Antenna Rot???

[agent A]

hello all, i noticed this odd black spot and black antenna atop the head of one of my 2 male Hierodula multispina, is he gonna be ok?

thanx! i also noticed the antenna is slightly foreward on his head

anyone seen this before?

 

[Idolofreak]

Really weird. :huh: Never seen that before. It could be a fungus or something like that (Based on some other posts I've seen). But don't listen to me, I don't know a whole lot in this department either!

 

[Rick]

Looks like the typical black rot. I expect it will spread and kill it.

 

[agent A]

Looks like the typical black rot. I expect it will spread and kill it.

what causes it? I just got him Wednesday and he ate and was fine

 

[agent A]

He died

 

[Domanating]

Wow fast death. I'm sorry to hear that m8, specially if the mantis wasn't even fully grown yet. Sad to see a young die...

That's the weirdest place for the black death to appear i've ever seen. I think this disease is still a mystery of why and how it appears. I recently had an adult female that died with a nasty infection in the abdomen, slowly turning black, caused by this same illness i guess.

As far as i know the insect's defenses are unable to stop some cancer like rotting process of some kind. As soon as it reaches an important area of the bug, all the bacteria spread throughout the body with ease, causing a very quick death. In your case it might have destroyed the nervous system. I hardly believe what caused it could have anything to do with a fungus or an infection on that location. I wonder if it has something to do with the wrong place of the antennae?

 

[agent A]

I also had a female die today, the infection started under a wingbud

 

[Domanating]

Yeah i had a male dying like that too. This disease is really annoying, it's about 40% cause of mantid deaths in my case. i wonder if it's because of being in captivity, I never found any mantis in the wild developing such thing. Maybe it's because they die early (obviously) but still makes me wonder.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

The only time I have seen this issue crop up in my mantises is with ones I have gotten in the mail. They are often extremely lethargic and die within 24 hours of arriving. I can't help but think over humidity and heat can play a role since both of those seemed to be factors in the cases I've experienced.

 

[agent A]

I got them in the mail on wednesday, I hope the others turn out fine and to give u an idea of how fast the infection surges through the mantis, u have to imagine this cause I wasn't able to photograph it, imagina u get home at noon, open a package with your creobroter pictipennis nymphs and when u go upstairs to put them in new cages u look at your hierodula multispina nymphs and a male is looking into the cage of a female and u see her in a molting position, but she isn't mismolted or anything, a slight move of the cage and she drops to the ground, already dead, bloated abdomen and a tiny black dot under a wingbud

Then, at 9pm, less than 12 hours later, everything but the abdominal segments are black

I first though it might be the flies, but the popa and pseudoharpax i had for a while ate them without a problem, so I can rule that out, so maybe the trip in the mail didn't go well, maybe a mailman dropped the box and stirred them up or something, I couldn't tell u, i can only give the survivors time and hope for the best

I wish I took pics to show the spread of the infection in the nymph, would've made a good reference

I am not mad at the infection, WHATEVER caused the infection was just trying to sustain itself by living off the mantis tissues, not every nymph survives sadly but I guess that's nature

Thanx for your help

 

[PhilinYuma]

I remember, Agent A, that years ago, when you were a Much Younger Fellow, you kept your mantids in plastic food containers that I always thought less than ideal Are you using 32oz pots now? If so, you might consider putting two portals in each pot to facilitate air circulation. I agree with KK; I find that this kind of problem is often associated with excessive moisture. If you are using 32oz pots with lots of circulation, I am at a loss.Could you describe your current setup for us? I know that you have a thermometer/hygrometer. Is it small enough to put in an empty pot to guage yr average temp and RH?

 

[agent A]

Phil, u may be on to somthing, im using 32oz pots with cloth lids, the 2 that died were in those, a few nymphs r in better vented cages, it was more a matter of wat I had on hand wen I got th, I will check with the hydrothermeter to see what conditions r like, I will also cut portals for more air

 

[Rick]

I don't know about the excessive moisture. I've had this issue when using net cages with max airflow and with things being quite dry.

 

[agent A]

U may have a point Rick, i did, in the past, use no ventilation, now all my animals r in cages with at least a ventilated lid, is it possible the mantis accidentally scratched itself while cleaning and created a wound for bacteria to get into? Just a thought, at least the other 4 r healthy

 

[meaganelise9]

Maybe it has to do with being tossed around in the mail- small injuries they wouldn't otherwise get sitting in a cage getting infected?

 

[ismart]

This turn of events is rather strange? I make sure all my mantids are inspected before i ship any out. Even if they are free! What does make this strange to me is i have never seen this particular sickness with multispinas. Or the fact that two have died from the same sickness in such a short amount of time. I suppose it's possible they suffered some rough treatment during transit? Well Alex let me know what you end up with? Worst case scenario i could send you whatever you need.

 

[agent A]

It isnt your fault, considering the broken antenna getting infected, I think a mailman dropped the package, i may need a male or 2 when they get older , good news is my favorite female molted to L6 today, they sure grow fast!!! Hey I have a question, if I feed each of them some honey will it reduce the risk of infection or no?

Thanx

 

[ismart]

Whether or not honey may help with infection is yet to be seen? I personally doubt it will have any good effect though? I suppose it won't hurt to try, The only other problem is if it does work? There will be no way of telling? :lol:

 

[agent A]

Very true, someone on UKMF said honey has antibiotic properties to it, but u have a good point, I wish we knew exactly wat causes this black rot infection so we could put a stop to it, I hope watever it is isn't harmful to humans