insane mantis

[Sticky]

Yesterday Hercules gave me a nip and seemed to fight me abit so I put him back in his cage. This mooring I wanted to take him out to give him honey and he has gone absolutely berserk!! He clipped over on his back before I could remove him and he started chewing the mesh. I got him out on the bed and he could not get off his back and attacked the blanket, chewing with all his strength.

I have seen my other males panic and fall onto their backs but they would calm down after afew minutes.

This is like rabies! All out threat display and chewing and loss of control of his limbs. Can anyone tell me what is going on? Thanks.

 

[MandellaMandy123]

Wow - this sounds.... Interesting. Don't worry - Rabies only affects mammals and I doubt its a disease, but maybe he got really scared yesterday. Sometimes they don't forget earlier events for a few days. You say he lost control of his limbs though? Well, I would worry about it for right now. Just sounds like a fear response.

Just for our information, what instar and species is he?

 

[Sticky]

He is an older adult. He just stayed crazy for over an hour and a half. He still is off his feet. The food he got is the same, flies and a wax moth. Martha and several others have enjoyed the wax moths with no troubles so there is nothing wrong with them.

I am thinking about putting him in the freezer. He seems very miserable. I tried giving him more honey and water and he is the same. Poor guy! I didn't have him long but I love him. I told him that and I will miss him.

 

[lancaster1313]

I have had a male H. multispina that went out in a similar manner, I put him in the freezer because he seemed to be having involuntary spasms in his limbs.

I was trying to breed him at the time and he injured the female and I with his foreleg grasping.

It really did seem like a mating grip, on my hand and on the female. It then appeared to be a defensive response. I didn't know that he was ill until a couple of days had passed and he was having full body spasms.

I feel bad because I was so frustrated with him and thought that he was just a rough mate when he injured that female.

 

[Sticky]

I understand how you felt. I put him in the freezer. He still was in a wild rage, chewing and displaying with his wings and gnashing

his jaws. I was so sad for him. There was nothing else I could do for him. Thanks for the replies. If anyone has any other ideas as to what this caused by I would like to hear them. None of my other males did this. I hope I don't see it again. It was aweful!

 

[Digger]

Sticky,

You may want to shoot an email to an entomologist @ U Maine. These researchers are usually happy to answer genuine questions - particularly behavioral. You can find just the right professor or grad student by going on the U Maine web site. Or try Cornell - even better.

 

[Sticky]

Thank you Digger, I will try tomorrow. I would never think anyone would study, well I can't call it mental illness but some kind of problem."Ongoing rage attack" is as close as I can come to a term for his behaviour. It will be very interesting to hear what someone in U Maine might say. Thanks again.

 

[Digger]

Sticky - Try phoning Eleanor Groden @ U Maine. I haven't met her, but have read two articles she co-authored. Be brief and to-the-point. Let her know you're a Maine-r. If she can't help, see if she knows a grad student that might have an interest. As mentioned, usually these people will be interested to help, as they don't often get requests from the public.

Eleanor Groden,

Professor of Entomology

Degree: Ph.D. 1988 Michigan State University

Phone: (207) 581-2551

Website: sbe.umaine.edu/fireant

Email: [email protected]

Location: 100 Murray Hall

Research Topic:

Insect ecology, insect pathology, invasive species, and biological control

Research Program:

My research program focuses on insect ecology and management with an emphasis on the study of insect pathogens and invasive species. I primarily focus on fungal insect pathogens, and my program spans from more basic aspects of pathogen dynamics, epizootiology, and factors affecting disease susceptibility and defense against disease, to evaluating microbial insecticides and developing strategies for their use in integrated pest management programs. My current research focuses on the ecology and management of the invasive European red (fire) ant, Myrmica rubra, and the lily leaf beetle, Lilioceris nigripes.

 

[Digger]

Sticky - I think Andrei would be another excellent contact (insect behavior and ecology). If you want to drop a name, I'm John Miller and am affiliated with the Department of Astrophysics @ Princeton. It's not buggy, but it's academic.

Andrei Alyokhin,

Associate Professor of Applied Entomology

Degree: Ph. D. 1999 University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Phone: (207) 581-2977

Website: www.potatobeetle.org/Alyokhin...

Email: [email protected]

Location: 315 E Deering Hall

Research Topic:

Insect behavior and ecology, integrated pest management, biological evolution of insecticide resistance

Research Program:

The major areas of my research interest are integrated pest management and applied insect ecology. Presently, humans possess a vast arsenal of different pest-control techniques, ranging from synthetic insecticides to natural enemies, and from transgenic plants to quarantine regulations. What is lacking, however, is a good understanding of the ecological consequences of their implementation for both target and non-target organisms. When a particular action is taken, whether it is an insecticide application, planting of a transgenic cultivar, or release of a biological control agent, it is imperative that we can forecast the sequence(s) of events it might trigger. Limited-scale toxicological and host-range assays, still commonly used for decision-making, often do not reflect actual developments in the field. As a scientist, I hope that my research will contribute to building a knowledge-based foundation for predicting effects of human intervention in insect communities. Specifically, I am interested in a variety of topics related to the dynamics and regulation of herbivorous insect populations, including interactions with host plants, natural enemies, cultural practices, and insecticides. I am also interested in more theoretical aspects of invasion biology, with an emphasis on the ecology of exotic organisms deliberately introduced to a new location by humans. For more information on my research interests and background, please visit our laboratory's Web site.

 

[Ranitomeya]

This sounds very similar to the behavior of my deceased female ghost mantis nymph. It was unable to stay on its feet a couple days after it molted and would flip itself over and move its limbs in a panicked motion until it seemed to eventually exhaust itself to the point where it could no longer move its limbs normally and then it died a couple of days later. It was able to use its mandibles and I was able to hand-feed it until it passed away. I could not rule out the possibility of exposure to pesticide, as it turned out my sister-in-law had sprayed some raid outside to kill some ants. Only the female and none of the males which were kept in containers alongside of the female's container succumbed to this behavior, so I cannot be sure that pesticides had anything to do with her change in behavior and subsequent death.