# o.o What the heck?



## Mantida (Oct 5, 2007)

Okay, I took my adult male P. Ocellata out for a photoshoot. I held him for a bit, and he started flapping his wings like he wanted to fly. Except that he didn't get airborne. He just stood there flapping his wings really fast, stopping occasionally and starting again. I was about to take a picture of his wings like that, but then I saw him flick his abdomen and some LIQUID landed on my arm. His waste-disposal-hole (  ) was a light blue... I put him back and by that time the liquid that landed on my arm was gone. It was as if he was using his wing flapping to eject something. 

Has this ever happened to anyone before? :blink: 

Edit; no it was not diarrhea. It wasn't brown, otherwise I would have been able to see it on my arm easily. Also, the liquid that got on my arm was like a tiny drop. Not like some huge torrential rainfall.


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## Mantida (Oct 5, 2007)

Hm. His anus seems a tinted blue color. So I don't think that has anything to do with the liquid.

Why is he flapping his wings like this though.... and not flying?


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## Gurd (Oct 5, 2007)

mantida said:


> Why is he flapping his wings like this though.... and not flying?


How long has he been mature? I would guess he is strengthening his wing muscles before his maiden flight.


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## asdsdf (Oct 5, 2007)

mantida said:


> Hm. His anus seems a tinted blue color. So I don't think that has anything to do with the liquid.Why is he flapping his wings like this though.... and not flying?


Not sure about the blue liquid, but did you get your male from Yen? I did, and it does the same thing. I think perhaps that general DNA tree doesn't let them fly.(I like it that way.) Then again, how long does it take for a mature male to mature enough to fly?


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## Christian (Oct 6, 2007)

_Pseudocreobotra_ do this sometimes, not only males but also females. It's not quite clear yet, why. If he wanted to fly, he would have done it. One really curious thing about those.

Regards,

Christian


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## Peter Clausen (Oct 6, 2007)

I'm not sure, but it sounds a lot like it could be his "startle display". When adult mantids are being bothered, they will often open and close their wings very quickly. Between the sudden movements, their sometimes-bright underwings and the thrashing sound that's created when their wings rub together, it's enough to surprise any over-confident predator.

We're seeing a lot of these posts with mantids ejecting some kind of liquid. Interesting, as I don't recall observing this phenomenon personally, but it seems to be fairly common.

Peter


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## Mantida (Oct 6, 2007)

Gurd said:


> How long has he been mature? I would guess he is strengthening his wing muscles before his maiden flight.


Probably about 2 days. He did suddenly take off from my finger later that night.



asdsdf said:


> Not sure about the blue liquid, but did you get your male from Yen? I did, and it does the same thing. I think perhaps that general DNA tree doesn't let them fly.(I like it that way.) Then again, how long does it take for a mature male to mature enough to fly?


Yes I did get my Ocellata from Yen. But maybe like Christian said, they do it sometimes?

@Peter; I didn't make any sudden movements, and his wing flapping lasted up to a minute until he started another round. Very peculiar about the liquid ejecting... he hasn't done it again but I'm pretty sure I felt liquid on my arm.... unless I'm delusional of course, which probably could have happened.


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## yen_saw (Oct 6, 2007)

Hmmm... actually i have yet to see any of my _P. Ocellata _did that. Maybe just me not paying attention.


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## hibiscusmile (Oct 6, 2007)

Me either, nor am I in any hurry to experience it either :lol:


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## jplelito (Nov 18, 2007)

Just a thought to add to this post - the other day I tried to air out my apartment a bit when it was in the 50's (warm for PA in Nov.!) and I noticed that almost all of my _Pseudocreobotra_ were doing this as the house cooled off - and I know a lot of moths and bees 'shiver' their wings to warm up prior to flight - maybe this species just does the wing fluttering to warm up? I didn't bother them any more than usual so they weren't threatened, but the fact that 3 males and 2 out of the 5 girls were all doing it within a few minutes of each other makes me think they caught a chill. Curious why other mantids don't do it as much, but I've seen a male_ Hymenopus_ do it before.


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## MikhailsDinos (Nov 18, 2007)

My male Pseudocreobotra Wahlbergii does the same thing. On a hot day it cools me down.


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## asdsdf (Nov 18, 2007)

Here's one of my female P. ocellata doing it.


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## Mantis Keeper (Nov 19, 2007)

My male PW does it too occasionally. It's not a startle thing because it actually woke me up on night doing that and there was nothing moving the house. I agree that it may be temperature, my house can get kinda chilly at night, though I do make sure it stays warm enough for my mantids.


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## macro junkie (Nov 19, 2007)

my giant asain mantis has done this to me 3 times! when i got her out and took some pics after a bit she got mo0oy and shot piss at me..lol..thats what i thought it was any way?


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## Mantida (Nov 19, 2007)

macro junkie said:


> my giant asain mantis has done this to me 3 times! when i got her out and took some pics after a bit she got mo0oy and shot piss at me..lol..thats what i thought it was any way?


That's a threat posture, not wing fanning. Does she fan her wings or just straighten them out so they're upright?

All mantids basically straighten their wings out so they're upright to make them look bigger (and badder) to the predator or threat.


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## macro junkie (Nov 19, 2007)

MikhailsDinos said:


> My male Pseudocreobotra Wahlbergii does the same thing. On a hot day it cools me down.


Nice capture!


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## AFK (Nov 20, 2007)

what is the "o.o" in the beginning of the thread title???


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## asdsdf (Nov 20, 2007)

Lol, it's a face like this: :blink:


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## Mantida (Nov 21, 2007)

AFK said:


> what is the "o.o" in the beginning of the thread title???


It's a text smiley like asdsf said  

The first o is the eye, the . is the mouth, and the other o is the other eye.

The :blink: is more like   

But getting back on topic...

My females and males get this white stuff all over their containers. The sides are covered in little dots, like water droplets, that are pure white in color. I cleaned them yesterday, and this morning I found more on the sides. Mold doesn't grow that fast. I think it's something they're expelling. And some of my other mantids are kept in the same containers (32 oz.) with the same ventilation system, and they don't get those white dots all over the sides of their cups.


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## Morpheus uk (Nov 21, 2007)

Could it be ######?

My female had some kind of bad diorea and died &lt;_&lt;


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## Mantida (Nov 21, 2007)

Morpheus uk said:


> Could it be ######?My female had some kind of bad diorea and died &lt;_&lt;


No, diarrhea is brown or black... this is white.


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