Mantis eating before molting?

[clemsonfight]

Last night I found the tinest cricket I've ever seen in my room, in our kitchen sink. Well I figured it would be a nice treat for my P. Wahlbergii (which was L3 or 4 at the time). Anyway I put it in there.

When I came back this morning, the cricket was gone (no way it escaped), AND on top of that my mantis had moulted, its skin was hanging from the old saxophone reed I had put in there for it to hang from (yeah I am a band dork lol) and the P. Wahlbergii's legs are now turning white and very banded, so i KNOW it moulted.

But I've always heard mantids wont eat the day before a moult? Anybody know anything about this? I know it moulted, its skin is there, and there is a drastic difference from last night in color lol.

 

[worldofmantis]

before molt snack i guess :roll: the caresheets are i think... could be wrong... a guideline so that people dont get worried when say their mantis stops eating 3 nights before a molt it varrys for example ive seen some chinese mantids outside my house that are way bigger than the ones that i raised. so its possible that the mantis just got hungry before its molt.

 

[Rick]

I've seen them eat before moulting. Generally they don't but sometimes they do. What you saw is not really unusual.

 

[clemsonfight]

by the way, the first post should say "in my house, in my kitchen sink." not in my room lol.