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Folks of all ages delight in finding praying mantids in the garden. These charismatic predators are large and easy to spot and have a reputation for being cool beneficial insects, helping to dispatch garden pests.
North Carolina is home to both non-native and native mantid species. The native Carolina mantid (Stagmomantis carolina) is the only one I have personally seen and only infrequently because the Chinese mantids are so numerous and prey on them and directly compete with them for food. The northern grass mantid, or walkingstick mantid (Brunneria borealis), is also native to North Carolina. I am happy to discover native mantid egg cases in my garden but unfortunately I rarely find them.
The Chinese mantid is not the only insect interloper. The non-native Japanese narrow-winged mantid (Tenodera angustipennis) and the European mantid (Mantis religiosa) are both present in North Carolina but they are not common. The Chinese mantid was believed to have been accidentally introduced to the U.S. in 1896 on a shipment of plants to Pennsylvania. The European mantid was accidentally introduced a few years later but then in the 1930s the egg cases were purposely imported to be sold for garden pest control and as a biological control agent for the spongy moth in the eastern U.S. Even today, Chinese, European, and Carolina mantid egg cases are commonly sold online and by garden supply stores as natural pest control agents.
Praying mantids undergo incomplete metamorphosis with three distinct life stages: egg, nymph, and adult. The egg cases (oothecae) of Carolina and Chinese mantids are quite distinct: the Carolina mantid egg case is elongated, slender, and gray-brown with a white midrib. The Chinese mantid egg case is larger, beige, and shaped like a round-edged cube. The egg cases are formed in late summer/fall and can be found attached to a variety of shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and even inanimate objects like fence posts. They are easy to spot in the winter on the stems of plants that have died back or lost their leaves. Nymphs hatch from the egg cases in late spring and resemble tiny wingless adults. The nymphs will molt several times throughout the summer and form wings before reaching maturity.
My strategy for reducing the population of Chinese mantids in my garden is to remove and destroy as many egg cases as I can find to prevent the nymphs from hatching into the garden. This can be done anytime between fall and spring, and I usually do it during the annual plant cutback in March.
Praying mantids (class Insecta, order Mantodea) are a group of predatory insects comprising approximately 2500 described species, that occur across all continents except Antarctica, with the greatest species diversity in tropical and subtropical regions. Mantids predominantly prey on other invertebrates but are known to feed on small vertebrates. During April and May 2021, we observed mantid feeding events in Manujan County, Kerman Province in southern Iran. Two distinct feeding events were observed where female European Mantids (Mantis religiosa) preyed on Purple Sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus) and Crested Lark (Galerida cristata) nestlings. In addition, we collated information from online searches of mantids feeding on nestlings elsewhere in the world, revealing two more observations. In Taiwan, a Giant Asian Mantid (Hierodula patellifera) was recorded preying on a nestling Warbling White-eye (Zosterops japonicus) and in Brazil, a mantid (Stagmatoptera sp.) was recorded feeding on a nestling White-throated Seedeater (Sporophila albogularis). To date, the only existing scientific evidence of praying mantids feeding on passerine nestlings was recorded in 1922. We propose two potential explanations for the observed trophic interactions between mantids and passerine nestlings: (1) during egg production female mantids, especially those in poor physical condition, may opportunistically feed on nestlings in order to increase fecundity via nutrient gain and (2) mantids may initially be attracted toward the nest by parasitic or coprophagous insects, as a result of poor nest sanitation, and subsequently prey on nestlings after detecting movements. Our unusual observations represent the first records of praying mantids feeding on nestling passerines in nearly 100 years.
In the wild,female praying mantids tend to be killed off by cold winter temperatures, or by providing all their resources to laying their egg masses. Alternatively, their may die of starvation as the cold winter temperatures will reduce the availability of their insect prey. Indoors, unmated mantids should survive much longer as long as you can find a source of food for them. Of course, pet stores may carry live insects. Regardless, the longevity of the mantis is only about one year in captivity.
I hatched some mantids and saw some of them grow to full size in my yard. I thought they were males because of the shape of their bodies. I saw one grow wings. It was absolutely amazing. They were 3-4 inches long. Does this mean they were actually females I bought the egg sacks at the local nursery.
Praying mantids do have an ability to change their color to match their background which is why we see brown, green and even reddish- colored mantids. The whitish color may be a mantid that just shed its skin and is waiting for the new skin to harden and color-up. Mantids are most vulnerable to predation and injury during this period of their lives. Literature indicates that there is only one mantid native to WA State and it is relatively small and rarely encountered. The most abundant mantid species found in WA State today are intentionally introduced species that are considered beneficial predators of other insect species. Thank you for your interest!
Thank you all for your interest in the world of a preying mantids. I have a couple of preying mantids that I am hoping to keep alive for our regional fair here in Yakima to share with the kids at the Master Gardener booth. They are living off of a diet of dragonflies, grasshoppers and hobo spiders. I am pretty sure that they would willingly feed on yellowjackets and other bees and wasps. In fact, I had a beekeeper who was initially amused, but then got a bit upset with a preying mantid that camped out at the entrance of his beehive. The mantid was helping itself to a smorgasbord of honey bees.
I have no science behind my answer to your wondering. I suspect that this may be due to drier summers where the natural landscapes beyond our homes are drying out and the mantids are seeking better watered landscapes. Mild winters may be another factor in the increased abundance of preying mantids as well.
P.S. I just had a preying mantid lay her egg case Friday evening. To properly rear these eggs out, we will need to place those egg masses in a sheltered area outdoors over the winter to expose them to the necessary cold weather. We should leave this egg cases outside in the spring. Otherwise the eggs will hatch too early as they artificially warm up. Then the mantids will eat each other to survive if they do not have any other insects to feed on.
Hi Mike, although I agree mantids are not much of a threat to hummingbirds, do not shortchange a mantids ability to eat meat. We had one here who lived on the patio of a sandwich shop. It had learned to beg from the customers and would take bits of sandwich meat. I watched it eat, and yes, it can consume flesh quite handily.
I too tried to rescue three preying mantids this year, one male and two females. The male was about half the size as the females. I tried to keep them alive with a steady diet of stink bugs, flies and some moisture in the form of simulated rain fall. The male died first and I do not know why. Both females laid egg masses before they died. At least one female continued to feed on whatever I put in her cage however her color started to change from green to brown within a couple days of egg-laying. It may be a natural thing for preying mantids to die at this time of year here in the PNW as the female mantids put so much energy into laying their eggs that they do not have enough resources left to live once they lay the egg mass. For now I would try to get a colony of crickets started in the cage. If you can keep the colony of crickets happy, the preying mantids will not starve as they normally would during the PNW winters.
Early in the spring when the mantids hatch from their egg mass (ootheca), they are very small and delicate. As they mature, they get larger and not-so-delicate. When the mantids hatch from the eggs, their first meal is often one of the other delicate mantids that hatch along side of them.
Once they leave and disperse from the ootheca, they will hunt and prey on smaller flying and hopping insects. As they get bigger, they will turn their attention to larger and larger flying and jumping insects. Their primary hunting strategy is to freeze in position and wait for something to fly or land nearby. They may stalk their prey as well. The mantids will capture the prey with their front legs that are armed with spines. They then use their chewing mouthparts to consume their prey.
Thank you for your question, Carol!I did a quick search on the internet to find some research to support my observation that praying mantids can change their color to blend in with their environment. Found enough controversy on the topic that it was necessary to find some science to quote. So, here is a quote from Bulletin of Insectology 63 (1): 85-89, 2010 titled Colour change and habitat preferences in Mantis religiosa by R. Battiston & P. Fontana:
Grasshoppers would certainly qualify as a meal for mantids. However, those mantids have been there in or near your yard all summer long. We tend to overlook the smaller and immature mantids. Adult mantids are not only larger, but have wings and use these wings to disperse. Almost all the mantids that we find in Washington state are exotic (non-native) species but they are not considered invasive. The mantids we are encountering are commercially available (you can mail order them) have been intentionally introduced to Washington by gardeners as biological control for garden pests. I recommend leaving the mantids you find alone. The primary factor that may be making them more abundant in recent years are the mild winter low temperatures that we have experience over the past few years. These mild winters will allow more mantids overwintering in egg masses survive until spring. 59ce067264