Chinese Mantis Ootheca

Hi,

Recently I had the fortune of having my adult female Chinese mantis lay an ootheca.

Since then, about two weeks have passed with its temperature at ~75 F.

At this time, when will it likely hatch? How soon will I need to separate the nymphs? Is there anything else I should know?

Takes about four to six weeks for them to hatch from my experience. As many as thirty to a hundred could hatch out so be sure to have lots of containers. You can buy the deli cups that will work well for them at almost any store. Just be sure it has ventilation and a place for them to hang and molt from. I recommend you seperate the mantids from each other when they are L2's. Even then they will cannibalize if they aren't fed enough.

T.C. wrote:Takes about four to six weeks for them to hatch from my experience. As many as thirty to a hundred could hatch out so be sure to have lots of containers. You can buy the deli cups that will work well for them at almost any store. Just be sure it has ventilation and a place for them to hang and molt from. I recommend you separate the mantids from each other when they are L2's. Even then they will cannibalize if they aren't fed enough.

Thanks! I just had one hatch. I've put two other oothecas she laid in the fridge to keep them from hatching, and she just laid a fourth one! I doubt I'll bbe taking them out any time soon