DonaldJ
Third Instar
About three days ago I found an adult female B. Orientalis on her back, with slowly moving legs. I placed her in a separate enclosure for observation; she moved around a bit, but very infrequently. She remained immobile most of the time, with slight movement of antennae and palps.
Her last movement was this evening. Any previous motion was *very* slight; it was only by monitoring time lapse video that any movement was detected. Here is an image of the last moments:
/monthly_06_2016/post-9716-0-96564200-1465096245_thumb.jpg
I apologize for the poor quality...it is a cropped section of a frame grab of the time lapse video. The only thing I noticed that seems out of the ordinary is the way the "neck" is stretched out.
Any ideas of possible cause of death? All of her brood mates are doing fine and are very actively eating & running around.
Before this occurred a female had an aborted ootheca but I don't know if it's the same one.
Thanks.
Her last movement was this evening. Any previous motion was *very* slight; it was only by monitoring time lapse video that any movement was detected. Here is an image of the last moments:
/monthly_06_2016/post-9716-0-96564200-1465096245_thumb.jpg
I apologize for the poor quality...it is a cropped section of a frame grab of the time lapse video. The only thing I noticed that seems out of the ordinary is the way the "neck" is stretched out.
Any ideas of possible cause of death? All of her brood mates are doing fine and are very actively eating & running around.
Before this occurred a female had an aborted ootheca but I don't know if it's the same one.
Thanks.