Praying mantis question (photo included...)?

Question

so, my pet mantis nymph has recently changed it's skin, and now as u can see it has wings too, but i think something's wrong, because it's one leg seems to be "broken" and "new" wings aren't smooth, i'm wondering why???

oh, and i need to know it's s*x, please tell me is it a male or a female???

thanks a lot

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog/slideshow.html?p=43&id=AcWcDAs8crUj1arnu2NeqoXl4.IHWyVn

Answer 1

His condition is due to the fact that he got a little messed up during his molt.  If the conditions were not just right (temperature, humidity, etc), or his cage was not big enough, that could be the cause or causes.  There is nothing you can do about it.  If he molts again, these problem could be corrected.  If he does not, he will remain that way.  In the wild, he would not survive, but since he is in captivity and you're feeding him, he should do fine.

It is hard to tell the s*x by your photograph, but it looks like a male.  It would be easier to tell if I could see the insect from the side without his wings in the way.

Answer 2

i don't know but its a male

Answer 3

It's an adult male. Right after insects molt, they need time to let their hemolymph (blood) fill out their wings and appendages. (Usually they're hanging upside down when doing this. Gravity.) In this case, the mantis doesn't look like its' exoskeleton has hardened up yet. Just give it some time, don't touch it and see what happens. If the wings remain messed up, there's nothing you can do. It won't affect breeding at all. As for the leg, another thing that happens during molting. Sometimes, the insect will slip or fall and the legs/wings get damaged. Fortunate that it isn't its' front pair of legs!  Next time, keep the enclosure humidity high and provide a piece of long thin cork bark for the animal to hang onto and shed on. Good luck.

p.s. Once reaching the adult stage, insects will not molt again. Diff. story with other arthropods (ex. spiders) since they are not insects. They continue to shed thoughout their lifetime.(Except male spiders)

Note: You can tell when a mantis is ready to molt by looking at the wing buds. A couple of days before the shed, the buds will start to thicken.

Also, mating occurs during mid-late Summer and oothecas (egg cases) are made in the Fall. The eggs overwinter and will hatch in the Spring/early Summer. Of course, all of these factors depend on what part of the country you are in.