Weird butthole thing?

[MasterShaken]

Hello all. First time poster, short time mantis owner. So I recently found a decent sized brown mantis in my garden. I've been looking for some for my *ahem* garden and I thought this one was gonna breed but it looks like it's dying, but as it's dying (I think) something weird extended out of it's butt, opened up a bit, And is kinda like moving it. It looks pregnant but irregardless, mantids die when they give birth. It's kinda twitching and moving around.

 

[agent A]

it's a female Stagmomantis limbata
her ovipositor is open, which sometimes happens as they die. She may be prolapsing or something but she's for sure a gonner

 

[MasterShaken]

Did she already give birth or will she? Her abdomen was swollen up earlier and it's gone down a lot.

 

[agent A]

Did she already give birth or will she? Her abdomen was swollen up earlier and it's gone down a lot.

sigh
they don't give birth...
they deposit eggs. she's probably already laid some eggs
someone please explain that these animals can lay multiple oothecae and by this time of year, a wild mantis would have already oviposited?
I will get back to this thread later but right now I am having an anxiety attack and my patience is not where it needs to be for this

 

[agent A]

ok I'm back and a bit more calm!
female mantises lay oothecae throughout their lifespans. They have a definite lifespan and will continue producing eggs until they are too old
a mantis in good condition may keep laying, but in that vid she can barely move her legs. they need to be sturdy and able to walk and cling to things to successfully produce the egg-mass, as it comes out as a froth they shape with the abdomen. so she will not be able to deposit new eggs in her state and probably will die in a few days
it's that time of the year where they die sadly