Two arthropod deaths in one week

[Bathory]

I honestly feel like a bad keeper, today I found my Phidippus regius dead for no apparent reason, just a week after my Rhombodera passed. Both were looking entirely normal and there were no signs that something was wrong. The only thing I can think of is that their favourite plants each had a teeny tiny white spot. My Hierodula and Gongy are still doing fine but now I'm just scared they'll die too.

 

[cwebster]

Am very sorry for your loss. How old were they? My chinese mantises have aged out and i lost all but one. 

 

[Bathory]

@cwebster The Rhombodera had just had her final molt about two weeks earlier but it was a near death experience, I suspect something went wrong internally that wasn't visible on the outside. The phid was supposedly only 4 months old.

 

[cwebster]

Am very sorry she didnt make it. I guess like most explosive breeders(frogs, mantids) there are a lot if genetic errors and they need to have so many young to make sure someone makes it all the way to produce a new generation. But it is heartbreaking. I have lost a lot of frogs and mantids now, and it breaks my heart that they dont all survive and that they dont have longer lives.