Lots of chalky, white excretion??

[TheBeesKnees]

Hey guys! Maybe you can help put my mind to ease with this.

My Hierodula sp. is a fully grown lady who's just started calling for a mate for about two weeks now.

I clean the walls of her enclosure frequently, and for the past while, I have noticed an excessive amount of white splattering on the walls and roof of her terrarium. I haven't seen her in the act of producing these excretions, but seeing as she's the only critter in the terrarium, I can only assume this comes from her.

I suspect it's just the excretion of excess water, but at the same time, she's always very eager to lap up water every time I mist her (about once or twice, daily). I wipe down her terrarium with wet paper towel about twice a week to clean it, but these white splatters always return. Is it normal for a mantis to excrete so much? Is this just the release of excess fluid (even though she frequently appears thirsty)? It's also worth noting that the texture of it is very chalky, as well. Like fine, dry, white powder.

Nothing else about her is unusual. She's active, and has been "calling" all day, every day since she started. Her colors are good, her abdomen looks healthy (not too fat, not too thin, nor sickly or sore). Her temperament is the same as it's always been (no flightiness or aggression upon being handled). There's no other colored excretions present, no black or red fluids, and no odor. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that she's just pissin' like a racehorse and that it's all fine and totally normal. I just want to get a second opinion juuust in case something is amiss here (as these white splatters were never present while she was a nymph, even as a sub-adult). She's my very first mantis, and so every experience with her is a new experience for me, sigh.

Thanks for hearing me out, guys! Even if it's just to tell me I have nothing to worry about, here. And if this is something to worry about, I hope it's something I can make better! :S

 

[Sticky]

I have seen my mantids drop water. One little male I had always politely flicked it away from my face while sitting with me! I dont know if it would dry white though.

 

[PookaDotted]

The only thing I can think of is if you have hard water or water with a lot of calcium in it, it can dry like that. I see white chalky residue on my fish tank in a line around the top when it evaporates due to the water. Sorry I am unsure of what it is, I wish I could help.

 

[TheBeesKnees]

Yeah, after doing a bit more researching, I have concluded that it is indeed just excess fluid being expelled and drying up on the side of the tank. Apparently depending on humidity, it may turn yellow, or chalky white. And now I am just surprised at the amount of fluid she has been expelling despite being very eager to always drink more.

Hahaha who knows, maybe she has mantid diabetes. At any rate, she still looks happy, healthy, and very active--so it's probably nothing to worry about. It would be nice to have heard that other folks had observed similar things in their mantis enclosures, though. Ah well, all I can do is keep an eye on her and keep her enclosure nice and tidy.

 

[TheBeesKnees]

I have another question in relation to my girl being quite thirsty while also excreting lots of water:
What's the chances of her being the host to a horsehair worm? And once the host enters "insatiable thirst" phase, what other signs might give away a horsehair worm's presence in the mantid host?

Will an infected female mantis continue exhibiting calling behavior? Will they lay an ooth? Will they continue to hunt and eat prey? Will their movement patterns change to become more erratic?
I'm half tempted to test her by dipping her abdomen, but the amount of horror I might be forced to endure if a worm did expel itself is just not something I want to deal with ha hahaha.

I've been feeding all of my girls wild caught feeders (since there's no place to buy feeders in thailand). They've mostly been wild caught grasshoppers I've found in my back field (which is intersected by a small stream). The chances of horsehair parasites for my girls, provided all all this information, may be relatively high.

The only things that are making me think she might not have the parasite is that her behavior hasn't changed, she's still eating, and she's still calling for a mate every day. She's just very thirsty and will drink a lot at every opportunity (and so I've taken the care to hand-feed her water with a small teaspoon every morning, monitoring her closely until she's had her fill--since just misting her cage doesn't seem to offer up enough water for her, alone). And even despite this, the moment I pick her up again, she face-plants into my hand to lap up all the moisture (or salts?) from my skin.

Is this just a thing that all large, healthy females do? My other two girls (who are smaller species) don't appear nearly as voracious with their consumption of fluids. And so I'm worried something's amiss--despite excessive thirst being the only symptom present.