Idolomantis diabolica
22.06.09
My 1st ootheca from my 1st generation adults was constructed this morning.
Female only mated once so will have to see if this was enough?
The parents of these, now adult mantids were multi mated with an approximately 50% hatch rate, ie 3 out of 6 0othecae hatched and some of the hatches were better than others. One egg mass producing about 6 nymphs, another about 14 and the last to hatch produced about 45-50 nymphs. This fluctuation was probably down to my incubation rather than any fault of the animals.
These ootheca took approx two months to hatch.