Behavior of a Pregnant Mantis

Mating

• Although females have a reputation for eating males during reproduction, that only happens between 5 and 31 percent of the time, Feldman says, usually when the female is hungry. During mating, the male places a capsule containing his sperm into the female's reproductive tract. After mating, the female begins to swell and her abdomen will become very fat. She'll also stop flying and will eat a lot. Eggs are laid on twigs, plant stems, fence posts, rocks, buildings, or any other solid surface that will bear their weight.

Laying Eggs

• A mantis lays groups of 30 to 300 eggs in a frothy liquid that hardens into a shell. The eggs are fertilized by the stored sperm, as they pass through the females reproductive system. About two weeks after laying their eggs, the females die.

Overwintering

• It takes three to six months for the young mantises to hatch. Eggs are protected from cold temperatures by being in individual cells that provide insulation during the winter months.

Hatching

• Egg cases start hatching in the spring, after two or three weeks of warm temperatures. They may hatch over a period of several weeks or all at once.

Young

• The nymphs are only about 1/8 inch long and can be hard to see. They will molt several times and reach their full size of 6 inches in about five or six months.