# SCARED TO DEATH



## darkspeed (May 25, 2008)

Well I must say I have been very disappointed in the larger mantid species... for their size, the big guys sure seem awfully fragile. Especially Rhombodera Basilis &amp; Clinea Humeralis. After reading time after time about what beasts they are I have been unpleasantly surprised at how easy they just up and die for no apparent reason. They were always kept in identical conditions along with several other small mantids who have remained perfectly healthy, and though is seems cliché, I have no choice but to blame damned tainted pet shop crickets as the cause of death... That is except for the last one.............................................................................

My Rhombodera Basilis female stuck it out to adulthood and after molting went about 5 days without eating, even though there was a medium sized cricket that I had managed to raise myself crawling around in the bottom of its enclosure. She just hung around at the top and paid no attention to the cricket. So then day before yesterday I managed to catch a bluebottle that had been buzzing around the house and I figured since she wouldn't go to her prey I would give her something that would go to her. Upon loosing the fly within her enclosure *she completely freaked out*. *She went immediately into ultimate defense pose and started fluttering her wings violently. After only a few seconds of this she fell from her perch at the top of the enclosure to the bottom (approx. 8 inches) where she landed on her back. There she stayed with her legs curled inwards twitching and fluttering her wings*. She remained like that for quite some time before I finally reached in there and got her out. She remained however in that catatonic state twitching every so often. External stimulation had little to no effect and she never regained "consciousness". Eventually she stopped twitching as well as breathing, so I pronounced her dead, and I went ahead and pinned her for drying.

It is such a shame that one revered as being a monster of a mantis went out with such dishonor, scared to death by a harmless little fly.... I think from now on I'll stick to the smaller flower mantids... At least they aren't afraid of their own food. &lt;_&lt;


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## macro junkie (May 25, 2008)

i stoped feeding crickets to my mantids,,to many of my mantids die on them..i only use flys now..i get threw alot of maggots but at least i know if the mantid dies its not the food  sinse feeding on just flys i havent had a problem.. when i was using crickets and run out i had to go to the petshop every now and then to buy some..there in packs of 50-100 in a small plastic container..theres weeterbixs in there and thats it..no water.no apple..they just leave them there if they dont get bought the crickets die..they dont get cleaned out either..there is 1 or 2 online suppliers that sells healthy crickets but i just stick with flys now.


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## Rick (May 25, 2008)

Never had issues with the large ones. They always seem so much easier to keep. It is not crickets in genaral that is the problem but rather crickets kept in poor conditions in many pet stores. Get your crickets from a reputable online breeder and I bet you won't have anymore issues, I don't and I feed 90% crickets.


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## darkspeed (May 25, 2008)

I believe you Rick... I never had issues with crickets that I had raised myself.

Still, crickets had nothing to do with my R.B. Female dying of fright.


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## pondscum (May 30, 2008)

DARKSPEED,

You know, the same thing happened to a large centipede that I found in my basement. I caught it in a yogurt container, but suddenly it just flopped to the bottom and stopped moving. I dumped it out on my desk and watched it, but it just kept lying there, twitching occasionally. Other than the twitching, there was no movement or anything like that to suggest it was alive, so I assumed it was some kind of post-mortem twitch. I dumped it outside. I can't help wondering what causes this... Dying of fright is _fairly_ uncommon in most animals, especially bugs, so was that centipede just old and ready to die?


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## Christian (May 31, 2008)

@Rick: as we still don't know what species you refer to, repeating all the time that crickets are not a problem or denying that there is an infection spreading doesn't really help solve the problem.

@darkspeed: mantids aren't scared of their own food. Especially _Rh. basalis_ is sensitive to both infected crickets and bad climatic conditions (most people keep them too warm). If they got a problem, they stop feeding and eventually die, if they not regurgitate first. Alternatively, a sickness can be achieved as larva and delayed until a later instar or adulthood. Nevertheless, they will never reproduce and die soon then. The _valida/basalis_ I had were never scared of flies and successfully captured adult locusts and large roaches.


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## darkspeed (May 31, 2008)

Christian said:


> @darkspeed: mantids aren't scared of their own food. Especially _Rh. basalis_ is sensitive to both infected crickets and bad climatic conditions (most people keep them too warm). If they got a problem, they stop feeding and eventually die, if they not regurgitate first. Alternatively, a sickness can be achieved as larva and delayed until a later instar or adulthood. Nevertheless, they will never reproduce and die soon then. The _valida/basalis_ I had were never scared of flies and successfully captured adult locusts and large roaches.


She appeared to be healthy. Though she did not pay attention to the cricket at the bottom of her enclosure she made many attempts to get my fingers when I touched the outside of the plastic container she was in. Her eyes were clear and she acted normal and alert... until I introduced the fly to her and then she literally went crazy and died.


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## Precious (May 31, 2008)

Rick said:


> Never had issues with the large ones. They always seem so much easier to keep. It is not crickets in genaral that is the problem but rather crickets kept in poor conditions in many pet stores. Get your crickets from a reputable online breeder and I bet you won't have anymore issues, I don't and I feed 90% crickets.


I wanted to thank you for the oatmeal substrate tip for crix. The smell is virtually neutralized and mortality rate is almost zero. It's awesome! I feed them Fluker's and it's all good.



Christian said:


> @Rick: as we still don't know what species you refer to, repeating all the time that crickets are not a problem or denying that there is an infection spreading doesn't really help solve the problem.


Christian! Greetings my friend, it's been awhile - hope you are well! Clearly Rick has had no issues with crix and is just sharing his positive experience. I myself use crix extensively. Once in awhile, I'll get a sick mantid - throwing up. Without exception, taking the mantid off of crix altogether and putting him on a diet of flies or moths restores health. What is this "vomit" and why does it happen?

I've never had trouble with big mantids, I love them! I feed the Chinese and Giant Asians giant bumble bees and they can't get enough. I'm not so sure I believe a mantid is scared to death. There's a degree of uncertainty for mantid hobbyists, as necropsy isn't always practiced nor would it always produce an answer. The bug freaked out and died - could have been anything.


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