weird orange/black growth on my mantid's mandible??

[ems08d]

I tried to take a picture of it, but it didn't come out very good. It's brownish-orange with black specks. At first I thought it meant she was going to die, but she has had it for a couple of weeks now and seems fine. I thought it could be some kind of parasite (like a ribbonworm), but I can't find anything on google that looks even remotely similar. Does anyone have a clue??

It's the black thing sticking off of the left of her mouth in the photo.

 

[ems08d]

Took some better pics..

close-up:

 

[Rick]

When I saw the thread title I figured it was just a part of the mouth with color. Many mantids have colored areas around the mouth. However looking at the pic it does appear to be abnormal. Highly doubt it is a parasite. Does the mantis eat normally? Either way there isn't much you can do. It is hard to tell exactly what is going on in the pic though.

 

[Ntsees]

You picture reminds me of the "water mite parasite" on damselflies. Google it to look at the pictures.

 

[ems08d]

@ Rick: It's definitely not something that used to be there. She eats normally, though.

@Ntsees: It does look very similar. I wonder if that's what it is...