Hello, so a few days ago I found a green female Carolina mantis on a tree in my neighborhood. I thought it slightly odd for her to be on the tree next to the side walk but I brought her home. Yesterday I noticed she wasn't holding her abdomen up, like it was just hanging down when she was on the roof of her cage. Then this morning, to my horror, she was on the ground, grasping arms grabbing into her own abdomen, brown hemolymph (insect blood) all over the cage bottom. Her abdomen was all brown, and I thought I saw a white larvae poking out of her side. Then later tonight I find one cream colored maggot in her cage, the parasite. Its about 5 mm long and has no distinguishing features like no legs, and no visible eyes or mouth. Though I think it has a hook like mouth thing. So I have had this happen before, and dearly hate it, but what kind of parasite/parasitoid do you think it is that attacked her? Anyone else have this happen to their mantises? Is it a fly or parasitoid wasp?
