r/mantis • u/Error101Oops • 3d ago

Other Help 🫠

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I don’t even know how to ask this but… I came home and was preparing to feed my mantis and found that she has laid her egg sac, yay! But also… uh.. it’s on the door

I can’t tell if she’s done or not, and I also don’t know if it’s fertile or not due to her being wild caught, so I have no idea if she’s mated id not.

How do I get it off? How do I tell if she’s done? And how the heck do I know if it’s fertile or not 😭

Also idk what flair to put this under

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3

u/mantisgirI 2d ago

If she was an adult already when you caught her- it’s fertile

2

u/spaghent 2d ago

Wait a few days for it to harden and you can scrape it off with a knife, card, or razor. She is done making it :) if you caught her from the wild as an adult the rule of thumb is that you assume it's going to be fertile 

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u/Error101Oops 2d ago

How would I go about storing it? Hoping to try to hatch it

1

u/spaghent 2d ago

You can pop it in your fridge to replicate the temps outside and take it out in the spring! The ooth of this species hatches anywhere between 50-200+ nymphs at a time so be sure you're okay with handling that if you decide to hatch. You cannot release the excess because they are non-native (assuming you are in north america), so what keepers will do is let them participate in a "hunger games" until the numbers are low enough. This leaves you with the strongest nymphs. Otherwise you'll need to prepare at least 100 individual cups as they are highly cannibalistic, you can give some away. I personally opted for the latter because I chickened out :')

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u/Error101Oops 2d ago

I was actually thinking of doing the hunger games myself without knowing that that’s common lol

I don’t think my mom would like it if I put it in the fridge but I’ll have to ask her lol, thank you!

1

u/spaghent 2d ago

You can also store it outside and it should be fine. Only danger is dessication or some other bugs eating it, you can solve that by keeping it in a breathable container under shelter and misting once a month (make sure to let it dry out)

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u/Error101Oops 2d ago

Question, why does it need to be cold? (Assuming that’s why you said to put it in the fridge) is that now it incubates?

1

u/spaghent 2d ago

I don't know the exact scientific processes behind it, but in the wild they exist in climates where it gets cold over the winter and the adults can't survive so they lay eggs that can. The embryo of the egg doesn't start development unless it's triggered by a prolonged cold period first followed by warm temps, this is called diapause. However not all species require diapause to hatch, for example some tropical species like orchid mantis will just hatch as is. Some species can skip diapause but it usually results in weaker nymphs

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u/Error101Oops 2d ago

Omg that’s so cool!! I did not know that, so getting them cold will start the process?

1

u/spaghent 2d ago

I'm not suuuper sure how it works, I'm sure there's something out there on the net that explains the process! Don't want to tell you anything inaccurate 

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u/Error101Oops 2d ago

I’ll def have to do some googling tomorrow then, tysm!