Odd mantis death

[bugmankeith]

I had a mantis that was a perfectly healthy adult, and yesterday I see it jumping around and flipping over like a seizure, unable to control itself. Then I notice the abdomen shrink dramatically in size. It stayed alive but paralyzed overnight and just died, but I didn’t see any parasite emerge. What causes this odd death?

 

[Gnarled Gnome]

Sorry for your loss. I can't tell from your wording, but did you see the abdomen shrink as you watched it, or was it already shrunk? Did it have adequate water? When did it last eat before this happened?
The thrashing around that you describe sounds neurological. Seizures could be induced by a genetic abnormality, but I assume you would have noticed something earlier. Which makes me think of poison of some kind. Was there any pesticide or other airborne chemical nearby? Or plants or substrate that could have had fertilizer or pesticides? Did you feed it anything different like wild-caught food or inverts sold as bait rather than as food? I hope we can help you think of what might have caused it so it doesn't happen to any other critters you have. Let me know.

 

[bugmankeith]

Sorry for your loss. I can't tell from your wording, but did you see the abdomen shrink as you watched it, or was it already shrunk? Did it have adequate water? When did it last eat before this happened?
The thrashing around that you describe sounds neurological. Seizures could be induced by a genetic abnormality, but I assume you would have noticed something earlier. Which makes me think of poison of some kind. Was there any pesticide or other airborne chemical nearby? Or plants or substrate that could have had fertilizer or pesticides? Did you feed it anything different like wild-caught food or inverts sold as bait rather than as food? I hope we can help you think of what might have caused it so it doesn't happen to any other critters you have. Let me know.

Yes it had adequate water and it had eaten the same day. The abdomen did look smaller than usual before, but after the “seizure” it got dramatically smaller looking. This is a male by the way. I did feed insects from outside and greenery I cut in the cage for decoration, but all my other mantids are fine and they all had the same food and decor. This one when it was younger did have signs of weakness like trouble climbing and is a runt, but despite that looked fine as an adult and got stronger, until now with this odd problem.

 

[Gnarled Gnome]

There might have been either pesticide or disease in one of the food items. Or, like you said, he might have just been a weak individual, or had some genetic abnormality. Mantises do live outside, and I dont know how many this kind of death would effect in the wild. Considering the amount of young they produce it's safe to say a fair number are just not strong.

 

[mantisfan101]

I think parasites or pesticides is the most viable option. Was it an adult frmale? Did you notice an ootheca anywhere?

 

[Gnarled Gnome]

I think parasites or pesticides is the most viable option. Was it an adult frmale? Did you notice an ootheca anywhere?

I was hoping you'd show up here! I dont keep mantises, I just have a lot of book-learnin'.

 

[mantisfan101]

Also pics would really help. What species? What does the enclosure look like? What did you feed it? Also was it an adult female?