This Ever Happen to you?

[fatal_mantis]

I came across an unusual sight the other day. About the middle of the evening I went by my mantis enclosures and noticed one of my adult male Miomantis Paykullii doing something peculiar. He was hanging from the top of the cage by one of his back legs with all the other legs stretched out and limp. Not too odd. I figured he was dead or dying. So I took the spray bottle and gave him a light mist to see if he was still alive. Plop! down he goes to the ground. Now I was sure he was dead. Legs curled up, on its back dead. I had just released some flies into the container and quite a few were still flying around. There is no way to open the door to the cage without them getting out plus it was getting late so I decided to leave it until tomorrow after some of the flies died off or I could just take it outside. So I had dinner, watched a movie with the family and checked one more time before I went to bed. Still dead as a doornail.

The next morning I went to get him out and noticed he was no longer where he was the night before. Now that was odd. I looked around and finally found him on the underside of the plant munching on one of the flies. I was sure he was dead and now he was walking around as if nothing happened. My brother and I joke that he’s a zombie

So has this ever happened with anyone else or do I have some undead bug crawling around in the cage?

 

[spicey]

I came across an unusual sight the other day. About the middle of the evening I went by my mantis enclosures and noticed one of my adult male Miomantis Paykullii doing something peculiar. He was hanging from the top of the cage by one of his back legs with all the other legs stretched out and limp. Not too odd. I figured he was dead or dying. So I took the spray bottle and gave him a light mist to see if he was still alive. Plop! down he goes to the ground. Now I was sure he was dead. Legs curled up, on its back dead. I had just released some flies into the container and quite a few were still flying around. There is no way to open the door to the cage without them getting out plus it was getting late so I decided to leave it until tomorrow after some of the flies died off or I could just take it outside. So I had dinner, watched a movie with the family and checked one more time before I went to bed. Still dead as a doornail. The next morning I went to get him out and noticed he was no longer where he was the night before. Now that was odd. I looked around and finally found him on the underside of the plant munching on one of the flies. I was sure he was dead and now he was walking around as if nothing happened. My brother and I joke that he’s a zombie

So has this ever happened with anyone else or do I have some undead bug crawling around in the cage?

[SIZE=14pt]Maybe he was just meditating (they are called PRAYING mantis ya know...LOL! :lol: )[/SIZE]

 

[hibiscusmile]

hahaha, what a loon! aand yes I have seen it, don't know what it means though.

 

[Rick]

Sounds like playing dead except one leg didn't release and he got hung by it. That was the first species I ever saw play dead.

 

[charleyandbecky]

Absolutely! It has happened to me two times this summer with two different mantids. I am not sure why the first one did it, as there was nothing to scare him. The second time it happened that mantis got spooked by something and had a big, dramatic dying scene. They are both still with me, healthy and happy adults.

Rebecca

 

[agent A]

Mr. Nervous did that, remember?

 

[PhilinYuma]

Yeah. This habit among small mantids seems to have two advanteges in avoiding predation. The predator may ignore "dead" motionless prey, and if the mantis is on a leaf or twig when it goes into its act, it is likely to fall into the debris at the base of the plant and be better concealed.

I received a P.M. today from a member/friend who is much more experienced than I, and who was discussing the often lethal problems of stress that we impose on our mantids. He was talking mostly about large numbers of nymphs in a 12" net cube, but it applies to individual nymphs in a row of deli pots as well. Obviously, mantids cannot see the clear plastic of their pots, as we know from the fact that they will bang into the sides or strike at a fly on the outside of the pot. How often have we all seen two mantids of similar size threatenening what they see as another mantis a few inches away from them? In nature, one would would run away or get eaten. In captivioty, they spend hours in a state of extreme stress, like the "dancing" ghosts. In Feb, both Arkanis and Kamakiri noted that S. limbata nymphs can threaten each other for hours. No wonder that some just "up and die." When a mantis is stressed in this way and acting oddly, it is a huge temptation to spend a lot of time "doing our best" for it, such as attempting to hand feed it, and increasing the stress even more! It shouldn't be hard to put a paper divider between the pots of susceptible mantids. Has anyone tried it?

 

[agent A]

Yeah. This habit among small mantids seems to have two advanteges in avoiding predation. The predator may ignore "dead" motionless prey, and if the mantis is on a leaf or twig when it goes into its act, it is likely to fall into the debris at the base of the plant and be better concealed.I received a P.M. today from a member/friend who is much more experienced than I, and who was discussing the often lethal problems of stress that we impose on our mantids. He was talking mostly about large numbers of nymphs in a 12" net cube, but it applies to individual nymphs in a row of deli pots as well. Obviously, mantids cannot see the clear plastic of their pots, as we know from the fact that they will bang into the sides or strike at a fly on the outside of the pot. How often have we all seen two mantids of similar size threatenening what they see as another mantis a few inches away from them? In nature, one would would run away or get eaten. In captivioty, they spend hours in a state of extreme stress, like the "dancing" ghosts. In Feb, both Arkanis and Kamakiri noted that S. limbata nymphs can threaten each other for hours. No wonder that some just "up and die." When a mantis is stressed in this way and acting oddly, it is a huge temptation to spend a lot of time "doing our best" for it, such as attempting to hand feed it, and increasing the stress even more! It shouldn't be hard to put a paper divider between the pots of susceptible mantids. Has anyone tried it?

well speaking of the plastic thing, my little cages have clear plastic lids and so once I put a fly in the cage of one creobroter, and the others in the cages nearby were watching the fly in the other cage because they thought it was theirs.

 

[charleyandbecky]

Phil, that is very interesting. As a matter of fact, just last week I put a divider between a Chinese and a Carolina I have. I had one mantis in particular that was so worked up over the mantis next door that he would not eat and was exhibiting very strange behavior. Many of my mantids don't seem to notice or care that they have a next door neighbor, but this one was very upset. I worried myself sick over his health...not eating, spending time at the bottom of the enclosure, etc. Finally it dawned on me that he was eyeing his neighbor (the strange acting one was actually much bigger than the other one). Finally I put something in between the two and within an hour he was stalking his prey, back acting normal.

Rebecca

 

[ABbuggin]

I always find it funny when a mantis plays dead. There is just something about it that I find more comical than in other insects. Gongylus are the funniest when they play dead. :lol: I'll have to get a pic sometime.