. Set it in my closet.

3. Every 3 days or so, open the container for a couple seconds for an exchange of air. (Not sure this is needed, but it makes me feel like ive done something useful)

4. Jump up and down and run around the house yelling "YEA BABY!" once they hatch. (This step is important)

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT spray water into the container if you plan on using this method unless you want a mold colony instead of a mantid colony. Room temperature (70-75°F) is the ideal temperature to store them at, so there is no need to add any heating lamps.

I have had nearly 100% hatch rate using this method.



Be sure to add something for the nymphs to climb on once they hatch, like a piece of paper towel. Some species have a hard time climbing the plastic or jars.

Good luck and congrats! I will add pics of my orchid pairs soon.

DeShawn

How long after mating will the male mate again? he seems more interested in running away than mating with the second female :?

That all depends on the male. Some will mate a few hours afterwards, and some may take days. Just feed him a bit and introduce him to the female in a day and check his mood. Mornings are often the best time.

Well, hes just mounted the 2nd female , she ate my last male so i hope he manages to mate! In picture two you can see him bending under her wing to mate! I love the way it taps on her back every few minutes, do most male mantids do this?

About every species I have kept the male will "tap" on her back with his forelegs. Guess its not really a tap but it's hard to describe.

is the tap to let her know its a mantid touching her?

i ask as i have seen a cricket touch my mantis and she makes a sudden movement and turns ready to defend/attack which i imagine could in turn scare the male and if he makes a sudden movement she may eat him?

I have noticed a bit of tapping with other species, but nothing like the orchid. The orchid male does it very intentionally, and in a stroking manner. I have often wondered why the female wasn't getting upset and turning around to eat the tiny nuisance. I read it was to remind the female that he is there, which makes sense to me in a way as I have lost a few males during mating because it seemed the female 'forgot' he was there and was startled by him (hence, the constant ducking and moving out of the females field of view in many species), then reached around and gobbled on him. Who knows...

Action shot!

Just want to say, I LOVE the pictures! Hopefully my own subadult pair will molt soon and breed soon!

Great pic, look forward to seeing ooths and nymphs...