Any mantis experts?

Towards the end of May, I spotted a female mantis in my garden. I watched her for a while, and to my surprise she laid an ootheca right in front of me.

I should have taken some pics of her then, but I'm pretty sure she was a Common Green African Mantis (Sphodromantis gastrica).

I have a few questions now:
1) Do they lay more than one ootheca in their lifetime? How long do the adult mantids normally live?
(I promptly fed the mantis off to my cham after she laid the ootheca - I'm wondering if I should have left her to produce more)

2) I've read on the 'net that in generally, mantis babies usually emerge from the ootheca in about 2-4 weeks. It's been about 7 weeks now - I've been keeping an eye on it ever since she laid it, but haven't seen anything yet.
I know that they sometimes lay infertile oothecas, but it is winter now, and temps have been relatively cold (for here). Do they perhaps take longer to 'incubate' over winter periods? (I'm assuming the 2-4 weeks quoted are at ideal temps in captivity).
How can I tell if the ootheca is fertile or not, and whether the eggs are still in there.

3) How hard is it to raise/breed mantids? I know a few of you do it. Do you feed them fruit flies? Apparently this species feeds almost exclusively on caterpillars. I was thinking of using baby silkies as food.
Got any links to some good caresheets?
I've done a bit of searching on the internet

I've attached a photo of the ootheca, which still remains in my garden.

Tygerr said:

Towards the end of May, I spotted a female mantis in my garden. I watched her for a while, and to my surprise she laid an ootheca right in front of me.

I should have taken some pics of her then, but I'm pretty sure she was a Common Green African Mantis (Sphodromantis gastrica).

I have a few questions now:

I've read on the 'net that in generally, mantis babies usually emerge from the ootheca in about 2-4 weeks. It's been about 7 weeks now - I've been keeping an eye on it ever since she laid it, but haven't seen anything yet.
I know that they sometimes lay infertile oothecas, but it is winter now, and temps have been relatively cold (for here). Do they perhaps take longer to 'incubate' over winter periods? (I'm assuming the 2-4 weeks quoted are at ideal temps in captivity).

How can I tell if the ootheca is fertile or not, and whether the eggs are still in there.

Since it is winter, they should be in the ooth longer.
What you can do is carefully remove the ooth, and then put it in a jar with excelsior. Glue gun it to a twig (low heat). and put a basking bulb and spray it once a day to induce hatching. Check mantisplace.com.

3) How hard is it to raise/breed mantids? I know a few of you do it.
I've only raised the common one and it;s quite easy.

Do you feed them fruit flies?
yes.

Click to expand...

Taken from mantisplace.com

COMMON AFRICAN MANTIS

Sphodromantis lineola The African mantis is a medium-large mantis reaching 3 to 4 inches long with a bulky appearance. Colors can be tans, browns, and greens. This mantis is a hunter of its food, and will not hesitate to run after an escaping meal!

Food - The prey must have movement to trigger the hunt, so crickets, flies, moths, and butterflies are good food sources.

Water - Until the mantis reaches adulthood, spray every other day. Once the mantis reaches adulthood (the wings finally appear), the mantis will get most of the water from the food, so you may reduce spraying to about once every other week.

Housing - Temperature should be about 75 degrees, but this mantis can live in a wide range of temperatures, so indoors it typically needs no heat source. Humidity should be about 55% which will be needed for molting. A screen top for air also serves as the mantis’ favorite resting place. For molting, the container needs to be 2 to 3 times the length of the mantis for room to “crawl out of the old skin.” This mantis is cannibalistic, so only one per container.

Difficulty - This is the best mantis for a beginner because of the wide range of temperature it can endure, and the reduced watering needs.

Summary - If you want an aggressive, large, minimal care mantis that is a hunting machine, then the African Mantis is for you. If you want more information on Mantis, visit https://www.chameleonforums.com/any-mantis-experts-13415/www.mantidforum.com.

this is for ooth care:
http://www.mantisplace.com/hangff.html

usamantis.com is also a really great site for buying mantids and they have some good care sheets up there as well.