I started keeping this species about 2 years ago; I received 3 pairs, the female were mated before but I continue to mate the female after laying her first ootheca. I found out that it is difficult to initiate mating without additional heat. I failed several times in pairing this species, so I decided to increase the heat in the closet to around 100 F and they resumed mating almost immediately. But when I added more food in the cage, it appeared to distract the mating process (Female will be interested to food), so it is always better to let the mating pair together without food, it is especially true if the pair has not been connected yet.
After about 5 weeks of incubation, I have lot of nymphs hatching out, they are really small at around 5 mm each; However, they are capable of handling small fruit flies. After couple of months, I sold out most of the extra nymphs but kept about a dozen to myself as breeding stock. The ootheca stops to hatch after the 5th ooth. I did not re-mate my female as none of my male survive longer than 3 months. However, female continued to live and laid infertile ooth.
My new generation of devil flower matured into adult early 2006, but unfortunately, after mating, female produces infertile ooth that never hatched. I lost all devil flower mantis soon after.
Currently, I have few ootheca from Germany, hoping to raise this species again for at least one generation.
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