# Ruffled Wings



## SkittishMale (Feb 25, 2014)

Does anyone know why the wings may not expand properly after a molt? It happens to me with some of my mantids of both genders when they mature, even when the molt was successful. As you see in the attached inage, the mantid has all of it's limbs but the wings are all ruffled. The mantis had a successful molt but when it pumped it's wings, somehow they didn't get into proper shape. Does anyone know why this happens?


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## Shadow (Feb 25, 2014)

I'm guessing not enough blood pump or air circulation. But that's just a guess


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## Sticky (Feb 25, 2014)

Inbreeding? I remember someone talking about the same thing in a yahoo group for people raising wild silkmoths. I remember the moths were Asian in origin, not North American.


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## Extrememantid (Feb 26, 2014)

Humidity was too low most likely, I think that's commonly the reason


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## Ranitomeya (Feb 26, 2014)

There could be any number of reasons, but it's most likely caused by improperly formed or damaged wing veins.


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## HungryGhost (Feb 26, 2014)

Wouldn't it be good for the hobby not to bred mantids that mis-molt or have these wing deformities? I can't help thinking that there would be a healthier captive population if these mantids had their genes removed from the pool.


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## Extrememantid (Feb 26, 2014)

HungryGhost said:


> Wouldn't it be good for the hobby not to bred mantids that mis-molt or have these wing deformities? I can't help thinking that there would be a healthier captive population if these mantids had their genes removed from the pool.


Well it doesn't effect the over all health of the mantid, it's just mainly looks I think..


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## Extrememantid (Feb 26, 2014)

Oops double post


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## SkittishMale (Feb 26, 2014)

This mantid came from the ootheca of a wild-caught female and I know I didn't inbreed the wild-caught female so I believe inbreeding isn't the cause. people inbreed mantids with no problems too I've heard. It doesn't affect the overall health or behaviour because the mantid still acts and functions the same as one with good wings. Maybe it's just poor genetics that the parent happened to have that I didn't know about. I'll keep the humidity even higher up and see if that solves it in the future.


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## SkittishMale (Feb 26, 2014)

I was thinking too that maybe the issue was simply that she fell while pumping her wings and climbed back up with her tegmin twisted from the fall.


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## kingmatt (Feb 26, 2014)

could also be a possiblilty


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## Krissim Klaw (Feb 26, 2014)

SkittishMale said:


> I was thinking too that maybe the issue was simply that she fell while pumping her wings and climbed back up with her tegmin twisted from the fall.


I seriously doubt it was a fall. Their bodies are still very delicate when they are pumping and a heavier larger mantis would end up with some major damage in a fall. There are a lot of reasons that the wings might not pump. The conditions could have been wrong, the mantis might not have had enough fluids, or structrally there could have been something off internally. It could be a poor rolling of genetics or just bad luck.


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## happy1892 (Feb 26, 2014)

SkittishMale said:


> I was thinking too that maybe the issue was simply that she fell while pumping her wings and climbed back up with her tegmin twisted from the fall.


If it fell while molting then the wings would not be so evenly ruffled probably. My mantises probably most of the time get ruffled wings from too much humidity or too dry. SkittishMale did you keep her in a wet environment?


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## devetaki9 (Feb 26, 2014)

Just my personal opinion but I don't believe ruffled wings/mismolts are related to a genetic issue at all. Seems to be an environment or specific external influence from what I've seen. Again just my opinion, my genetic work has been with mammals and birds until now.


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## happy1892 (Feb 26, 2014)

devetaki9 said:


> Just my personal opinion but I don't believe ruffled wings/mismolts are related to a genetic issue at all. Seems to be an environment or specific external influence from what I've seen. Again just my opinion, my genetic work has been with mammals and birds until now.


I think so too. It could happen from genetics though I guess. Because genetic stuff like that has been done on German Roaches.


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## SkittishMale (Feb 27, 2014)

I kept the substrate relatively moist and sprayed once a day as soon as I knew she was in premolt so I would ensure her molt was successful. I had a couple more females molt soon after and their wings formed perfectly.


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