Water On The Knee

[Digger]

Noticed today, for the first time, tiny droplets of a clear liquid oozing out from the "knee" of one of Nikki's raptorials. Her motor skills continue to deteriorate from age (Tarsus malformation and tibia loss), but she remains insistent on walking around and exploring. Sincer her walking legs aren't functioning as they should for locomotion, she pulls more with her raptorials to go forward. Wonder if that's putting enough strain on the joints to create this leakage.

Anyone else ever notice this phenomenon on a very old mantis?

 

[Sticky]

I think it might be blood. Things are breaking down. My old girls were the same. They just keep trucking. Did not matter how they were falling apart.

 

[Digger]

Thanks Sticky. Hemolymph (bug blood) -- just read an article that says color can range from green, yellow or clear, depending on the critter's diet. It also stated that the sack which carries the hemolymph lies just below the exoskeleton. So I can see where a joint becoming brittle might cause an abrasion of the sack and create bleeding. Or maybe the sack itself just deteriorates with age and starts to rupture. Regardless, at the moment, the volume is infinitesimal. I'll try giving her more H2O to make up for possible dehydration.