odd molt issue

[agent A]

so i have this L4 or L5 Sphodromantis lineola male

one of his eyes had been really dark at all times but he seemed otherwise fine

he had been due for a molt and he finally molted, but he was hanging by his dark eye

i managed to remove most of the old skin but here's a pic of the sight



anyone else have this happen?

 

[Velve]

Kind of a wild guess, but I think what might have happened is that the damaged eyes "popped open" during the molt, causing the hemolymph to flow out and have the mantis stick to the exuvia because of the liquid. I've seen mantids somehow hurt their eyes a bunch of times during the molt and "bleed".

 

[agent A]

yeah his eye is bloody

i will let him recover before removing the rest of the skin

 

[cwebster]

Very sad. Hope he is ok. Poor things that molt often have trouble...mantises, crabs. They are so very fragile.

 

[agent A]

his eye came off and he cant eat

im gonna toss him in the frog cage