green bubble on wing

[Mike Heggerman]

Hey, so i just had my first t. sinensis finally reach adulthood. Everything seems to have gone fine except one of the inner wings seems to have a strange green liquid looking bubble on it. doesn't seem like she's willing to close up that wing now. any advice/idea what that is

 

[dmina]

I am new at this and do not know.. but someone should be by to answer your question... a picture would really help..

Oh by the way welcome to the forum...

 

[Mike Heggerman]

Thank you

And I woulda liked to add a pic but just noticed it this morning before work. I'll have to throw one up when I get home.

It's kind of like forest greenish and I'm pretty sure it's liquid. Just one random drop. Kind of caused the wing to not unfurl quite right.

And a related side question, anyone know how long they'll usually take after molting to adult to close their wings? Asked my brother and I guess they're still all flared out from the molt last night. Worried that it's related to her bubble problem.

 

[Rick]

When the mantis makes the final molt hemolymph is pumped into the wings which increases their size. The bubble you are seeing is filled with this fluid. Typically the bubble will shrink and disappear.

I don't know an exact time frame but if the mantis molted last night its wings should be fully formed, but probably not dry yet.

 

[Mike Heggerman]

tough to get a good picture but it's in the flying wing on the right. this is a pic i took this morning when it was fresh. seems like it's kind of dried a bit but still there. :/

Seems like it's got some weight to it and it's kind of holding it down a good bit lower than the other.

and thanks, rick. i had considered some kind of fluid to aid in the expansion but couldn't find a way to confirm haha.

 

[Rick]

Definitely what it is. It should go away. The wings shouldn't look like that though. After molting mantids typically rotate to face upwards while the wings hang down to expand and dry. Once the wings have expanded they are held out for a bit and eventually are closed. What happens when this mantis faces upwards? It is possible the wings will not lay flat in your mantis.

 

[PlayingMantis]

I've seen this before, and I just let it be. The bubble should clear up on its own. Just be careful not to puncture it, because the wound can be a doorway to infections, and plus, the loss of blood is never a good thing.