Mismolting

[Curiosity]

Hi. I can't seem to get my mantises' final molts to go right…I have never actually seen a nymph mismolt, which is probably a miracle considering that just about everything else that could have gone wrong has for me at least once, but the last molt into adulthood goes wrong very often for me. (Or maybe I just mistook it for a disease.) Last year, I had two mantises (Iris and Carmen) become adults with badly messed up wings, although the rest of the body was fine in both cases. Klara, another 2020 mantis, had perpetually crumpled wings and a paralyzed arm as a result of her last molt. This year, I had another two mantises mess up their wings in a mismolt, and one of them lost an arm. I've never seen a mismolt that did anything to the walking legs. 

So clearly I am doing something wrong consistently. I have pictures of the cages Irene and Emerald (this year's mantises) lived in at the time of the mismolt a matter of months ago (and still live in now). I have it on record in all the cases I mentioned that I was misting them daily at the time of the molt, so I assume the problem is with the cages. Anything I could do with them, or should I find something completely different to try and raise mantises in? 

Also - can excessive humidity cause a mismolt? 

 

[hibiscusmile]

I am not sure about excess humidity, but the first cage is not going to hold ant humidity at all. you can take a garbage bag and put it inside with just the front small side open and that will help hole it. The other should of been fine, Does it have something they can hold onto, like screen or foam?  Mantis from outside do not seem to molt well as they need something to really hold onto to molt. 

 

[Curiosity]

No, it doesn't have something she could have held onto…and she did come from the lawn around the church building. One of the many things to do different next time, I guess. Thanks!