Praying mantis

[Erika Keith]

I have a pregnant (I think she's is pregnant) and I belive she is about to lay her eggs. She looks..... Uncomfortable, and she's been there for hours, I even thought she was dead because she was on her side...the more i...as ridiculous as this sounds, talked to her, she started moving a bit... She had her "hands" over her face, like cats do. I just wanna know if there is anything I can do to make her more comfortable, and If she does lay her eggs, how do I care for them. Thanks

 

[Bugmom]

What species of mantid? Did you buy her or is she wild caught? Need way more info here.

 

[Ranitomeya]

Mantises are gravid when filled with eggs and do not become pregnant, which is when an organism has young developing in them. Mantis eggs are not fertilized until they are on their way out of the body as they pass by the spermatheca. I'm sorry to say that if your mantis is lying on its side, it's probably nearing the end of its life. If it cannot stand and crawl on its own, it cannot properly produce an ootheca.

Did you find it outside? This late in the year, most wild mantises begin to die as temperatures drop and they bodies begin to fail them. Clutching its face with its raptorial claws sounds sort of like it's losing control of its limbs and is just grasping at whatever is near its legs.