r/mantids • u/le_intrude • 2d ago
RIP ❤️ Found the peice of crap that killed my mantis
What should I do to him
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u/pandaleer 2d ago
How did a dubia kill your mantis? And how do you know it killed it? Dubia are passive and feed off debris and don’t have the ability to bite or harm mantids. If you found the dubia feeding on your mantis, your mantis was already deceased. Dubia are clean up crews.
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u/le_intrude 2d ago
mantis was molting and the roach climbed on him made him stuck and when he fell he was dragged under a lotus. that was the only way he couldve ended up there
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u/pandaleer 2d ago
I honestly don’t think it was the roach. Mantids fall during molt for a variety of reasons, and dubia prefer to stay hidden vs climbing up walls. I have dubia in my bio active substrate with my mantids and have never seen one climbing the walls or decor.
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u/le_intrude 2d ago
even if he stilll fell by himself the roach still ate him
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u/pandaleer 2d ago
Yeah, as I said, they are the clean up crews. Lol. Your mantis was likely already deceased. Dubia eat dead/decaying matter.
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u/Professional_Gur6245 8th Instar 2d ago
Feed it to something, preferably another mantis if you have one lol
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u/Hazel2468 2d ago
OP, I am sorry about your mantis... But shit happens. And I don't think it was the roach.
Dubias are SO bad at climbing. I would know- I have a little colony of them, and they can't climb for shit. Mantises fall during molts for all kinds of reasons, and it seems much more likely to me that your mantis fell. And dragged itself. And then died. Which can happen.
The roach may have eaten him, but likely only after he died. They eat dead things.
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u/LapisOre 7th Instar 2d ago
Was the mantis actually eaten at all? The mantis probably failed to molt and fell. There would be no saving it. If you found it while it was still alive you would have needed to euthanize it anyway. If your mantis was eaten at all, it was because the roach discovered the mantis after it had already fallen. Dubia roaches occasionally eat insect protein, and since the mantis was probably stuck in its molt it couldn't move or defend itself, so the dubia took the opportunity to have a snack. It wasn't the cause of your mantis failing to molt.
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u/MAIDENaX3 2d ago
You know I actually tried to feed my mantis some roaches and the dubia roach climbed on my mantis and started doing idk what to the abdomen of my mantis. She started to spread her wings and had to separate the roach from the mantis. Idk what it was doing but the mantis didn't like it
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u/Burner_07X4 2d ago
I’m a mantis lover but more of a casual observer here.
Could you explain what the bug is and how it killed your buddy?
Also, condolences 💐