Help! What is my mated girl oozing?

[Deacon]

Mated my first mantis, T. sinensis, a week ago and she immediately started oozing this greenish blob! And what is the whitish oval toward the bottom of the blob? I don't know if it has hardened and will prevent her from laying an ooth. I guess I could try to touch it. Anyone know what is going on?

 

[Ranitomeya]

It looks like she's prolapsed.

 

[Deacon]

Thank you for your reply. If that is what's happened, it doesn't bode well for her laying an ooth, right? Have you heard of or seen this happen before? And where's a mantis OB-Gyn when you need one!

She's still eating well but I'm wondering if this will mean an early demise for her...

 

[hibiscusmile]

Looks to me like the sperm sack just leaking out.???

 

[mantisman 230]

Spermataphores are ejected within the first 24-48 hours after mating though?

 

[Deacon]

Thank you all for your replies. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens in the next couple of weeks. The glob has not grown in the last couple of days anyway.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

This actually looks similar to what happened to one of my adult males. Intially I thought something was oozing out but on closer inspection discovered it was part of his insides pursing out. Surprisingly he lived a realtively normal life. He was able to pass waste and died at a nice ripe old age. I'm not sure how a female would fair considering they also lay ootheca.

 

[Mantis Man13]

Man this is horrible :blink: . So how are the inside genitals of a mantis coming out of the body anyway?

 

[Ranitomeya]

You can think of an insect or any organism that doesn't have a blind gut as a water wiggler toy. The inside is kept from slipping out by muscles, but sometimes those muscles fail and a prolapse occurs.

 

[Mantis Man13]

Kind of disgusting the way you put it lol but I get the idea now thx. XD

 

[Ranitomeya]

Yeah, it can be a bit strange to think of us and most other organisms as something that could be slipped inside out if it weren't for skeletons, hardened exoskeletons, and specialized muscles.

 

[Deacon]

Is there any hope she will lay an ootheca? Her sweet personality has changed since mating eleven days ago. Now she's grabbing, pinching, nervous and not eating as well. Today for the first time ever she showed me her threat display! She is passing frass. Maybe she is in pain?

 

[Ranitomeya]

She is most likely in pain or in some discomfort at having some of the sensitive inner part of the body protruding out where it's exposed to stimuli.

In most insects the anus and gonopore, the opening through which eggs are laid, are separate. If we're looking at a prolapsed anus, she may still be capable of laying an ootheca. If we're looking at the gonopore, it's possible she will not be able to properly lay an ootheca. Judging by the position of the prolapse, I believe we're most likely looking at an anal prolapse. The gonopore should be below the anus in female insects.

 

[Deacon]

You are very bug smart and I really appreciate what you've told me. ( I had tried to find a diagram with some details about her body parts---guess I needed a class in entomology.) The prolapse is definitely on top. Her frass is about half the size as before. It also explains why my grandson said she was "pooping out the blob." So, the gonopore (thanks for that term ) is under that little flap at the very end of the abdomen---quite the opposite that I had imagined.

Oh my, I just looked back through the photos I took right before and during the mating. Her anus had already started to prolapse before they even mated---one little green bubble and the white spot shows when they were still a foot apart. Then another photo during the mating shows three little bubbles. At the time, I thought it was spermatophore that he dropped on her back before connecting! What did I know? In the days following, it grew to what the original photo above shows. Oh, poor girl.

Again, I sincerely thank you for all your help and information and for giving me a quick mantis 101 course! I'm getting smarter but I'm still at a loss as to what to do. Is it cruel to keep her and hope she lays an ootheca?

 

[Deacon]

As an update, my poor little "turkey" was dead this morning. Her anus turned black this week and she never laid an ooth.

 

[mantisman 230]

Hmm, dried out it seems, had this type of prolapse occur with my male Rhombodera valida, he died within a week.

 

[Ranitomeya]

When hemolymph oxidizes, it turns black.
The prolapse must have either gotten damaged or the thin inner exoskeletal lining started drying out and cracking, allowing the hemolymph to oxidize in contact with air.

 

[MantidBro]

As an update, my poor little "turkey" was dead this morning. Her anus turned black this week and she never laid an ooth.

Sorry for your loss

 

[Deacon]

Mantisman 230, Sorry you went through this also. My girl made it almost a month but not long enough---can't figure out what to do with her so she's still in the freezer... My male is now fourteen weeks old and not doing so hot anymore so maybe I'll wait and bury them together since they spent all their lives ogling each other from the corners of their cages.

Ranitomeya, thank you. Obviously there was nothing I could do but I'll always wonder if it happened because she was too fat. She had a difficult up-bringing, hatching in a cool classroom with no humidity, water source, or food for her first two weeks, except for every one of her siblings, which she consumed. My grandson insisted I rescue her because she was the only one left and "Nana, you have to do something!" So learning about mantids has consumed me since Memorial weekend when I brought her home. Still learning...

MantifBro, thank you. She was a very sweet girl.