Strange Wing Formation

[SirNovak]

Little background:

I have only raised Chinese Mantids, and only been doing it for a little while.

So I found this girl when she was just a little green twig in the late spring,

raised her through all her molting stages, no problems at all. When she did her final molt, and got her wings, they were like.... jutting up....


Mantis 9/28 by SirNovak, on Flickr

And they stayed like that until the day she died (several months later)

At first I thought it was just temporary and that when she flapped her wings they would pop back down, but they never did!

Has anyone seen anything like this before?

Is it a genetic thing? or just a fluke?

I tried once or twice to kind of.... lay them down and she did NOT like that so I just left her alone,it didn't hurt her in anyway, and honestly I think it made her look so much more unique and beautiful.

I wills say though, the male I had captured for her, had ALOT of trouble trying to mount her. He had to do it from the side, was an interesting spectacle.

Here is another snap shot from when she is younger and not preggroz:


overboard by SirNovak, on Flickr


Any insight would be greatly appreciated! (P.S. I kind of hope its genetic cause I think its an awesome trait, if not completely useless in the wild, but I feel like its just a fluke)


-SirNovak

 

[patrickfraser]

Mismolt. Exoskeleton/wings hardened wrong after the molt.

 

[SirNovak]

Mismolt. Exoskeleton/wings hardened wrong after the molt.

Awwwwe I was hoping she was special. =P

Oh well, atleast it means there is a chance I'll find one that it happens to again!

 

[sally]

She is still special I have one like that right now....Same wing formation.

 

[patrickfraser]

Awwwwe I was hoping she was special. =P

Oh well, atleast it means there is a chance I'll find one that it happens to again!

You can also sprinkle a freshly molted adult's wings with water and that will cause irregular drying and produce malformations if that is what you really want.

 

[Pizzaparlor45]

You were lucky that she was able to mate as mantids with mismolted wings(especially females)usually never mate unless the wings are clipped.

 

[SirNovak]

You can also sprinkle a freshly molted adult's wings with water and that will cause irregular drying and produce malformations if that is what you really want.

I'd never want to force it to happen, I just think its a beautiful malformation. =P

You were lucky that she was able to mate as mantids with mismolted wings(especially females)usually never mate unless the wings are clipped.

I didn't think it was gunna happen to be honest. When I first put the male in with her, she tried to kill him a few times. But it sure was funny watching him trying to get the job done hanging off the side of her, haha.