Mantises

This has been a good month for mantises in my neighborhood. I came across five of them in total on my walks with Beatrice without even really looking. Most of them were hanging out on the path, and one landed right on my hand while i was bagging up another one.
All of them are the European Mantis, or Mantis religiosa, which is pretty common across the united states.

"From "National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects & Spiders" (1), p. 397:

This mantid was accidentally introduced in 1899 on nursery stock from southern Europe. At a time when Gypsy Moth Caterpillars were burgeoning in the eastern states, it was recognized almost immediately as a beneficial predator. However, mantids are so cannibalistic that they are rarely numerous enough to have much effect in depleting caterpillar populations."

I caught four and kept them alive for awhile, hoping that they'd laid ootheca, or egg sacs. In the meantime, i brought them to the Bug Zoo so some of the students could take them to outreaches. They went to two. They were a hit at the garden themed night, but at the one I went to, the kinds were unimpressed since most of them live in the country and see them a lot. Ooo la la!

From creepy crawlies

This girl above (all four were girls, says Mike from the bugzoo) laid an ooth. Another one died, possibly of an injury, possibly of dehydration, possibly of starvation. One died while trying to lay an ooth. The ooth comes out as foam and then hardens, exactly like that polyurethane sealer foam you can buy in a can. It's also sticky, and mike found her stuck to the side of the container, with a failed ooth binding her feet and wings. I gassed her and the one that laid the ooth and pinned them up. The remaining one is still alive but she's not nearly as fat as the other ones, so I don't think that she'll lay any eggs.


Two days ago I found a wooly bear caterpillar from the species Pyrrharctia isabella. There's an old wives' tale, according to Peter Haggard who wrote Insects of the Pacific Northwest that says "The wider the band (of orange), the colder the winter." By the looks of the this one, it will be a moderate to very cold winter. This one's dead though because the remaining mantis has been snacking on it.

From creepy crawlies

I didn't expect her to eat it but I threw it in to see what would happen. I also didn't expect it to live very long because it kept flipping itself upside down. You can see in the picture that the mantis has her modified arms, which are big hooks, dug right into the side of the caterpillar, and her forelegs folded back. She's also eating it upside down which is pretty neat. Whenever the wooly bear would stir. She'd dig in again. I'm glad to see that she's eating.

In other insect news, Beatrice found some kind of what I think is a spider's sac in the grass, and we took it home and put it into a plastic bag to see what comes out. I'll let you know.