# Can a nymph repair it's "neck" by molting?



## ChitandChat (Feb 16, 2021)

Tl;dr at the bottom

Hi everyone, I'm in a bit of a situation. My L4 rhombodera megaera, Aloe, fell off the table while I was trying to feed him. I reflexively caught him but I accidentaly pinched him between my thumb and index. This apparently caused his head to slightly dislocate from his prothorax and leaked a bubble of hemolymph.

He didn't do much afterwards besides standing and moving slightly forward when gently touched. A few hours later though he's moving around and climbing like normal. His vision also still works as he can detect prey and will try to catch. The only issue is that he can't move his head which is stuck at a slight degree downwards. 

His digestive tract is still intact as I fed him water and honey and it didn't leak out of the tear. Do you guys think he could recover and regain head movement after his subsequent molts assuming I can get him to grab onto prey and eat?

Tl;dr: L4 giant shield nymph suffered partial head dislocation. He still behaves normally and can still digest but can't move his head around. Could he recover with his next molts assuming I can get him to grab and eat prey?





UPDATE: Unfortunately Aloe couldn't make it. I woke up this morning and found him barely moving and leaning to the side. I went ahead and pulled off the head of the roach which still had guts attached. Using tweezers I placed the guts against his mouth and he barely started nibbling on it. After 10 minutes of attempted feeding with little success I decided to spritz some water in front of him and give him some time. A few hours later I found him at the bottom of his cup with only his hind legs moving senselessly. I propped him up carefully using small tweezers but he only held on using his hind legs (basically face planting). I tried to stimulate him by lightly tapping his abdomen and legs and making a light breeze but there was no reaction besides the aforementioned hind leg movement. I eventually decided it was best to just euthanize him in the freezer. I'm super bummed as now all my mantises are gone


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## Mantidfinatic13 (Feb 17, 2021)

ChitandChat said:


> Could he recover with his next molts assuming I can get him to grab and eat prey?


If thats the case then most likley he will. As long as he doesn’t have a mismolt.

If he cant catch prey the you can tear the prey item in half so the juices entice him to eat and put it up to his face and he may start nibbling it then eventually grab it. He will then eventually get used to it in a few days and you will not have to tear it in half 

good luck


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## MantisGirl13 (Feb 17, 2021)

If he's acting normally and the hemolymph clots, it should be okay.

- MantisGirl13


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