# How come I cant find any mantids?!?



## MANTIS DUDE (Jul 29, 2008)

Well, I found a lot that is right next to a lake that Is packed with hundreds of feeder insects, bees, crickets, moths, butterflys, wasps, ants, wierd small spike like insects that I cant identify. It has a lush rainforest of grass, bushes, vines, moss, ferns, herbs, etc. WHY CANT I FIND ANY MANTIDS!?! :huh: It would seem that these are the perfect conditions for them and I want to find at least one before the whole things built over with a house. Ive found a bunch of other things like, a cross spider, giant butterfly, grasshopper, scarab beatles, love bugs. Ive looked at noon and at dusk but I still don't see any.Does anyone have any ideas on why I dont see any?

P.S. Pardon me if I seem a little frusterated.


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## idolomantis (Jul 29, 2008)

ehh i mantis is kinda build for camoflage, you need also a large amount of luck. yuu can also buy some natives.

and i hope you didnt expect to find tons of em.


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## Meiji (Jul 29, 2008)

MANTIS DUDE said:


> Well, I found a lot that is right next to a lake that Is packed with hundreds of feeder insects, bees, crickets, moths, butterflys, wasps, ants, wierd small spike like insects that I cant identify. It has a lush rainforest of grass, bushes, vines, moss, ferns, herbs, etc. WHY CANT I FIND ANY MANTIDS!?! :huh: It would seem that these are the perfect conditions for them and I want to find at least one before the whole things built over with a house. Ive found a bunch of other things like, a cross spider, giant butterfly, grasshopper, scarab beatles, love bugs. Ive looked at noon and at dusk but I still don't see any.Does anyone have any ideas on why I dont see any?P.S. Pardon me if I seem a little frusterated.


Since I started a post about wild collecting last night I responded to you there.


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## chrisboy101 (Jul 29, 2008)

u gotta have sharp eyes B)


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## MANTIS DUDE (Jul 29, 2008)

chrisboy101 said:


> u gotta have sharp eyes B)


I do! B)


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## Rick (Jul 29, 2008)

It is easier in the fall when the mantids are breeding. Also you really have to get experienced at locating them. They can blend in very well.


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## Andrew (Jul 29, 2008)

Don't bother trying to spot them. Just take a big net and start sweeping it through the grass. You'll find a whole plethora of insects.


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## obregon562 (Jul 29, 2008)

net. net net net. all you need!


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## acerbity (Jul 29, 2008)

Here in Florida I only see Gonatista Grisea, which is a trunk / bark dwelling species, so I don't think sweep netting would be effective other than by a good deal of chance.

This can give you an idea of how hard it is when searching through acres of trees or brush.


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## Christian (Jul 30, 2008)

Mantids are distributed locally. There are habitats which are completely free of mantids, even if they look suitable in our eyes. In order to find something, you have to search more than one potential habitat.


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## idolomantis (Jul 30, 2008)

mantisonline

these spieces live in florida.


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## Mantis_Whisper (Jul 30, 2008)

idolomantis said:


> mantisonlinethese spieces live in florida.


Everything's in German. :blink: 

(I really need to learn German... some time or another.)

Mantis dude, you'll have to wait a bit before finding mantises, they come out mid-august where I live.

Depending on where you live (this will work in an area with lots of plants and trees) you can leave a ligth on outside during the night and check a couple times before you hit the sack. I've found around four chinese males doing that.

Also, I've found that you're likely to find female mantises at restrutants, I've found three girls hanging out at a couple restrutants. I find the males at hotels, motels, or homes. It might not always be the case but that's my exprience.


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## Rick (Jul 30, 2008)

I agree with Christian. I never have much trouble finding them in places they live without the use of a net. Nets tend to damage the mantis.


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## collinchang635 (Jul 30, 2008)

There are two way that i know of. One of them is dragging a net across the bush. The other way that I know of is putting a white coloured cloth/rag/something that covers a wide area under the bush and start to hit the bush. All of the insects that jump to the ground should jump onto the white surface. If you just look for mantids without using any special method, you must have very good eyes. Mantids are usually right in front of us but we just can't see them.


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## MANTIS DUDE (Jul 30, 2008)

I Like Mantis said:


> There are two way that i know of. One of them is dragging a net across the bush. The other way that I know of is putting a white coloured cloth/rag/something that covers a wide area under the bush and start to hit the bush. All of the insects that jump to the ground should jump onto the white surface. If you just look for mantids without using any special method, you must have very good eyes. Mantids are usually right in front of us but we just can't see them.


I think the first method of finding mantids would be extremely helpfull! Whenever I even put my foot down in the field, an explosion of all kinds of insects flys up in my face! :lol:


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## chrisboy101 (Jul 31, 2008)

MANTIS DUDE said:


> I think the first method of finding mantids would be extremely helpfull! Whenever I even put my foot down in the field, an explosion of all kinds of insects flys up in my face! :lol:


theres loads of exotic insects in florida


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## nympho (Jul 31, 2008)

i dunno, but i find it depressing someone will soon destroy such a fine habitat for all those creatures  esp the small spike like insects! :mellow: 



MANTIS DUDE said:


> Well, I found a lot that is right next to a lake that Is packed with hundreds of feeder insects, bees, crickets, moths, butterflys, wasps, ants, wierd small spike like insects that I cant identify. It has a lush rainforest of grass, bushes, vines, moss, ferns, herbs, etc. WHY CANT I FIND ANY MANTIDS!?! :huh: It would seem that these are the perfect conditions for them and I want to find at least one before the whole things built over with a house. Ive found a bunch of other things like, a cross spider, giant butterfly, grasshopper, scarab beatles, love bugs. Ive looked at noon and at dusk but I still don't see any.Does anyone have any ideas on why I dont see any?P.S. Pardon me if I seem a little frusterated.


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## MantidLord (Jul 31, 2008)

I agree with nympho. In May, when I was spraying and pulling weeds in my yard, I found I. oratoria nymphs running jumping off the weeds. I caught as many as I could, because I was destroying their habitat. The only place they had to go was the wall on my house, or a bush. But the bush was a couple of yards away, and they would have to travel across a field of rocks. The point is, the population of mantids around my house severly dropped because I destroyed their food sources and habitat. Which is why I plan on releasing half of next years generation in my backyard (where there are some trees). I can only hope some of the mantids were able to find shelter and food.


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## Precious (Aug 1, 2008)

The few mantids I've found in the wild I found on my butterfly bush. Believe me, the mantids are there you just can't see them! They are very elusive. I release Chinese on my butterfly bush and they don't leave. When I'm out harvesting bees I play "Where's Waldo" and try to find the Chinese and sure enough they're right in front of me but I have to scrutinize the bush to see them.


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## Christian (Aug 1, 2008)

Now where and what is it?


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## mrblue (Aug 1, 2008)

this is like "wheres wally?"!

i see it in the bottom right quarter of the photo. i assume some kind of mantis but have no idea on species. the abdomen is slightly curled round like the tail on some dogs, front arms/legs outstrectehd like popa/acromantis/sybilla/others. what species is it?


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## MANTIS DUDE (Aug 1, 2008)

Christian said:


> Now where and what is it?


I think thats a ghost mantid right? Thats amazing how well they can hide!


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## MANTIS DUDE (Aug 1, 2008)

nympho said:


> i dunno, but i find it depressing someone will soon destroy such a fine habitat for all those creatures  esp the small spike like insects! :mellow:


I dont want to seem like I just want to geedaly take from the wild, but the entire lot I found is going to be buldozed and built over probably killing 90% of the mantids there anyway. I think that mabey if I caut some, they would have a better chance of living than if I left them there.


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## Christian (Aug 2, 2008)

Here's another one. I will give the answers with the third and last picture. I cannot upload more per day, my attachment file is filled up with 246 kb already.


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## MANTIS DUDE (Aug 2, 2008)

Christian said:


> Here's another one. I will give the answers with the third and last picture. I cannot upload more per day, my attachment file is filled up with 246 kb already.


I might have found it.


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## Christian (Aug 3, 2008)

I can't upload a third pic. So where is the mantis in the second one? Mrblue found the first.


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## Rick (Aug 3, 2008)

Christian said:


> Here's another one. I will give the answers with the third and last picture. I cannot upload more per day, my attachment file is filled up with 246 kb already.


Just down and to the right of center. Looking at the camera with legs folded out in front and up high.


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## Christian (Aug 3, 2008)

Yeah. So both are _Deroplatys lobata_ nymphs in their natural habitat, just prior to collecting. I have another picture, but my attachment folder seems to be full.


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## Morpheus uk (Aug 3, 2008)

Woohoo i found them and knew what they were


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## MANTIS DUDE (Aug 3, 2008)

Morpheus uk said:


> Woohoo i found them and knew what they were


Kind of obviose what the sp was cause it has the latin name posted in giant letters right over the pic when u open it, lol.


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## mantidsandgeckos (Aug 4, 2008)

I don't see any mantids in the second pic.


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## idolomantis (Aug 5, 2008)

@ crhistian: found both,after working with leaf isects i,m a master in finding hidden insects


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## Rick (Aug 5, 2008)

friendofgeckos said:


> I don't see any mantids in the second pic.


Read what I posted after the pic. I was the first to find it, or at least the first to say I did.


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## mantidsandgeckos (Aug 6, 2008)

I still can't find it. WHATS WRONG WITH MY EYES???


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## idolomantis (Aug 6, 2008)

friendofgeckos said:


> I still can't find it. WHATS WRONG WITH MY EYES???


need glasses?


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## collinchang635 (Aug 7, 2008)

I too can't find either one of them.


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## Christian (Aug 7, 2008)

Some of you can't find them even in a photo of a very small part of the habitat. Now imagine how it is to find those in the rainforest! Finding mantids in the temperate zone can't be compared to this. There, you have a habitat of about 1 m height, in the tropics you have habitats of 60 m height. Even the portion that you can overlook ist still about 3 m high. And much more structurated than an old field. That's why the most spectacular species (which are the visually best protected ones) are so rarely available. And when they are, the effort that was necessary to obtain *and* subsequently breed them isn't even appreciated. I made this experience with _D. trigonodera_. It would not be worth the effort at all if I wasn't interested in some aspects of the life cycle of such species.


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## yen_saw (Aug 7, 2008)

It is not easy spotting crptive species in the wild. My poor eye sight doesn't help either. I circled the one found from Christian pics for anyone having trouble finding the mantis.


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## The_Asa (Aug 7, 2008)

Christian said:


> Some of you can't find them even in a photo of a very small part of the habitat. Now imagine how it is to find those in the rainforest! Finding mantids in the temperate zone can't be compared to this. There, you have a habitat of about 1 m height, in the tropics you have habitats of 60 m height. Even the portion that you can overlook ist still about 3 m high. And much more structurated than an old field. That's why the most spectacular species (which are the visually best protected ones) are so rarely available. And when they are, the effort that was necessary to obtain *and* subsequently breed them isn't even appreciated. I made this experience with _D. trigonodera_. It would not be worth the effort at all if I wasn't interested in some aspects of the life cycle of such species.


If it helps Christian, I appreciate it.


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