Chinese mantis panic attack?

[MantidDan]

I thought that one of my Chinese mantids was going to molt today so i put some fruit flies in a small container to see if she would eat them. She didn't eat them but all of a sudden fruit flies were crawling all over her face legs and body. She then started to flip over on her back over and over again. At that moment i decided to get her out of the container so i shook the fruit flies off of her and she fell to the ground. I noticed that when she fell to the ground her abdomen was pulsating very very rapidly like she was panicking, she also wouldn't move very much at all. It then took about 10 minutes for the pulsating to settle but she still wouldn't move. i then had to leave to release some other mantids. She seems fine now because she has moved to the top. I wonder if it is possible for mantids to have panic attacks?

 

[sueb4653]

Never had that happen but I do get them slapping food away when they are not hungrey or getting ready to molt

 

[stacy]

Idk about that , but my Chinese is a weirdo too, sometimes it acts pretty spastic. Maybe they are related

 

[MantidDan]

It may be molting time because it was swatting at a grasshopper earlier and it has not eaten for like 3 days.I hope it molts very soon because it is slightly behind the others.

 

[Rick]

It is probably just a response to the flies crawling on her. I've seen them twitch when a fly got on them. Maybe it was just sensory overload? I would personally leave her be if a molt is coming. You want to minimize stress during this time.

 

[MantidDan]

She has a black dot under one of her eyes. My theory is that she has little sight in one of her eyes but has full sight in the other because it takes her a while to see my hand. How can i test to she is partially blind. I was also going to let her go today but I feel like she needs me now. She may be molting soon although she is accepting bananas and water so idk.

 

[Crazy4mantis]

My ghost just sat perfectly still with a fly on it's leg, once.

 

[MantidDan]

She just molted, i have not tested the vision after the molt yet.

 

[Saebjorn9]

could ya update us about the vision? One of my mantises had a slight dent in her right eye one day, not sure how it happened. Turned slightly cloudy and then dissipated shortly after, but the dent is still there. Everything is fine, wondering if molts can repair eye injuries!

 

[Krissim Klaw]

Even bugs can be freaked out by bugs crawling on them.

 

[MantidDan]

Well i am not certain she is blind but she has a black dot on her lower eye and she responded better when i put a finger in front of her other eye which makes me think that some of her cells(what ever you call them) in her eye are damaged but not to the point of blindness. I noticed the dot after her big freak out which makes me think that something happened there to cause it. I don't have any updates on the vision yet because she just molted and i don't want to touch her.