# Self mutilation



## Rob Byatt (Aug 25, 2006)

So it appears that one of my female Plistospilota guineensis doesn't want babies !

Actually, she knows exactly what she is doing; saving her life.

Not sure how her tibia got damaged in the first place though......


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## Rick (Aug 25, 2006)

Interesting. Never seen it happen yet. On a side note I wish those were available here.


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## Rob Byatt (Aug 25, 2006)

Well I'm glad someone likes them ! Nobody here seems to be bothered !

I have one of the biggest species in th UK and very little interest :?

Strange aint it ?


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## nympho (Aug 25, 2006)

hi rob. is that the 'giant african mantis'?

never heard of them till now. how big do they get then?

are they easy to keep


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## Rob Byatt (Aug 25, 2006)

Hi mate,

it's not the 'official' common name, but I have heard it called that before. I don't thing there is a common name.

They are very easy to keep, typical of their family really.

I've got 2 mated females, a male on anothers back as we speak and 5 more females to pair up !

If i don't get eny nymhs I'm going to give up :wink:


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## yen_saw (Aug 25, 2006)

did a cricket bite causing all this? Remember a similar post to this one a while ago but it has never happened to me before. Wonder if the mantis will also eat other parts of the body if it has a wound.

I believed Franscisco has this species for sale last year.


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## Rick (Aug 25, 2006)

I would surely get some if someone had em available here.


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## bruty2fruity (Sep 9, 2006)

how big do they get?


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## julian camilo (Sep 9, 2006)

a friend of mine had this happen with a popa spurca. also, i caught one of my gongylus females trying to do it but i stopped her. thing is it wasnt life threatening, all that happened was she was walking in a panicked way in her mesh enclosure, and the mesh is quite coarse, and got her (tibia? i dont know the scientific name for the body part, but the sharp end of the forearm, the sharp tip) caught in the mesh. she couldnt pull it out so began to try to chew herself free. i managed to help her free herself and she didnt do it again. any idea why yours would want to do it?


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## Rob Byatt (Sep 11, 2006)

bruty2fruity, they top out at 5". Pretty big !

Julian, she removed the tibia all the way down to the next joint in the end. I presume she did this because it was damaged (this is what mantids do if they have a damaged appendage). Invertebrates cannot produce repair tissue, so they have to remove the 'open wound' literally.

I have seen this on many occasions following damage by a cricket, or as you stated, if they get trapped.

The sharp spike at the end of the leg (tibia in this instance) is called the apical hook.

Rob.


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