Looking for some advice and/or reassurance.
This is my second time keeping a mantis. Both were caught in the wild at a similarly young age.
The first one molted twice before reaching maturity. His penultimate molt showed little green wing buds, which only become long white wings after his final molt.
My current mantis had his second molt last night (unexpectedly, I had not read the signs that it was close).
However at first glance it looked as though he was deformed. His back had a pulpy green mass on it rather than small buds or proper wings/covers. Now that he has moved a little I can see that the 'mass' is actually his wings, as they are white in colour, but they are very short and kind of warped. Also there are no obvious covers (don't know the technical term).
Is it possible that he still has one molt remaining, and his buds have just grown prematurely? He still seems rather small compared to the final size of his predecessor.
This is my second time keeping a mantis. Both were caught in the wild at a similarly young age.
The first one molted twice before reaching maturity. His penultimate molt showed little green wing buds, which only become long white wings after his final molt.
My current mantis had his second molt last night (unexpectedly, I had not read the signs that it was close).
However at first glance it looked as though he was deformed. His back had a pulpy green mass on it rather than small buds or proper wings/covers. Now that he has moved a little I can see that the 'mass' is actually his wings, as they are white in colour, but they are very short and kind of warped. Also there are no obvious covers (don't know the technical term).
Is it possible that he still has one molt remaining, and his buds have just grown prematurely? He still seems rather small compared to the final size of his predecessor.
