Saw this little green thing scooting across the patio, no idea what it was.
Tried to get it on a leaf so I could get it close to my reading-glassed eyes. Instead it crawled on a little aluminum can I use for the bag of birdseed.
I was dumbfounded, had never seen a baby mantis before so had to share!
Sorry the one pic is upside down, at least the important one isn't.
I even rotated it in gallery and reuploaded it, and still upside down. I'm technologically-challenged and I give up. 🙄
My Dad used to order some and release them in the garden each year when I was young.
They are excellent predators, always happy to see them.
They are cool bugs
They sure are. I rescued one that was hanging out on my car in a parking lot.
I scooped it up, hoping it wouldn't bite me, and put it way in the surrounding greenery as far as I could.
As far as picking things up with your bare hands, I have a dinnerplate sized snapping turtle story I could tell you!😄
Unfortunately, the likelihood is that this is an invasive Chinese Mantis Tenodera sinensis. There is also the non-native European Mantis/Praying Mantis Mantis religiosa in addition to the native Carolina Mantis Stagomantis carolina. I may be wrong, but my recollection is the bright green ones tend to be Chinese. Read more about them .
I'm hundreds of miles north of the Carolinas but it looks like we have all three in the state, Carolinas being the native.
The ones I've seen have been, to me, what I thought were large, and green. So maybe more European or perhaps bigger Carolinas. Hard for me to tell, don't see them that often, especially nymphs.
Thank you for the link, I'll check it out when I can.
Had a baby like this on my front door. I encouraged her to sit in my hand and we walked to the back yard and I put her in a bush, to which she then flew away. I talked to her and she looked at me the whole time as if she knew I was bringing her to a safe place.
Fascinating creatures.
BTW they will attack and eat humingbirds. Head first.
Aw, that was a sweet story, some critters just know you're trying to help them.
But, OMG, about the hummingbirds, glad I don't have feeders up anymore, would hate to see that!
Mantis/manti/mantacies(?) Are sick and great for the vege garden if you have one or just garden in general. They pretty much kill anything/everything great for pest control like aphids and shit when the mantis is little, then when they get big eat wasps and caterpillars etc.
My daughter(3) loves them cause she can pick them up and rescue then outside if they make it in. She loves to spot them in the trees/bushes
sick
That's your generation's version of 'cool', am I right? Go ahead, call me a boomer! 😄
But they are some of the neatest (another word from my generation 😁), bugs on the planet, second only to maybe dragonflies.
Your daughter has a good eye, they are not easy to spot.
BTW, I looked up the plural since you got me curious:
The plural of "mantis" can be either mantises or mantes. While "mantises" is the more common plural in English, "mantes" is also considered correct, drawing from the Latin plural. Another term, "mantids," is used to refer to the entire order of insects that mantises belong to, but it's not a direct pluralization of "mantis".
Thanks, I'll keep that in mind gramps ;-)
Yeah sick is "cool" but I'm not sure if people outside of NZ use it that way. Maybe Australians
Dear Whippersnapper,
Not sure where you're at, but I'm here in the States and have heard 'sick' for years. Vernacular sure seems to make it's way around the globe, doesn't it. 🤔
With love,
-👴
A couple of months back, I saw the smallest baby praying mantis on my truck. Was a little over an inch long, really cool, never saw one that small.
Wow, that's half the size of the one I saw, awesome!
Baby everything are cute, even bugs!
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