My sons Praying Mantis laid what looks like a egg sac what do I do now?

Question

its a 2" foam looking pod resembling a hornets nest, has anyone delt with this before. Any insight, links and or what not would be helpful, also it shares a aquarium with 3 lizards, two 5 lined skinks and 1 broadhead skink. they seem to cohabitate well for now but I suspect this will change?

Answer 1

Yep...that's an egg sac...just let it be and they'll hatch in good time. I'd take it out of the aquarium with the lizards though and put it in a mesh cage or a jar with air holes if you plan on letting them hatch.

Here's an excerpt from Wikipedia:

"A gravid female praying mantis will produce a large foam mass, called an ootheca. This ootheca can contain up to 300 eggs, all protected in the foam sack. These oothecae are laid in the fall—after which the adult mantids die—and can take up to five months to hatch.[1] Some species hatch in small intervals, and hatching can take up to five weeks before all of the nymphs fully emerge. Not only do gravid females produce oothecae, infertile oothecae can be produced by females which have not been mated. These may sometimes hatch one or two nymphs, however, this is very unlikely. Some species, such as Brunneria borealis, produce oothecae through parthenogenesis. This is where a male is not needed to produce fertile ootheca; however, all the mantid's offspring of this sort will be female."

Answer 2

I remember 15 years ago when I was in grade school, my teacher had a praying mantis, which also had an egg sac (looking like what you described). It will hatch, but I remember these guys are REALLY tiny. So if you have big wire mesh holes over the cage, they'll get out and be all over your house. You should let them hatch in a seperate cage with small holes on the top... then I guess you'd want to let them free. There is going to be a lot of them... don't think you'd want to keep them all. I also think that the mother might eat them (I'm not positive about this, but seem to remember my teacher saying something to this effect... course it was 15 years ago...)

Answer 3

Praying Mantis Nest

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
My sons Praying Mantis laid what looks like a egg sac what do I do now?
its a 2" foam looking pod resembling a hornets nest, has anyone delt with this before. Any insight, links and or what not would be helpful, also it shares a aquarium with 3 lizards, two 5 lined skinks and 1 broadhead skink. they seem to cohabitate well for now but I suspect this will change?

Answer 5

Everyone's giving you good advice! I've never known anyone who had 300 mantids hatch from one ootheca though, there are usually more like 100, give or take a couple of dozen!

They really are tiny though - HOW tiny will depend on the size of your mantis! As a guide, my mantids are now adults, and they're between 8 & 10 cm (3 and a quarter to 4 inches) in length. As newly hatched nymphs they were not quite 1 cm long (about 1 third of an inch) not including their antennae!

They're amazing creatures though, and it's great fun to watch them grow - moulting and eating ... sometimes eating their brothers and sisters though, that's not such fun to see!

As for the lizards and skinks, I suspect that the current peaceful state relies in part on the similar SIZES of all your pets, and in part on the plentiful food supply you must give them! When your mantis becomes weak as she gets older she'll probably get eaten. Or, if she's extra hungry after laying her ootheca, she might eat a slightly smaller lizard - or at least it's tail..! Alternatively, if your lizards are still growing, they'll probably eat her when it suits them.

She should lay another ootheca too, although some females are so overwhelmed by their first that they just fade away and die ... but in theory, barring mishaps, she should eat well and then lay at least one more!

Do you know if she mated? If you found her AFTER she got her wings, then she might have done, but if you've had her in captivity since before her final moult then you will know if she's mated. If she didn't, then it's highly unlikely that there'll be any nymphs next Spring / Summer. I know SOME species can do it, but most can't. It's worth keeping the ootheca though, just in case!!

Give it a few days to dry out, then move it carefully. Preferably leave it attached to whatever it's glued to, failing that cut carefully as close as possible to the object it's glued to.

If these mantids live wild in your area, you can hang it on a bush or something in your garden - or a pot plant on your veranda, whatever! If not, keep it in fairly cool, quite airy conditions until Spring, then put it in the fridge (in a container with a few holes in the lid) for a couple of weeks. They need a 'Winter'. Then take it out, and let it hatch in it's own time! Put it in a jar or something, with a fine-mesh or netting top! Don't just poke holes in the lid of the jar, it won't let enough air in..! They'll need lots of food - fruit flies are ideal at first..!

Here's a site with info on hatching your ooth,
http://www.mantisuk.com/keeping/oothecas.asp
but please remember that a lot of this won't be necessary if your mantis is native to your country of residence, or if you have central heating - I'm talking heat mats mainly, although the humidity gauge seems a bit OTT to me, but then I have the advantage of knowing that there are relatives of MY pet mantids living just a hundred yards away, frolicking gaily in the grasses - and dodging the lawnmowers ...

Answer 6

I read an article on this somewhere...there was a picture of this egg sac thing and a heck a lot of these bugs came crawling out of the many holes,,,,did it mate? cuz if it did and when it hatches you're gonna have a bunch of these bugs running around...

i suggest moving you're other organisms

btw isnt keeping praying mantis illegal in the U.S?

Answer 7

She isn't in her natural environment, so she won't show natural behaviour. First of all, after mating she would have eaten the male. It's the ritual they carry out after mating, and she needs energy to start making eggs. She also needs the food they naturally eat - they're known to eat frogs, lizards, birds, etc. Let her go back where she belongs otherwise she'll die

Answer 8

Cool.....let 'em hatch and then claim them as dependants on your tax return. 300 dependants.....that is cause for a big return, eh?

Seriously -
What a great learning experience for your son.

Answer 9

Omelette?

Answer 10

nothing, it will hatch on its own