Do You Have a Praying Mantis In Your Garden?
When it comes to Mantids, Autumn is a good time to look for romance.
Oct 4, 2009
Those fascinating creatures have been working hard in your garden all summer long. Now that it’s autumn the praying mantids are engaging in their grande finales for the year, as they meet their mates …at long last, and begin a new cycle of life.
Where Can a Praying Mantis be Found?
Stagmomantis californica nymphs hatch in the spring, as tiny replicas of their parents, in western gardens. The cute, tiny creatures seem so deceptively harmless, as they begin their work, eating practically anything that moves. They are the home gardener’s friend, as one of their first and favorite meals will most likely be an aphid. Many gardeners buy praying mantis egg casings (ootheca) at garden supply shops, if they can find them. Ootheca usually contain about 40 to 200 eggs, but after hatching, the hungry hatchlings eat the first thing they see, which is usually another hatchling. This can cut down the population by half! Other gardeners are lucky enough to find the adult insects living in their gardens already. Organic gardeners often find that the mantids from neighboring yards will fly to their yards to escape the inhospitality of their neighbors who often disturb their garden’s ecosystems by using sprays, or other types of pesticides or defoliants.
Why Would Anyone Want a Praying Mantis in Their Yard?
Because they eat practically anything that comes within their reach, some gardeners do not go out of their way to buy praying mantis egg casings. It has been said that mantids could be just as harmful to beneficial insect populations. But, the great good that juvenile mantids do in eating large quantities of aphids, gnats, and whiteflies seems to make them welcome in most organic gardens.
In other parts of the world, mantids perform similar duties in home gardens. Most mantids, which come in all sizes, shapes and colors are ambush predators. They wait patiently for their prey to approach. Since they must wait in ambush, they have evolved a camouflage to suit their surroundings. Some have developed the appearance of flowers, or tree bark. Some huge specimens in tropical habitats have been known to capture hummingbirds with their large spiked forelimbs.
What Do They Look Like?
In southern California, stagomomantis californica is usually a green, yellow or brown hue, but a variety of colors can be found. The adults range in size from about two to three inches in length. The adult male is smaller than the female. The male is long and thin, resembling a “walking stick, “ but with the characteristic mantis head that is capable of rotating 180 degrees. The female is different in appearance. Her head is the same, but her abdomen is large and leaf-like in shape. Two native species are common in North America. Stagmomantis californica is found predominantly along the west coast, and stagmomantis carolina is found in the eastern regions as far south as South America. There are about 20 other kinds of mantids in the United States that are not as common, and some that are introduced species. The most common introduced species are the European praying mantis, Mantis religiosa, and the Chinese praying mantis, Tenodera aridifolia sinensis.
Mantis Behavior
Mantids are territorial, and are generally solitary except for at hatching and breeding times. Autumn is the time when stagomomantis, having reached full growth, finds a mate. This is a very dangerous time for the male. The female releases her pheromones, which waft out into the garden, enticing all males in the area. When a male finds the female, he approaches very slowly. The male in the picture waited for over a week on a window ten feet away before he flew to the window where the female was waiting. It took him another three days of face-to-face communication before the two got together. This male was lucky. It is not uncommon for the female to decapitate the male, sometimes devouring him. Evidently, this male was a good communicator.
Because they like light, or perhaps because their favorite meals, such as moths are attracted to light, it is common to find praying mantises on windows or near outdoor lighting, usually preferring to live in the surrounding shrubbery or trees. They are diurnal, but during mating season they seem to break many of their old habits and come out from under cover, become more social, and much more “friendly.”
If you do find a praying mantis in your yard and begin to watch him (or her) don’t be surprised if you feel that you are being watched right back. They do not seem to be afraid. Usually they are very curious about people and are harmless to them unless they are attacked or teased. If they are provoked they have been known to stand up on their back legs and spread their wings out to look bigger. Their forelimbs have sharp spines on them for catching their prey, and they can hurt. But they are normally slow moving and patient in temperament…unless they are hungry. While watching a mantis, you may feel that you are in the presence of a very intelligent creature. They can be very enjoyable to get to know, and some people keep them as pets.
 |
 |
