Meet Your Neighbors: Mantises
Eli Wolper: 2/15/24
Migratory birds are beginning to return. A mild winter has led to our early spring bulbs beginning to peak out of the soil. Areas of high grass are dry and often reduced just to stems. Which makes it a perfect time to look for mantis egg cases.
We have 3 main species of mantids in Erie- the Carolina Mantis (Stagmomantis carolina), the European Mantis (Mantis religiosa), and the Chinese Mantis (Tenodera sinensis). As you might be able to guess, two of these species are introduced, and the Carolina mantis is our native species. Like others in the superorder Dictyoptera, mantids lay eggs in protective cases also known as ootheca. The term mantis refers to the whole order of Mantodea, members of which have very similar body plans and lifestyles (though some will pursue prey rather than waiting for it). All three of our local species are raptorial ambush predators that feed primarily on a diet of other insects- though Chinese mantises have been observed on occasion to go after small vertebrates like frogs and humming birds.
We won’t be seeing many until our weather gets within the 75-80 degree range. Mantises need warmth and humidity to hatch from their eggs, which are safely contained within the solidified foam of the ootheca until conditions are right. Unlike many insects you might be more familiar with (butterflies and beetles come to mind), mantises emerge as nymphs- small versions of an adult- rather than as a larvae. In a garden, these nymphs will likely start out eating small insects like ants and aphids, and gradually increase the size of their prey as they molt and grow larger.
This connection with gardens is where some of the problem with Chinese and European mantises occurs. Both are invasive. Because mantises have a noticeable effect on the health of garden plants, throughout the years, people have ordered ootheca and individuals of the non-native mantises in order to introduce them to their gardens, or have left their egg cases be- for pest insect control. Every species of mantis will eat other mantises- famously during mating, but as long as another mantis can be caught at any point, its fair game. So when introduced, in the quantities introduced, they outcompete the Carolina mantis. Mantids will also eat beneficial bugs- like our pollinators or wasps and spiders that will do pest control in a garden as well.
Ootheca can be found on the upright stems of plants, on branches of bushes and trees, and generally on hard surfaces where they will be obscured from the view of most things looking to predate on the eggs. Each species has a fairly distinctively shaped ootheca, that can be used at this point in the year to identify what mantises will be emerging in the late spring and early summer. It is advisable if you find an ootheca of a Chinese or European mantis to destroy it, or if you feel so inclined keep it in a vivarium where it is removed from the native environment. Be sure to get a second pair of eyes to confirm or correct your identification before taking action. When in doubt, leave them be.
Bibliography
Amateur Entomologists' Society. (n.d.). Praying Mantid caresheet. Amateur Entomologists' Society. Retrieved February 13, 2024, from https://www.amentsoc.org/.../caresheets/praying-mantids.html
Danis, B. (n.d.). Mantids (Mantises). Missouri Department of Conservation. Retrieved February 13, 2024, from https://mdc.mo.gov/discover.../field-guide/mantids-mantises
iNaturalist. (2016, July 3). European Mantis (Mantis religiosa) · iNaturalist. iNaturalist. Retrieved February 13, 2024, from https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/53905-Mantis-religiosa
Missouri Department of Conservation. (n.d.). Chinese Mantis. Missouri Department of Conservation. Retrieved February 13, 2024, from https://mdc.mo.gov/discover.../field-guide/chinese-mantis
North Carolina State University. (2015). Order Mantodea – ENT 425 – General Entomology. ENT 425. Retrieved February 13, 2024, from https://genent.cals.ncsu.edu/insect.../order-mantodea/
