A couple of weeks ago I posted what looked like a mating between my male and female Chinese Mantids. After talking with Yen Saw and A few other people I began to realize that the mating was a false mating. The male, even though he went through all of the proper motions, did not successfully coulate with her. The female produced 2 oothecae, one of them vey tiny. I don't believe they are fertile but I will hold on to them just in case.
I waited a bout a week to give the male time to rest and went to try and mate him with a different female. To my surprise the male had already died. I knew the males died soon after mating but I didn't expect it to be so quickly. Now I had a dilema. I had 3 very ripe females and no males.
I found a site selling mature Chinese Mantids and purchased 3 males. When I go them I watered them and fed them right away. Two days after their arrival I decided to try and mate one with my female. After putting them together the female became very agressive. I thought that was odd because she was not hungry and she was plump with eggs. He would g near her and she would strike at him.
Remembering what I had read on one of the boards I tied something different. I took the female out and placed her on my tummy. I then placed the male behind her. He took one step towards her and she froze. I then nudged him a little and he climbed right onto her back. It took several minutes as he positioned himself on her for him to start copulation. Right before copuation she started to walk a little so I put my hand in front of her so she could walk on it. When she found a comfy spot she settled down all the while the male was still on her back.
I had a magnifying glass cause I wanted to be sure that he was actually inserted. After a few minutes he did penetrate her, all the while still sitting on my hand. They stayed like this for 2 hours and 20 minutes. When the were through the male pulled out and jumped off of her back. I then gathered them up and placed them into their own seperate homes. I am hoping I finally have a successfull mating. Only time will tell.
Tom
I waited a bout a week to give the male time to rest and went to try and mate him with a different female. To my surprise the male had already died. I knew the males died soon after mating but I didn't expect it to be so quickly. Now I had a dilema. I had 3 very ripe females and no males.
I found a site selling mature Chinese Mantids and purchased 3 males. When I go them I watered them and fed them right away. Two days after their arrival I decided to try and mate one with my female. After putting them together the female became very agressive. I thought that was odd because she was not hungry and she was plump with eggs. He would g near her and she would strike at him.
Remembering what I had read on one of the boards I tied something different. I took the female out and placed her on my tummy. I then placed the male behind her. He took one step towards her and she froze. I then nudged him a little and he climbed right onto her back. It took several minutes as he positioned himself on her for him to start copulation. Right before copuation she started to walk a little so I put my hand in front of her so she could walk on it. When she found a comfy spot she settled down all the while the male was still on her back.
I had a magnifying glass cause I wanted to be sure that he was actually inserted. After a few minutes he did penetrate her, all the while still sitting on my hand. They stayed like this for 2 hours and 20 minutes. When the were through the male pulled out and jumped off of her back. I then gathered them up and placed them into their own seperate homes. I am hoping I finally have a successfull mating. Only time will tell.
Tom