Gonatista grisea question

Hello All,

This question is for Christian and/or any other member with the answer or opinions. thanks in advance.

I would like to know:

How long will a G grisea ooth takes to hatch?

Do they go thru a diapuse? a cold period?

thanks

FT

I once was fortunate enough to get a hold of a G. grisea ooth. It took about 6 weeks since it was made for it to hatch. The newborn nymphs have great difficulty climbing on plastic and glass. I was gone for three days and they decided to hatch on the first day I was gone, didn't make it in time to realize they can't climb plastic....most of them were dead because they couldn't right themselves and were stuck upsidedown, and used too much energy without food/water available to attempt to right themselves. Boy I would love to have another opputunity to own them!

Hi.

I did not breed this species, so I do not know their life cycle and phenology. When I receive a new species, I usually look at the climate graph of the region in order to estimate their possible needs.

Following features are important, when available:

1. Is there a colder period?

2. If yes, how cold is it (average and minimum temperature!)?

3. Is the 10° isotherm line north or south of the place where the stock is from: this character may decide if a species spends the winter as a larva or as ootheca.

4. In case the temperature does not change substantially: is there a dry season?

5. How dry is it, that is, what are the precipitation minimum at the height of the dry season?

6. In case you receive a wild-caught: when was it found? spring, summer, fall?

As Gonatista grisea is from Florida, first, you should try to find out when there are adults. Next, look at the climate graph and try to give them subtropical conditons (somewhat cooler in winter).

Regards,

Christian

There are adults right now. The nymphs will have no trouble feeding on fruit flies. As said above my ooths took 5 to 6 weeks of 70 to 75 degrees F temp and daily misting to hatch. Again, as said above, they cannot climb glass or plastic very well, so I suggest either substrate or just some leaves on the bottom. If you have trouble getting food a very light misting will buy you a couple of extra days (I learned that with my second ooth). When you get some young let me know, my female died during her final molt and my male had an accident last week so I want some more grisea, for some reason I am having trouble finding them this year, good luck with the mantids.

Hi.

So, your ooths hatch in fall to winter. Do you know if they overwinter in the natural habitat?

Regards,

Christian

I do believe the temps in most of Florida are cool enough starting about now to delay the hatching of the ooths until February or March. Coastal and more southern parts of Florida may have overlapping generations or at least multiple generations. This is just educated guessing on my part from what facts I know, so don't take it all as fact.

My ooths didn't require any cool period. I don't know if they have one in the wild as I have only found one ooth before, it had been eaten from, somethin had taken the top off. If you plan on letting some free, then go ahead and wait, if not, just hatch them. Good luck.

We had few days of cool front last month at temp near low 40s (That's cold in Houston!) and just when i thought that would wipe out most mantis species here, I saw many grass mantis nymphs and some green mantis nymphs (not sure what species) probably L1 or L2 while serching for grubs. So that makes me believe that some mantis actually live through winter, with slower growth rate but not hibernate. My guess would be if temperature didn't fall below freezing point continuously for too long and warm up during day time they survive through winter here. So as their ootheca. Which also explain why some southern species of mantis can never be found near US and Canada border.

I agree, some mantids I have caugth here don't mature till after it gets cold. And thats with regular feeding. I just don't think they would all die off when so many are not mature yet. At least not here. Oh, speaking of grass mantids, my female nymph just molted, I beleive she is an adult now (though with this species I can't tell). Now all I need is a male.