Turning a year old, turning black...literally! HELP!

[Meadow98684]

Hi ya'll, my little buddy Scyther is gettin' old. I got her last year, around March or April 2012. She's still kicking, but she's getting week, and not eating as much. First her wing started to fade to black on the end, and now her claw is turning black and she's barely moving it. Whats up with that? Is this normal? I've had mantids before...as a kid! So obviously they never lasted this long.

 

[hierodula]

yep, shes one her way out. Sorry for your loss. At least she lived a good long life

 

[Meadow98684]

Yeah circle of life I guess. ;-(

 

[sally]

awww you gave her a good life.... <3

 

[Digger]

Brings back terrible memories. Stiff upper lip,old boy.

 

[Meadow98684]

Yes, but why is she turning black though?

 

[patrickfraser]

Necrosis

 

[Meadow98684]

Didn't know bugs get that. Wow, I'm witnessing her die right in front of me. ;-( WAIT! Can I amputate the raptor? Will it extend her life? Or is it too late?

 

[Domanating]

Didn't know bugs get that. Wow, I'm witnessing her die right in front of me. ;-( WAIT! Can I amputate the raptor? Will it extend her life? Or is it too late?

You sure can amputate it. But first check if the necrosis is spreading. In some cases it doesn't at all or in others it spreads rather quickly. just don't let that black death reach the thorax.

Check this thread, out http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=27842

In the 1st pics you'll see that the left claw is darker. It is in fact severely infected. In page 2 I posted a pic of that raptor amputated. Now if it actually extended her life I'm not sure.

From a personal point of view I think the necrosis weakens the mantis even if it didn't get to any critical organs yet. Right after amputation I opened the raptor and saw that the dark or black stuff means that the tissue was dry and stiff. How this starts I think it's a mystery. What keeps me wondering is what happens in the boundary between the dry and the healthy wet tissue? How are the fluids drained out and does the body actually attempt to recover the dry parts?

This makes me wonder if the necrosis causes some sort of heavy dehydration due to the fluid draining. These are all speculations, though

 

[Meadow98684]

Thanks for posting! Yeah, her whole arm is kind of black now.

 

[Plex]

Taking the raptor off might help in this case, but she is quite old it seems.. I wish you the best of luck with making your little Scyther as comfortable as possible. How much has the black on the wing spread?

 

[Meadow98684]

Hi Plex, its about half filled up on the wing, starting from the tip.