# Went collecting. Tons of pics. Narrow winged mantids (Tenodera angustipennis)



## Rick (Sep 26, 2009)

I found what I thought was a Narrow-Winged Mantid (Tenodera angustipennis) last year but it flew away while I was trying to catch it. Never saw any proof these were in the state. Today I went to a new place and found several of them to include ooths. Got stung by a wasp trying to get the first ooth that was right next to a wasp nest. Also found carolina mantids and chinese.

Habitat shots:

























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First ooth! I was very happy to see it was from the narrow winged mantis. My hunch was correct. They lay them at about eye level.











Right after being stung:


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## Rick (Sep 26, 2009)

Carolina female:


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## Rick (Sep 26, 2009)

Tree frog






Lizard:






Second narrow wing ooth:
















Male Chinese:






Female chinese right nearby. Big fat girl.


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## Rick (Sep 26, 2009)

Another narrow wing ooth:






Finally found one!:











Another one in same tree:











Another ooth:






Another narrow winged female:











Some kind of gourd or something:


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## cloud jaguar (Sep 26, 2009)

Nice finds. That sure is a fat female!


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## Rick (Sep 26, 2009)

Chinese female:











Another chinese female. Didn't find any narrow wing on this side of the road:


























More narrow winged ooths. Two together:






More:


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## Rick (Sep 26, 2009)

Probably the ooth maker. Narrow wing female. She was very sluggish and looked rough:











Very rough looking chinese male. He was fiesty though!
















Back home. I kept two chinese females for my yard and two narrow winged that will eventually be pinned:

Chinese females:


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## Rick (Sep 26, 2009)

Chinese versus narrow winged. Was trying to compare but the narrow winged wouldn't hold still. She climbed up onto the chinese. The chinese were 11 cm and the narrow wigned was 9 cm











Narrow winged:






Chinese wing:






Narrow winged. One of their differences:


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## mantidsaresweet (Sep 26, 2009)

Did you keep any of the ooths?


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## Rick (Sep 26, 2009)

mantidsaresweet said:


> Did you keep any of the ooths?


Of course.


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## sbugir (Sep 26, 2009)

Nice pics.

BTW, last pic is funny...you can see your dogs tail


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## Rick (Sep 26, 2009)

lemmiwinks said:


> Nice pics.BTW, last pic is funny...you can see your dogs tail


He's in a couple. :lol:


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## mantidsaresweet (Sep 26, 2009)

Rick said:


> Of course.


Great! I would love some nymphs when they hatch.


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## Rick (Sep 26, 2009)

mantidsaresweet said:


> Great! I would love some nymphs when they hatch.


Gonna incubate one and keep the other two outside until I decide what to do with them. Not sure if they need a diapause.


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## Emile.Wilson (Sep 26, 2009)

Great pictures Rick! Thanks for showing us the differences between the two species.


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## Rick (Sep 26, 2009)

Emile said:


> Great pictures Rick! Thanks for showing us the differences between the two species.


Well only ones I know are that narrow wing have an orange spot between the front two legs and chinese have a yellow spot. Narrow wing have in fact narrower wings with the majority of the flying wings being clear. They are also slightly smaller and I could tell them apart in the field due to the size of their heads. The ooths look totally different.


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## MantidLord (Sep 26, 2009)

Awesome pics Rick. Man narrow wing and Chinese sure do look similar. But thanks for pointing out the differences. Also love the lizard pic.

Oh, and you sure are a trooper for withstanding the wasp attack, it seems that wasps and mantids are always so close to each other.


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## Ntsees (Sep 26, 2009)

Nice pictures. Wow, both species look a lot alike.


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## ABbuggin (Sep 26, 2009)

It is amazing how similar they look as a mantis, yet the ooths are completely different!


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## Katnapper (Sep 26, 2009)

Great little hunting trip you had, and nice pics. I also appreciate the description of your observations of the differences between the Chinese and Narrow Winged mantids.


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## spicey (Sep 26, 2009)

You have no idea how much I appreciate all these pics! I'm still waiting to see if any of my narrow winged mantids make it to adulthood, and to be able to tell them from my Chinese too. I'm also very jealous, I wish I could have spent the day out in an area full of ooths and mantids like you did! Congrats on your great finds, and hope you aren't feeling any ill effects from the wasp sting....OUCH!


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## Opivy (Sep 26, 2009)

jack pot! Love the pictures -

I didn't know you can spread their wings out like that =0, I'm kinda too scared to even hold them by the back lol.


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## Rick (Sep 27, 2009)

spicey said:


> You have no idea how much I appreciate all these pics! I'm still waiting to see if any of my narrow winged mantids make it to adulthood, and to be able to tell them from my Chinese too. I'm also very jealous, I wish I could have spent the day out in an area full of ooths and mantids like you did! Congrats on your great finds, and hope you aren't feeling any ill effects from the wasp sting....OUCH!


Just look between the front legs. They will have orange. That would be the only way to tell on nymphs. I know the one you sent me was chinese.


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## ismart (Sep 27, 2009)

Great job rick on finding the narrow-wings  I guess now i don't have to send you any.


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## Rick (Sep 27, 2009)

ismart said:


> Great job rick on finding the narrow-wings  I guess now i don't have to send you any.


Nope. But thanks.


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## spicey (Sep 27, 2009)

Rick said:


> Just look between the front legs. They will have orange. That would be the only way to tell on nymphs. I know the one you sent me was chinese.


Thanks for letting me know that, I wonder why some of the Chinese nymphs are already 4 inches long and have reached sub-adult and some are so much smaller? Could it be because they came from 2 different ooths even though they hatched at roughly the same time?


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## Rick (Sep 27, 2009)

spicey said:


> Thanks for letting me know that, I wonder why some of the Chinese nymphs are already 4 inches long and have reached sub-adult and some are so much smaller? Could it be because they came from 2 different ooths even though they hatched at roughly the same time?


That is common. I have had some at L5 while an ooth mate was adult. It happens often.


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## spicey (Sep 27, 2009)

Rick said:


> That is common. I have had some at L5 while an ooth mate was adult. It happens often.


Thanks for the info, that's good to know!


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## yen_saw (Sep 28, 2009)

Great find Rick!! The difference on hind wing is one way to tell apart both T. sinesis and narrow wing based on the tenodera identification key i have read. Now i wonder if this narrow wing gets to Texas or not. Tenodera seems to be more common in cooler region.


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## Rick (Sep 28, 2009)

yen_saw said:


> Great find Rick!! The difference on hind wing is one way to tell apart both T. sinesis and narrow wing based on the tenodera identification key i have read. Now i wonder if this narrow wing gets to Texas or not. Tenodera seems to be more common in cooler region.


Not sure Yen. Wouln't call this part of NC cool though. We are still near 90 degrees this time of year. The wing is a big difference and the color of the spot between the front legs. They are a bit slimmer and smaller than the chinese. Of course as you can see in the pics, the ooths look nothing alike. These look more like giant stagmomantis ooths. One of the females I kept laid an ooth last night.


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## yen_saw (Sep 28, 2009)

Rick said:


> Not sure Yen. Wouln't call this part of NC cool though. We are still near 90 degrees this time of year. The wing is a big difference and the color of the spot between the front legs. They are a bit slimmer and smaller than the chinese. Of course as you can see in the pics, the ooths look nothing alike. These look more like giant stagmomantis ooths. One of the females I kept laid an ooth last night.


Thanks for the info Rick. Yeah i would think there is a 'giant' Carolina mantis too by the look of that ooth.

Oh by the way, hope your hand is alright now. I know exactly how it feels! Ouch!


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## eur0pein (Jul 16, 2010)

i look every where but i can't ever find them


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## Peter Clausen (Jul 17, 2010)

Great documention on these species, Rick!

I also saw a stink bug, a ctenuchid moth and a black and yellow argiope (spider) amongst your photos. The size of the local grasshoppers appears to contribute to nice, large mantises!

On the topic of diapause for the narrow-wings, I did diapause the ooth that I got from you last summer/fall. It failed to hatch. It's not conclusive, but it's input! I may have neglected to spray it while it sat in my cold garage all winter/spring. After 2 months at 70-80 or so degrees and regular misting, it failed to hatch. (or maybe it will tomorrow?)


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## Rick (Jul 17, 2010)

Peter Clausen said:


> Great documention on these species, Rick!
> 
> I also saw a stink bug, a ctenuchid moth and a black and yellow argiope (spider) amongst your photos. The size of the local grasshoppers appears to contribute to nice, large mantises!
> 
> On the topic of diapause for the narrow-wings, I did diapause the ooth that I got from you last summer/fall. It failed to hatch. It's not conclusive, but it's input! I may have neglected to spray it while it sat in my cold garage all winter/spring. After 2 months at 70-80 or so degrees and regular misting, it failed to hatch. (or maybe it will tomorrow?)


Hmmm. That stinks. Sorry about that. Never know though with wild caught I guess. We do have lots of very large hoppers.

I do have another thread around here with two pinned specimens.


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## LauraMG (Jul 18, 2010)

I am extremely impressed with your spotting abilities Rick! I love to go trekking in the unmowed brush out in the country and all I ever seem to find is grasshoppers and moths! Great pictures and comparison between the two species. I wouldn't have ever known the difference, but now I do!


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## Rick (Jul 18, 2010)

Laura G said:


> I am extremely impressed with your spotting abilities Rick! I love to go trekking in the unmowed brush out in the country and all I ever seem to find is grasshoppers and moths! Great pictures and comparison between the two species. I wouldn't have ever known the difference, but now I do!


This thread doesn't really outline any differences between them. The thread below will be more helpful:

http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=15765&amp;st=0&amp;p=111301&amp;hl=Tendedora%20angustipennis&amp;fromsearch=1entry111301


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## JoeCapricorn (Jul 18, 2010)

That picture of a grasshopper over top of the narrow wing ooth... what kind of hopper is that? Can you maybe ship some up here to me?


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## SGcvn69 (Jul 22, 2010)

That looked like an interesting trip minus the wasp sting! I have never seen them in the wild!


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## Rick (Jul 22, 2010)

JoeCapricorn said:


> That picture of a grasshopper over top of the narrow wing ooth... what kind of hopper is that? Can you maybe ship some up here to me?


Those are the bird grasshoppers I was telling you about before. I can get you some but it will be a little later. This thread is from last year and I haven't been out yet.


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