Discover Top Posts Tagged with #mantis molt

I'm here again with bad pictures (I swear I'm not doing it on purpose) 😂

I noticed this one hanging around outside the tables in the yard at the place we are vacationing. I couldn't keep an eye on it for all stages but this was still cool to see.

Aw, I don’t mind at all! I love photos of bugs, blurry or not! Thanks for sharing with me. 🥰

#you’re so sweet #keep em coming!#beau bug talks #insects #entomology #bugs #insect #bug #nature #bugblr #mantis #mantid #mantis molt #mantis molting

I'm having a problem with my mantis and you seem knowledgable and passionate about insects so I was wondering if you could help. Whilst I was away, my mantis molt. I didn't know exactly what species she is (the people I got her from informed me she was a 'giant shield mantis', but there are a lot of different mantids under that name.) though I did a bit of research (but there's little info I found) and decided she was a rhombodera sp. "stinker". I didn't know what instar she was in either bc (1)

they couldn't tell me how times she'd molted (and since I didn't really know her species it was harder to tell), but the species I suspected she was could reach 10cm long, and she was half that length so I assumed she had a couple of molts left before she reached maturity. But when I got back I had discovered she had wings, however bc of the low humidity and small enclosure (she was due for a upgrade which I had planned for when I returned), her wings were very crumpled. I've left her (2)for a little while and moved her to a bigger enclosure (+ misted, fed her, etc) but her wings are still crumpled. I've done a lot of research and I think the damage is permanent. If I had known she was going to molt soon and it would be her final molt I'd have prepared more thoroughly before I left. I don't want her to be permanently mangled bc of my mistakes. I feel like an awful owner and I don't know what to do.

Unfortunately, deformities from a bad molt are permanent, and her wings won’t recover.

However, there’s a good chance she can still live a long and healthy life, as long as her body wasn’t impacted by the bad molt. I can’t tell you how long that is likely to be since you don’t know her exact species. Deformed wings may impact breeding, but generally won’t affect lifespan or overall health. Mismolts affecting the body or forelimbs, however, are often fatal, or lower quality of life for the mantis.

A really great place for mantis information is http://mantidforum.net/! I also recommend Orin McMonigle’s books.