Internal parasites

[Ntsees]

...I plan on making a display out of them. I want to have the dead mantis, the fly casing, and the fly pinned together.

Excellent to teach people new things: you have the mantids themselves along with the things that parasitize them. Anyways, is the mantid still able to eat after it survived that experience?

 

[Rick]

Excellent to teach people new things: you have the mantids themselves along with the things that parasitize them. Anyways, is the mantid still able to eat after it survived that experience?

As I mentioned above the mantis is fine, eating and everything.

 

[Rick]

Well the six that burst from the mantis and killed it have eclosed into tiny flies that look like small houseflies. Originally I only saw five but there are six:

 

[kamakiri]

I wonder how or if they over-winter...

The specimens would make a nice and interesting display for your shows.

 

[Ntsees]

Wow, like what some people said, it was a fly. Now this makes me wonder what mechanism the fly used in order to parasitize the mantid. By just looking at it, it looks like any ordinary fly that a mantid can make a meal of.

Any thoughts on how a fly like this can have a chance to lay it's eggs on a mantid?

 

[MantidLord]

Sorry Kamikiri, I meant eclose.

Wow, can anyone I.D. that fly? I'm wondering if someone should try to breed it just to see how it infects the mantis.

 

[Ntsees]

...just to see how it infects the mantis.

That was what I was thinking too but I don't know if Rick wants to do that. I mean, just look at it. I'm almost positive that if you put that with a mantid, that fly will be lunch. I really want to know how it could parasitize a mantid.

 

[massaman]

could do it a number of ways

but its the wasps that are more likely to paralyze its victims and one guess I have is t hat the mantids eat it and if there is any eggs in the fly that dont get digested prob slowly develop or something like that or lays eggs on plants or vegetation and the mantis or other kind of insect crosses that vegetation and gets infected or the maggots ambush the mantids somehow and get inside but that may be difficult or if a mantis has a wound the fly would somehow quickly lay its eggs on the wound area or something and drop off the eggs or any other kind of way!But I was wondering if since the colder weather os a;ready here can the flies handle the weather and look for places to lay their eggs or something for next year could also be a guess and someone feeds them to the mantids and they get infected thats what I think is happening to 2 of my europeans since kind of odd that only got 3 ooths from one female and one from the other and then they become almost like they were after they became adults which is thin and my one adult looks like it has a large brown area under its wing tip which looks like where a parasite is inside or something too near its sexual area!

 

[ismart]

could do it a number of waysbut its the wasps that are more likely to paralyze its victims and one guess I have is t hat the mantids eat it and if there is any eggs in the fly that dont get digested prob slowly develop or something like that or lays eggs on plants or vegetation and the mantis or other kind of insect crosses that vegetation and gets infected or the maggots ambush the mantids somehow and get inside but that may be difficult or if a mantis has a wound the fly would somehow quickly lay its eggs on the wound area or something and drop off the eggs or any other kind of way!But I was wondering if since the colder weather os a;ready here can the flies handle the weather and look for places to lay their eggs or something for next year could also be a guess and someone feeds them to the mantids and they get infected thats what I think is happening to 2 of my europeans since kind of odd that only got 3 ooths from one female and one from the other and then they become almost like they were after they became adults which is thin and my one adult looks like it has a large brown area under its wing tip which looks like where a parasite is inside or something too near its sexual area!

Unfortunately we will not find out how the mantids are infected until some one can properly ID the fly. At least we are one step closer to finding out how all this goes down.

Your mantids do not have any parasites in them. :lol:

 

[massaman]

dont know one day they are fat and looking like they could lay a ooth and few days later they suddenly havea quick weight loss and this has to be either a parasite or something as dont know if mantids lose weight this quickly without laying ooths or anything!

 

[ismart]

How often are you feeding them? I would highly doubt they have any parasites. how long have you had these mantids anyway?

 

[massaman]

I feed them every day along with my other mantids just about and they have crickets in their cages and also give them flies and have had these two europeans since maybe the middle or the end of summer just about and ones green colored and other is brown and the green one laid around 3 ooths and the brown one only one ooth!

 

[massaman]

had these since they were both sub adults so they both are maybe around 3 months old or less!

 

[ismart]

They do not have any parasites in them. If they are laying ooths than that would be a sign they are doing quite well. Not to mention you have had them way to long already. These two parasites clearly have a pretty quick life cycle.

 

[massaman]

in that case they prob just not as hungry as they use to be in their old age perhaps!

 

[Rick]

That was what I was thinking too but I don't know if Rick wants to do that. I mean, just look at it. I'm almost positive that if you put that with a mantid, that fly will be lunch. I really want to know how it could parasitize a mantid.

I've thought about it but I think it would be hard in an enclosed space. I am pretty sure the fly will become lunch. I do plan on making a display with the mantis, fly case, and the fly itself. Not hard to see how it could get to a mantis. The fly is very small. All it has to do is fly in from behind and land on the mantis.

I have wondered if these flies overwinter as right now seems a bad time to eclose. It only took a couple weeks.

 

[Ntsees]

...I have wondered if these flies overwinter as right now seems a bad time to eclose. It only took a couple weeks.

My only educational guess is that the flies were inside in a warm environment that's why they came out. If they were outside, they'd still be a pupae.

 

[ismart]

My only educational guess is that the flies were inside in a warm environment that's why they came out. If they were outside, they'd still be a pupae.

+1

They would probally overwinter in soil or leaf litter.

 

[joossa]

Very interesting! Thanks for the follow-up, Rick.

 

[PhilinYuma]

My only educational guess is that the flies were inside in a warm environment that's why they came out. If they were outside, they'd still be a pupae.

Yep. As Ismart says, in the Frozen North, but they can find prey year round down here.