Ootheca Mantidis — the dried egg case (ootheca) of a praying mantis, recorded from Tenodera sinensis Saussure, Statilia maculata Thunberg or Hierodula patellifera Serville (family Mantidae). An insect-derived drug.
Nature and flavour. Sweet and salty, neutral. Liver and Kidney systems.
An insect product used as an astringent, and one of the small number of animal drugs in the Chinese materia medica that are still traded in volume. The sources record it for the same cluster as the other kidney-securing drugs: frequent urination, enuresis in children, and involuntary loss of semen. It is the classical core of a formula whose name is still used in Chinese practice for enuresis, and it is normally processed by steaming before use. Because it is an animal material of variable origin, the literature is more consistent about the processing requirement than about the drug itself, and the clinical claims are not established.
性味归经。甘、咸，平。归肝、肾经。
一味以虫类产物作收涩用的药，也是中药里仍有大批量交易的少数动物药之一。文献记载它用于与其它固肾药相同的那一类：尿频、小儿遗尿、失精。它是一首方名的核心药，该方名在当代中医实践中仍用于遗尿，入药前通常须蒸制。由于它是来源不定的动物材料，文献对炮制要求的一致程度高于对该药本身，其临床主张尚未被证实。
炮制在这里就是安全问题，而且不是可选项：生卵鞘含有活卵，是寄生虫与真菌污染的可能载体，这正是古典方法要蒸制或炒制至虫卵被杀死的原因。未经处理的材料不应服用。它是昆虫蛋白，属潜在过敏原，对昆虫、甲壳类或尘螨过敏者是合理的谨慎人群。药典记载的物种并不必然是你能买到的物种：螳螂种类随地域不同，野外采集的材料可能被误认或替代。昆虫材料还涉及检疫问题——跨境携带动物源药材可能需要许可，也可能被拒。孕期、哺乳期与儿童，未经执业者评估不宜使用。