Question about Chinese Praying Mantis Egg Cases

[Colorado Ts]

I ordered large hydei flightless fruit flies, for this project, back in March. The first culture was dead and smelled terrible. So they sent me a replacement.



This new culture is producing wonderfully and all the fruit flies have wings. What the heck?.

 

[Colorado Ts]

May the 4th Be With You...another egg case hatched. It only took 30 days.



I have a nice culture of fruit flies going. So I went out to the garage and transferred some flies in with the baby mantises. And now I have about 20 baby mantises and 70 or so fruit flies running around in my garage.

I’ve setup my butterfly cage, and I’m going to release the baby mantises into it...then start releasing fruit flies into it as well.

But very cool...another group hatched out.

 

[Colorado Ts]

The Baby Mantises were placed into the Butterfly Cage late yesterday and this morning they look great. I'll be adding a bunch of fruit flies either later on this afternoon or tomorrow.

May dad is now wanting me to bring baby mantises to his house and release them into his garden. We need to go and get tomato's from him later this week, so I'll take him about 4 of the egg cases that have yet to hatch and let him hatch them and release them.

After the first egg case hatched and then a lot of time passing with nothing from the other egg cases, I got concerned that the rest of the eggs cases were nonviable. This latest hatch was a bit of a surprise to me. Sooooo, I have ordered 10 more egg cases...Those egg cases should be arriving today or tomorrow...

So yeah...this little egg case project could be ridiculous in a month or so.

 

[Colorado Ts]

Cinco de Mayo...and another egg case has hatched. I caught this egg case while they were still hatching out and had not hardened up.



So after 31 days...3 egg cases have hatched.

 

[Colorado Ts]

I misted the inside of the butterfly cage, on a whim. I feel terrible, all the baby mantises were running all over the inside of cage drinking up the water droplets. So new chore, mist the babies everyday...maybe even twice a day.

 

[Colorado Ts]

32 days...6 May 2020



Here's another case that has hatched. Not as many in this egg case, maybe 140 to 160 baby mantids. Fun project, just having a great time.

I took the case that hatched yesterday, and the group that hatched today, over to my dad's house and released them onto his property. He was very happy to have the mantids. And I left him with two deli cups with egg cases, for him to hatch out and release...all I asked in return was the date of the hatch, and an approximation of how many babies hatched out.

 

[Colorado Ts]

Well my shipment of 10 more egg cases arrived today...So, we begin round 2.

I did not expect a 15 day lapse between the first hatch and the following hatches. Good to know for next year.

 

[Colorado Ts]

Round 2



Ok...so here we go...the beginning of Round 2. The grand kids and I set up the next set of 10 egg cases.

The containers on the far left are the cases still waiting to hatch, from the first set of 10 egg cases.

These egg cases look to smaller in size and definitely of a lower quality; several of the cases are pinched & 1 of the cases has chunks of the exterior removed. So we can compare hatch rates between the two providers, as part of our second round of hatching.

Those of you that have been dropping in and following along as we learn how to do this...leave us some comments.

 

[Colorado Ts]

I misted the Baby Mantises in the Butterfly Cage this morning. They have started feeding...mostly on the Fruit Flies, but not always.

 

[Jesse607]

Misinformation about this species has been passed down from one generation to another. It is true, they are well established in many parts of the USA. Despite still being marketed as "beneficial insects" or "pest control", they are far from it. This particular species consumes large numbers of beneficial lacewings, spiders, butterflies, hover flies, and lots and lots of bees. They have even been documented on several occasions to feed on hummingbirds and small lizards. They are certainly badass and fascinating though. Will releasing a bunch cause an ecological catastrophe? No. But be aware of their impact on native, truly beneficial organisms.

 

[MasterOogway]

They consume both; they're not picky. They ARE pest control, but they being non-discriminatory in their feeding habits it's safe to say they eat plenty of beneficial critters too. I haven't looked, but I wonder if there are studies out there examining their overall effect on an ecosystem once they've been introduced.

 

[Insects Glorify God]

Since the first egg case hatched, None of the other 9 egg cases have hatched. I’m wondering if they are all non-viable, that doesn't bode well for the seller to be selling egg cases that are 90% useless.

A lot of sellers will sell the ootheca in pairs. They know that mantids will make them even when they aren't fertilized and since the seller can't tell ahead of time, they sell two to increase your chances of success.

I had a ghost mantis as a pet that wasn't paired and she laid 7 ootheca before she died. I was really wishing I had had a male for her!

By the way, what a great idea to do with your grandsons! That is such a wonderful way to teach them to love nature and all of the variety it has to offer at an early age.

Side Note: It might help to lightly mist both your mantids and the ootheca containers once a day or every other day. Be careful not to soak them or mold will set in but the hatchlings will desiccate easily and a little moisture might encourage the hatching of your others.

Good luck on the remaining ootheca. I wouldn't give up on them yet.

 

[Colorado Ts]

Another Hatch, this is just awesome.

So the other day, I went to my dads house and released the babies from 2 egg sacs, and then I left him 2 more egg sacs to hatch out and release. Just got a text that one of the sacs hatched, with about 200+ baby mantids. Sorry no pictures, dad can't figure out how to text images.

I'll try to get an image or two, from this hatch for future posting.

 

[Colorado Ts]

12 May 2020

Another egg case has hatched. This was a small egg case, seems to only have had ~40 babies in the case.

 

[Insects Glorify God]

I am happy for you! That's 40 more than I have.

 

[Colorado Ts]

14 May 2020

One more down. Of the original 10 egg sacs, I have 2 egg sacs remaining, and I believe that there is 1 remaining at my Dad’s house. All the rest have hatched.



There’s close to 200 babies in this hatch.



Sort of running out of different places to release the babies...so back to the stump in the front yard.



My favorite image of the day...marching off into the world.

We’re nearing the end of this project. It’s really been fun and exciting to see all the hatches. The babies are cute, and I look forward to seeing them off and on over the summer as they grow and mature.

 

[Colorado Ts]

26 May 2020

I had about given up on seeing any hatches from the last 3 egg cases. I looked in today and another egg sac has hatched. I released the babies into the garden, its all planted and looking great. There’s some moist ground with a swarm of tiny gnats, so plenty of starter food for them. I’m guessing that there is around 180 +/- babies in this hatch.

That leaves 2 egg cases left from the 1st set of 10 cases.



It’s happened now 7 times, and it never gets old. So 2 more egg cases remain of the first set of 10 cases, it’s crazy that its taken this long for them to hatch out.

The 2nd set of 10 are still sitting quietly. Hopefully something will happen soon.

 

[Colorado Ts]

Still waiting for the next egg case, if any hatch at all.

I've made some interesting observations while hatching these egg cases in this spring project. The egg cases typically hatch just after noon, till about 2:30pm. None of the egg cases hatched before noon, and none of the egg cases hatched after 3:00 in the afternoon.

Almost all of the egg cases hatched between 1:30 and 2:30 in the afternoon. I think one hatched at ~12:30, and another hatched at ~2:45...all the others fell into the 1:30 to 2:30 time frame.

I have not yet caught a hatch from beginning to end. But I can say that these hatches are quick, I'd say less than 1/2 hr. Several times I'd check the cases, come back 1/2 hr later...and they're done hatching. So once the case starts hatching, it’s quickly over & complete.

 

[Tidbit]

Since the first egg case hatched, None of the other 9 egg cases have hatched. I’m wondering if they are all non-viable, that doesn't bode well for the seller to be selling egg cases that are 90% useless.

I’m wondering why my own hasn’t hatched. It’s been many months and the internet said they should open in may. Mine were wild-caught eggcase, so is there a chance that it’s empty from previous years? Thanks! It’s almost June and my concern is growing. They are in outside weather.

 

[Colorado Ts]

Let me prefis by stating, I've never hatched out mantis egg cases before this attempt.

It's my understanding that a lot of the egg cases available to the public are collected from the wild. My cases are setup in deli cups with a moisture source. The egg cases are maintained temperatures that hover around 72 to 74 degrees. The egg cases are also not very consistent in their hatching, I still have two from the original batch that have not hatched...and of the second batch...none have hatched yet.