i need help

[jacqueline]

i have a female box that i have matted... and its been a few weeks and she has not mad n-e-ooths... but now there is this hard black stuff on her butt .. what do i do?

-Jackie

 

[d17oug18]

its actually a acromantis formosa, and shes tryed using tweezers to take it off but its literally like cement! and stuck on to her.... =(

 

[Ntsees]

Do you know if the black thing is the ovipositer? I once found a European mantid whose ovipositer was black and non-functioning. It didn't die, but the bad thing was that she couldn't have an oothecae even though she was very fat.

 

[Katnapper]

It could be a dried blockage of feces. Mist her butt with warm water, wait, mist again, and try to gently scrape it off with a chopstick or forceps or something similar. If it won't come off... maybe repeat and try again; but try not to forcefully remove any bodily parts in case it is her ovipositor or something. Good luck.

 

[d17oug18]

whats oviposter?

 

[massaman]

thats the part of the insect that lays the eggs!

 

[PhilinYuma]

whats oviposter?

That's the name for the the thingy at the tip of a female insect's abdomen, used when laying eggs. In a mantis, it's protected by the last few abdominal segments (actually, the plates, called tergites). Ovipositers are most obvious in parasitic wasps where they sometimes look (and act) like a hypodermic needle. Worker bees don't normally lay eggs, and the ovipositer has become adapted to form the stinger. Often, when part of a mantis has died (like gangrene in humans) it turns black, and this may have happened to the tip of this female's abdomen.

I like Katt's idea for cleaning. The only thing that I'd add would be to gently "scrub" the moistened tip of the abdomen with the hairs of a small paintbrush. Don't overdo it, though!

 

[d17oug18]

its defiantly like poop, its not part of her body or anything like that. ive had this happen to alot of mantises and they alwaz get ooth bound if this stuff shows up. it doesnt soften it doesnt come off... oh well guess her days are numbered.

 

[hibiscusmile]

A lot of times, if u pull with tweezers, it will pull the insides of her out, trust me.... not a good thing to do. haha, funny, dodo