MantidLord
Well-known member
Hi everyone.
I'm currently raising Stagmomantis californica nymphs and I have a male who should be ready to molt soon (wing buds are extended and he's been the same instar for over two weeks now). He's been behaving normally up until yesterday when I checked up on him. He was very defensive yesterday, constantly having the defensive posture and striking at anything and everything that moved. It was then that I noticed his wing buds and although I don't experience aggressive mantids before a molt, I figured he was ready to molt and I put him in his container.
Today I check up on him and when I take his branch out, he falls to the container and his struggling to get up like a dying mantis. When I finally take him out, he immediately assumes the defensive posture and strikes at everything. However now he can't even hang on the anything and when he walks, he sort of scrambles around because his arms are constantly outstretched. His mouth is also always opened in the defensive way. As I write this, I put him on a small branch where he's clung to it with his arms, the wrest of his body suspended in midair. He just fell off and his arms are still outstretched with his antenna pointed forward. I wouldn't be worried if not for the fact that he's having trouble walking and even hanging on to things. I realize that unless this is some dramatic pre-molt situation, he's gonna die. I just want to know if anyone's experienced this and if they know what could be the cause.
I'm going to keep him and wait and see what happens. Now I'm down to one male and one female. This guy was the oldest, and the remaining male is a molt behind my female. I'm taking extreme precautions to make sure I don't lose either of them.
I'm currently raising Stagmomantis californica nymphs and I have a male who should be ready to molt soon (wing buds are extended and he's been the same instar for over two weeks now). He's been behaving normally up until yesterday when I checked up on him. He was very defensive yesterday, constantly having the defensive posture and striking at anything and everything that moved. It was then that I noticed his wing buds and although I don't experience aggressive mantids before a molt, I figured he was ready to molt and I put him in his container.
Today I check up on him and when I take his branch out, he falls to the container and his struggling to get up like a dying mantis. When I finally take him out, he immediately assumes the defensive posture and strikes at everything. However now he can't even hang on the anything and when he walks, he sort of scrambles around because his arms are constantly outstretched. His mouth is also always opened in the defensive way. As I write this, I put him on a small branch where he's clung to it with his arms, the wrest of his body suspended in midair. He just fell off and his arms are still outstretched with his antenna pointed forward. I wouldn't be worried if not for the fact that he's having trouble walking and even hanging on to things. I realize that unless this is some dramatic pre-molt situation, he's gonna die. I just want to know if anyone's experienced this and if they know what could be the cause.
I'm going to keep him and wait and see what happens. Now I'm down to one male and one female. This guy was the oldest, and the remaining male is a molt behind my female. I'm taking extreme precautions to make sure I don't lose either of them.
