As I sat there and watched these beautiful nymphs clamor over each other I am brought back to my childhood. When I was very young I collected what I thought was a cacoon that would eventually end up releaseing a moth or butterfly. I left it on my desk and forgot about it, till one day, a few months later my little sister was screaming about all of the bugs swarming all over my desk. I rushed in to find hundreds of baby mantises swarming all over my desk. It was a day I have never forgotten, some 40+ years later.
These guys hatched out faster than I anticipated. It has only been about 3 weeks since I had removed the Oothecae from the fridge. My plan was to release the vast majority of the nymphs into the wild. (They are a common species in NH) I figured by mid April it would be warm enough for them. But, like all plans I make, there was a wrench thrown into the works. It is the third week in March, and the little guys decided to be born.
I have cultures of fruit flies ready, but not nearly enough to feed all of these little guys/gals. Remember I was not planning to keep them all. The temperature outside in now between 42 and 55 during the day and 26 to 35 at night. I fear that this is too cold to release them. What do you people think? It's either release the majority and take good care of a few or try to feed them all, knowing the end result will be not enough food. Please give me your opinions on this.
Take care,
Tom
These guys hatched out faster than I anticipated. It has only been about 3 weeks since I had removed the Oothecae from the fridge. My plan was to release the vast majority of the nymphs into the wild. (They are a common species in NH) I figured by mid April it would be warm enough for them. But, like all plans I make, there was a wrench thrown into the works. It is the third week in March, and the little guys decided to be born.
I have cultures of fruit flies ready, but not nearly enough to feed all of these little guys/gals. Remember I was not planning to keep them all. The temperature outside in now between 42 and 55 during the day and 26 to 35 at night. I fear that this is too cold to release them. What do you people think? It's either release the majority and take good care of a few or try to feed them all, knowing the end result will be not enough food. Please give me your opinions on this.
Take care,
Tom
