# Mantis' eyes suddenly black??



## justkelly (Aug 10, 2013)

Hi there,

We went out just for a couple of hours and I left our 6 week old mantis in the window sill with the window open. Normally, I wouldn't do that because he's in a netted container and I'm careful about the cold. When we came home, I gave him a little pin dot of honey (he already ate today), and he appeared to not readily go for it, as usual. I then got a better look at his face and his eyes were black! Just suddenly. He molted about 12 days ago and he has been active and fine - eating and stuff. As I searched this forum, his eyes stayed black. So I put a couple of wingless flies in with him to test for blindness. At first I was sure he was blind because he didn't notice one right underneath him. He did make an attempt to grab a fly. He missed and did not pursue it, though he really shouldn't be hungry at all. All of the sudden, now his eyes are back to their normal appearance, though they did stay black even in the bright kitchen lighting.

Nothing out of the ordinary except sitting near the open window for two hours. By the way, the whole time I've typed this, he's been grooming. I would think he's fine except for the extended time of black eyes. Thanks much for your in"sight," ha. I'm trying not to get too attached but, well... too late for that!


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## hibiscusmile (Aug 10, 2013)

mine get black when I am mad!


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## Termite48 (Aug 10, 2013)

It is difficult to get a serious reply these days about something like this health question. It is best to not put too much hope in getting real help here. It does happen, but most of the time it is not going to happen readily. Good luck with your mantid. Perhaps it is a defense against too bright light.


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## sally (Aug 10, 2013)

Maybe he was rubbing against the screen? Sometimes captive mantids get black circles on their eyes. I believe they can still see though... I have a picture of one of mine that had the circles of black, I will try to find it....


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## sally (Aug 10, 2013)

Found it! 

 Does it look like this, or is it the whole eye?


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## justkelly (Aug 10, 2013)

What a cool picture, wow! No, it was the whole eyes, both. I'm wondering if it has to do with having been in the dark, though I feel like putting him in bright light would have forced a reflex to go back to the usual pin dots. In any case, they went back to normal and he ate great today, so I just don't know!?


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## lancaster1313 (Aug 10, 2013)

justkelly said:


> What a cool picture, wow! No, it was the whole eyes, both. I'm wondering if it has to do with having been in the dark, though I feel like putting him in bright light would have forced a reflex to go back to the usual pin dots. In any case, they went back to normal and he ate great today, so I just don't know!?


It is normal for mantids' eyes to darken in low light conditions. The eyes don't seem to change as fast as a human's do when our pupils react to different lighting conditions. Sounds completely normal.


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## MandellaMandy123 (Aug 10, 2013)

likebugs said:


> It is normal for mantids' eyes to darken in low light conditions. The eyes don't seem to change as fast as a human's do when our pupils react to different lighting conditions. Sounds completely normal.


I second that. Their eyes will stay dark even after an hour in bright light. They don't change very fast.


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## justkelly (Aug 10, 2013)

Thanks you guys, so much. That's so interesting - and good to know! I've kept a close eye all day and he truly seems perfectly fine. Whew.


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## Jinx (Aug 11, 2013)

Actually, this happened to me over the weekend and had me a bit worried. At some point the bottom of one of my mantids' eyes turned black. I'm not sure what caused it, but I had taken her out for a bit the night before. After a while, the eye went back to normal. Was quite odd, but I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one who experienced this.


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## Domanating (Aug 11, 2013)

I had one mantis that decided to have dark eyes permanently for some reason. He wasn't blind or anything. He could hunt and lived a long life for male standards. The switch of eye color apparently happened in one night and he never changed back. He had lots of light from 2 windows and even direct sunlight for a couple of hours alongside with 6 other enclosures.

This is the only picture I have of him with regular colored eyes. Not the best angle but it's clear that the eye color matches the rest of the body.







This is him some days later with permanent dark eyes


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## justkelly (Aug 11, 2013)

Domanating said:


> I had one mantis that decided to have dark eyes permanently for some reason. He wasn't blind or anything. He could hunt and lived a long life for male standards. The switch of eye color apparently happened in one night and he never changed back. He had lots of light from 2 windows and even direct sunlight for a couple of hours alongside with 6 other enclosures.
> 
> This is the only picture I have of him with regular colored eyes. Not the best angle but it's clear that the eye color matches the rest of the body.
> 
> ...


Your pictures are flat out amazing, Domanating. Holy smokes on the focus - so awesome!


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## justkelly (Aug 11, 2013)

That's so interesting that yours would go all-black like that and yet still be able to see. I'm learning so much about mantises on this forum, yet so many things point back to how little we know! By the way, I did want to tell you guys following this thread that ours molted last night - big time. I noticed his eyes have gone black once since Friday, yet they returned back to normal and remain so. I think it does follow a pattern of low lighting. I need reading glasses, so this could have happened before at night and I just couldn't see it without glasses.


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## Domanating (Aug 12, 2013)

justkelly said:


> Your pictures are flat out amazing, Domanating. Holy smokes on the focus - so awesome!


You think my pics are good? I feel flattered, but you haven't seen nothing yet. Check the "mantid photos" forum and you'll see brilliant pics. One of the most notable macros are made by a member named Precarious.


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