Nymph not using raptoral arm

carley · Jul 2, 2011

Hey all, this is my first post and I'm a newbie mantis owner -- I just acquired a (what appears to be) Chinese nymph last week and I'm not sure exactly how old it is, but it's only about an inch in length. It hasn't molted as of yet, that I can tell.

Anyway, yesterday I decided to try and give her a small cricket (about half her size) just because she'd been eating gnats and flies nonstop for a week. When I returned to check on her I noticed she hadn't eaten the cricket yet and she was being very still. I got her out and noticed her right raptoral claw was not being used. I'm guessing she tried to fight off the cricket. It does not look injured or anything, but she refuses to use it and is having trouble keeping her balance when she tries to hang upside down.

Will this correct itself when she molts?

and just for size/age reference here is a video of her I took last week http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc7zzZMaTZI&feature=player_embedded

ismart · Jul 2, 2011

That is a Stagmomantis sp. My guess would be carolina. The claw should fix itself in the next molt. What such a small nymph, you should probably just stick to flies, and gnats for now.

carley · Jul 3, 2011

Thank you for the identify and info!

Idolofreak · Jul 3, 2011

Yeah, usually when a mantis has a problem like that, it'll fix itself when it molts.

crucis · Jul 4, 2011

(just rehashing what i posted somewhere else): Yup crickets can be nasty.. if grabbed the the wrong way they can kick free (maybe even injuring the mantis in the process). Once a cricket managed to twist round and chew half the tarsus of my mantid's right forearm off - luckily it was a nymph and recovered by the next moult. After that I don't even dare put one in that's more than two thirds the length of the mantid's prothorax.

Btw... i can't get enough of the 'soundtrack' you attached to the video :lol: It's like you hired an orchestra and wrote the score for your own vid!!