Lifespan of a Praying Mantis

[bleedsblue]

Hello please help I have a Carolina Mantis (female) ,I found her in late August so decided to keep her once I seen she would eat the moths I caught her. Then I found a male and breed her. I had read that they lay in Oct-Sept but then die in the winter months from the cold? She has layer around 10 egg sacks! I noticed today that she wasn't herself barely hanging on to the branch. Is she dying?

 

[Andrea82]

Hello please help I have a Carolina Mantis (female) ,I found her in late August so decided to keep her once I seen she would eat the moths I caught her. Then I found a male and breed her. I had read that they lay in Oct-Sept but then die in the winter months from the cold? She has layer around 10 egg sacks! I noticed today that she wasn't herself barely hanging on to the branch. Is she dying? View attachment 227626 View attachment 227626

She won't live much longer i'm afraid. But you can let the ootheca hatch, or half of them, and place the other half outside. This species have a large nymph to ooth rate, so better start collecting delicups

 

[basin79]

Hello please help I have a Carolina Mantis (female) ,I found her in late August so decided to keep her once I seen she would eat the moths I caught her. Then I found a male and breed her. I had read that they lay in Oct-Sept but then die in the winter months from the cold? She has layer around 10 egg sacks! I noticed today that she wasn't herself barely hanging on to the branch. Is she dying? View attachment 227626 View attachment 227626

Yes. She won't last much longer now. But she's done what she was designed for. Lived long enough to breed and continue her fantastic species.

 

[Esherman81]

My female only lived for 9 months, I never found her a mate sadly ..I never have had one live more then a year..

 

[bleedsblue]

Yes. She won't last much longer now. But she's done what she was designed for. Lived long enough to breed and continue her fantastic species.

Yes she died Christmas Day I will miss her my daughter and I made a game out of feeding her we would see who could catch the most moths for her.it was a great learning experience for her and i both it also gave us the opportunity to start a moth photo collection and would look up and read all about the different species. Can't wait tell spring to see where are adventure takes us this year. We also have 5 snakes 5 different kinds of frogs and a scorpion
I'm a nature lovers she's my stepdaughter and this has really given us a chance to bond. Thanks everyone who help with their thought and comments and look forward to posting more news . princess FIONA her last day

 

[LindsayJay]

Hey guys! I was wondering, why cant they live long after they lay a egg sac? My Margret passed away i think last night, i cried this morning. She only laid her egg sac 3 days ago, so i thought id atleast have another week with her Im a stay at home mom with a 1 yr old and a 3yr old. So i talk to margret alot. Lol but now what do i do with the egg sac?

 

[Andrea82]

Hey guys! I was wondering, why cant they live long after they lay a egg sac? My Margret passed away i think last night, i cried this morning. She only laid her egg sac 3 days ago, so i thought id atleast have another week with her Im a stay at home mom with a 1 yr old and a 3yr old. So i talk to margret alot. Lol but now what do i do with the egg sac?

Was she mated?

 

[LindsayJay]

Was she mated?

Yess, we paired a male with her maybe a month ago.

 

[Andrea82]

Yess, we paired two a male with her maybe a month ago.

Ah, okay. Then keep the ooth well above the bottom so there is plenty of room for the nymphs to hatch. Keep it the same as you kept the mother, humidity and temperature wise. And start a batch of flightless fruitflies

 

[LindsayJay]

Ah, okay. Then keep the ooth well above the bottom so there is plenty of room for the nymphs to hatch. Keep it the same as you kept the mother, humidity and temperature wise. And start a batch of flightless fruitflies

How in the world do you catch fruitflies!? And can i keep them all in the same tank, or when do i need to spilt up the babies? How long also till they hatch ive seen 3-6 weeks and also say up to 7 months.

 

[Andrea82]

How in the world do you catch fruitflies!? And can i keep them all in the same tank, or when do i need to spilt up the babies? How long also till they hatch ive seen 3-6 weeks and also say up to 7 months.

You can buy flightless fruitflies, you don't have to catch them.
You can keep them in the same tank until they've molted twice, generally speaking. What species is it?
They (again, generally speaking) usually hatch around 6 weeks, yes.

 

[MatisIsLoveMantisIsLyf]

1-3 months. If she starts blackening or turning black (having black spots), then start building her a grave.

 

[MatisIsLoveMantisIsLyf]

It's "bloody horrible" but completely true like basin79 said. at this time of year they are all pretty much doomed no matter what.

Before arachnids I specialized in mantids and mid spring to late October is pretty much the standard life for mantids (meaning the dawn of warmth to the first sign of frost). There's a decent chance that the ootheca is fertile but unfortunately your mantis has reached the end of its life. The best thing you can do now is try to keep the mother as comfortably as possible til she meets her end and then put the ootheca outside in a safe place so it can "weather" until next spring where you can then watch them hatch and then collect a specimen or two to rear.

That's not true! It's novermber here in greece, and Geomantis Species have exploded, they just spawned! Hundreds of little ground mantids here and there, found 4 today, 10 yesterday. They all eat them little mosquitoes and flies!

 

[Myrmeleon]

Sorry to redirect this thread but is there any way to tell if a mantis ootheca is fertile?

 

[MatisIsLoveMantisIsLyf]

Well. Did she mate?

 

[darkness975]

They die even if they do not reproduce / lay an ootheca. Their life cycle is simply not that long.

Some species of moth only live for a week and never feed.

I believe some types of mayfly may only live 48 hours or so.

 

[Myrmeleon]

I never saw if the mantis mated because it was caught from the wild but laid 2 ooths

 

[nanodelle]

How in the world do you catch fruitflies!? And can i keep them all in the same tank, or when do i need to spilt up the babies? How long also till they hatch ive seen 3-6 weeks and also say up to 7 months.

I think you can order fruit fly eggs and/or larvae online; maybe even pupal stage. I'd keep them in a tight-meshed but well-ventilated habitat. Then, try to place some larvae in mantis nymphs' habitat, so they'll morph into adult flies in baby mantids' habitat. That way you're not trying to chase flying fruit flies (or if you have to, gently nab them with tweezers).

 

[MatisIsLoveMantisIsLyf]

Nanodelle I'm sorry but none sells fruit fly eggs, larvae or pupae. . Do what I did, leave an orange outside for 2 days, and then check on it. Be prepared with a glass container to catch the flies. Or you can just buy them at your local pet shop. They cost less than 2 USD.

 

[Mmmkay]

How in the world do you catch fruitflies!? And can i keep them all in the same tank, or when do i need to spilt up the babies? How long also till they hatch ive seen 3-6 weeks and also say up to 7 months.

Both Petco and PetSmart near me typically stock the wingless fruit flies. I recommend calling around and asking