# RIP Idolomantis :(



## captainmerkin

Got home today and found my Idolomantis hanging upside down with only 1 leg remaining out of all 6 limbs..

totally no idea what happened other than it fell to pieces as all its body parts were underneath it on the floor.

Seemed totally dried to a crisp somehow and was still hanging on by one leg oddly.. but dead.

Real shame, gorgeous mantis for which I had high hopes... perhaps was deseased as it did loose one of its legs after its last shed.

Oh well at least the others are all doing swimmingly


----------



## OGIGA

That's interesting. Everybody has been saying that their mantises are dying and all in weird ways. Is this something that happens more frequently in the summer?


----------



## Asa

It must be the heat, drying up all the humidity.


----------



## Rob Byatt

Sorry for your loss mate.

Was the mantis very limp by any chance ? What have you been feeding it ?

It will not be too dry for them.

Rob.


----------



## captainmerkin

This mantis was not too dry, I kept it with a dry enclosure but sprayed it 1 - 2 times a week, it is my understanding that idolomantis require a dry habitat.

Its diet consisted of moths and butterflies caught in my garden and bought just for it as well as the odd small locust.

It was very well fed to say the least, appeared healthy right until the end apart from the one missing leg which did not seem to bother it in the slightest.

I am baffled about why it fell to peices but I guess sometimes they just die.


----------



## Rob Byatt

> Was the mantis very limp by any chance ?


What I'm trying to get at here is the possibiltiy of a bacterial/microsporidian infection. If it was very limp and soft, it COULD point to either of these. Plus you say you fed it locusts.....


----------



## captainmerkin

> Was the mantis very limp by any chance ?
> 
> 
> 
> What I'm trying to get at here is the possibiltiy of a bacterial/microsporidian infection. If it was very limp and soft, it COULD point to either of these. Plus you say you fed it locusts.....
Click to expand...

I quess there is a posibility but id did not seem at all limp or infected, and certainly had none of the usual black marks indicating this.

In its life it only really had 2 - 3 very small 2nd instar locusts, definately more fond of the butterflies and moths!


----------



## colddigger

pics!!  

but yeah, that's quite a loss there...


----------



## captainmerkin

> pics!!  but yeah, that's quite a loss there...


no pics I am afraid, the little bugger got put in the compost.


----------



## colddigger

aw

that's too bad


----------



## Christian

By the way, spraying them once or twice a week isn't sufficient. It just works for smaller larvae. I spray them every day or every second day in the evening. They require a moderate to rather high (adults) humidity.

Regards,

Christian


----------



## Fisherman_Brazil

Certainly agree you gentlemen at some extend.

Please remember that there are different geological locations. For instant, at South Dakota, where I resided for number of years, constant humidity at about 60 or below, but back to Taiwan, 70-80 %RH is quite normal. It will be more precise to mention daily misting with information of the regular RH. Otherwise, one could mis-understand and as a consequence, wrong action could possibly done.

Luke


----------



## Asa

Luke is right.


----------



## Christian

Ok, so I use 50-90% for larvae (day 50, night 70-90%) and 80-100% for adults. Idolomantis are from moist to semi-moist savannas.

Regards,

Christian


----------



## Asa

I always kept them at low humidity, and they seemed fine. Not a death yet.


----------



## Ian

> I always kept them at low humidity, and they seemed fine. Not a death yet.


Likewise, I kept mine at fairly low humidity, sprayed them probably once per week. This was from about L3, to L6.

The batch I had before seemed to develop a fungal infection, whereby their limbs turned black, and they simply died. This is why I tried the lower humidity the second time around.


----------



## Birdfly

> By the way, spraying them once or twice a week isn't sufficient. It just works for smaller larvae. I spray them every day or every second day in the evening. They require a moderate to rather high (adults) humidity.Ok, so I use 50-90% for larvae (day 50, night 70-90%) and 80-100% for adults. Idolomantis are from moist to semi-moist savannas.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Christian


This makes some sense, although i must admit to keeping mine around 50-60% RH for most of the time as nymphs. Moulting was always quick and unproblematic.

Would you say then that the savanna has a dry season through which the nymphs live/grow, emerging later as adults to time with a wetter season, would explain the adult colour change?

Sorry to go on but do you know the habitat _I diabolica_ prefers, the grasses, shrubs trees etc or are they sort of cosmopolitan within there range  

cheers

ps my female seems proper at home in the greenhouse which is always humid, loves the sun.


----------



## babynik14

mines an adult and i spray her 1-2 times a day and she is great.. she doesnt live ina cage though she just lives in my plant


----------

