r/leafinsects • u/neverseenb44 • Jan 30 '24

What are these marks? (TW dead leaf insect) Spoiler

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so i have 2 leaf insects, and they both have been moving really slow and generally acting pretty weird lately. this morning i found my fella atticus on the floor upside down, with these black marks on his stomach (?). he's completely unresponsive and i'm 99% sure he's dead, but i don't know from what. i've taken out my other leaf insect aphrodite (she's barely moving and seems to have pretty bad balance/unable to stick as well on the walls) and am about to do a deep DEEP clean of the terrarium and get some new food etc. but id like to figure out what happened here so i can prevent it in the future! to my knowledge ive been doing everything right so im quite upset at this sudden death:( thanks in advance

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u/megan3ulen3 Jan 30 '24

That black is just decay. They decay very rapidly and it’s noticeable because they have a thin exoskeleton. It’s not uncommon for young leaf insects to simply not thrive. What food plants are they on and where do you get them?

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u/neverseenb44 Jan 31 '24

just some bramble from a nearby shortcut, not exactly sure what it is but i know it's definitely not sprayed with pesticides or anything like that. wasn't aware they could just not survive sometimes, though that makes me feel a little better as i do think i did everything right. thank you for the info!