WC Mantis, maybe pregnant?

[Faunya]

My bf brought a praying mantis home with him from work about a month ago. We were only going to keep her for a couple of days, but she's doing so well, we've added her to the family...what a voracious eater! She takes 2 good sized crickets at a setting, and her abdomen is HUGE!

Any info would be really helpful.

 

[oblivion56]

wow,looks preggo to me!i'm no expert though!

 

[Jesse607]

That is an adult female Mantis religiosa "European mantis" There is a very good chance that she is fertile, if you caught her as an adult a month ago. She should lay 1-4 oothecae before she dies. The ooths should be left outside for a couple of months or until spring, if you bring them in after 8 weeks of cold exposure they should hatch in about 6 weeks. Good find!

 

[ghost_tomb]

looks like it to me, just gotten 3 egg cases out of my mantis and she swelled up like that each time

sadly i don't know if their fertile since i've heard that they will lay eggs regardless though i've also heard that ALL egg cases are fertile even when they haven't been mated.

anyone has an answer to this?

well feed her LOADS and you may get 1 egg case every 1.5-2 weeks, but remember to vary the diet, waxworms with crickets is a good based on my mantis

 

[Jesse607]

sadly i don't know if their fertile since i've heard that they will lay eggs regardless though i've also heard that ALL egg cases are fertile even when they haven't been mated.

anyone has an answer to this?

In extremely rare cases some species are capable of producing parthenogenically, meaning the eggs will hatch even if not fertilized by a male. Even if it did occur the hatchlings are very weak and most die very soon after hatching. I must emphasize that species that have males rarely if ever produce oothecae that hatch without the female mating. Did I mention it occurs very rarely. In other words, if your mantis did not mate, you should not even hope for a minute that its oothecae will hatch.

 

[ghost_tomb]

well thing is I HAVE NO IDEA if she has or not :wall:

hehehe so i'm treating it like they will, she was adult when we got her so i've got my fingers crossed.


Where did you get your information from? since i hate conflicting reports

 

[Jesse607]

Where did you get your information from? since i hate conflicting reports

I have a bachelors degree in entomology, and I am currently working on a masters degree in entomology so I have read many many sources on Mantodea/Dictyoptera/Orthoptera and insects in general. I have also been keeping and breeding mantids for many years, and I have never had an unmated female's oothecae hatch of any of the species I have kept.

If you caught your mantis as an adult, chances are she has mated.

 

[ghost_tomb]

WOW :clap:

sadly its from a pet store, so it could be CB and mated or WC or not mated atall.

shes 2.5" long (its an egyptian matid) how long in 24*c temp would you think the hatch time would be?

 

[Jesse607]

Should take 6 weeks +/- 1 week for most exotic mantid oothecae to hatch.

 

[misfitsfiend]

Hey, jezzy, I have a florida bark mantis that just layed 2 ooths. She was wild caught as an adult about two months ago. How should I hatch them?

 

[Jesse607]

I am not sure what a Florida bark mantis is but I assume you are talking about the "grizzled mantis" Gonatista grisea. If you are, then lucky you, I would love to get my hands on some of those (hint hint). As far as how to hatch the ooths, they will fair best if kept humid but well ventilated. You can do this by putting the ooths in a container with moist substrate at the bottom and screen/netting on the top. The ooth can be attached to the top or side of the container, just as long as it does not sit in the moist substrate. If the container is humid enough(60+%) you should not have to mist.

 

[misfitsfiend]

Then they are perfect... I have them in this really neat setup I put together.

It stayes humid and ventilated.... so its all good. How long must I wait?

And yea it is the Gonatista grisea, and I get the hint I'll save some for you... I have 3 ooths, so there should be plenty to go around.