# Bug hunt in North of Houston



## yen_saw (Sep 28, 2009)

Look like Rick and I are taking turn in bug hunting posts here :lol: 

For some reason I am going Stagmomantis mad recently so decided to look for some Carolina mantis in the woody northern Houston area last week. Looking to add in my Stagmomantis pin collection, my son, a bug collecting fellow David, and I went for a night hunt going around the area looking for building with mercury vapor lights on.

The first building was a store close to Lake Houston city park, it has a dozen of bright mercury vapor lights on (probably 24 hour) and has a field next to it. We arrived there around 9:30 PM and soon found two adult male Carolina on the wall under the light.







Got 3 _Stagmomantis carolina _ in less than 30 minutes, not bad.






Also a grass mantis nymph crawling on the wall, into my container  






A nice looking moth spotted on the wall too. David told me it is _Diphthera festiva _(Hieroglyphics moth), not commonly seen around this area.






This moth has about 5 inches wing span...._Eacles imperialis _(Imperial moth)






One of the common insect here - _Monochamus titillator _(Southern Pine Sawyer)






By 10 pm there are more and more adult male Carolina attracted to the lights. This one is spotted feeding at the front door of the store.






More grass mantis adult male and nymphs spotted too


----------



## [email protected] (Sep 28, 2009)

Cool, I wish i could find some grass mantis nymphs... B)


----------



## yen_saw (Sep 28, 2009)

Chase said:


> Cool, I wish i could find some grass mantis nymphs... B)


Believed you can find them in FL too Chase.More carolina attracted to the lights (and the food)











Saw a pair of mating stick insect too, and by the time i got home, she had lay some ova! later I found out this species is capable of shooting chemical liquid that could cause temporary blindness..... oh boy!






Got a nice meal for my mantis - _Ceratomia undulosa _(Waved sphinx), but she decides to lay eggs in the container











Frog joinned the hunt too catching stray bugs






David then caught a very rare long horn - _Neoptychodes trilineatus _











Antlion






Crazy looking moth


----------



## yen_saw (Sep 28, 2009)

Caught about 16 adult males Carolina and a dozen of grass mantis (only about 6 are nymphs). by then it was only 10:30 PM so we decided to check out another spot. We found a school with bright lights on..... yes! But what we first saw was our Texas state animal... amardillo. This mammal is usually found as road kill in Texas  , i almost ran over a live one once  by now my Sony cybershot H20 ran out of battery and I only have the crappy iphone camera left  .
















caught a few more Carolina mantis and saw this baby cotton mouth packed with attitude.











Trying to ran away






saw a beautiful big moth i forgot the name






What happen next was unpleasant, a police car passed by and chase us out from the school compound, bummer!!....... :angry: It was about 11PM by then. My son thought it was a cool experience &lt;_&lt; and took a pic of me angry packing up and leave...nah i wasn't angry really  (Lesson learn, don't go around the school late at night!)






Here are some of the mantis captured.....






Well i hope to collect more Stagmomantis sp in the future and appreciate if anyone willing to donate any dead specimen of Stagmomamntis sp.


----------



## ABbuggin (Sep 28, 2009)

Cool pics!



yen_saw said:


> saw a beautiful big moth i forgot the name


This is a male IO moth (_Automeris, io_) They are here in NC too, but a rare sight.


----------



## Rick (Sep 28, 2009)

Awesome pics Yen! I have one of those grass mantids and I really like them. Did you keep any of them?


----------



## mantidsaresweet (Sep 28, 2009)

I was going to say an Io moth as well but andrew beat me too it  

Those are some great finds Yen. I wish I could find 16 in one night :lol:


----------



## yen_saw (Sep 28, 2009)

ABbuggin said:


> Cool pics! This is a male IO moth (_Automeris, io_) They are here in NC too, but a rare sight.


Thanks Andrew.


Rick said:


> Awesome pics Yen! I have one of those grass mantids and I really like them. Did you keep any of them?


Thanks. i am sure the field next to the store has lot more grass mantis so i keep all that were captured. if you need a male let me know.


mantidsaresweet said:


> I was going to say an Io moth as well but andrew beat me too it  Those are some great finds Yen. I wish I could find 16 in one night :lol:


 Thanks. It is much easier than looking for bugs during day time.


----------



## Rick (Sep 28, 2009)

yen_saw said:


> Thanks. i am sure the field next to the store has lot more grass mantis so i keep all that were captured. if you need a male let me know.


Not even sure what I have.


----------



## idolomantis (Sep 28, 2009)

NIce pictures Yen  

BTW that stick insect is an _Anisomospha_ species i guess.


----------



## revmdn (Sep 28, 2009)

That looks like a lot of fun.


----------



## yen_saw (Sep 28, 2009)

Rick said:


> Not even sure what I have.


 Yeah especially when they are still nymph. When the nymphs is about 2 inches male will develope small budwing and slightly longer antenna. Antenna is very short for female and wingless as adult (around 2.5 inches). 


idolomantis said:


> NIce pictures Yen  BTW that stick insect is an _Anisomospha_ species i guess.


 Thanks idolomantis, it is most likely _Anisomorpha buprestoides _.


----------



## idolomantis (Sep 28, 2009)

Aren't those from Florida?


----------



## yen_saw (Sep 28, 2009)

idolomantis said:


> Aren't those from Florida?


They can be found from Florida to East Texas, and is pretty common in Florida. Not a common sight in Texas, guess I was lucky to see this in the wild.


----------



## Katnapper (Sep 29, 2009)

Good bug hunting trip, Yen... well, at least until the cop shows up!


----------



## ismart (Sep 29, 2009)

Very nice!  Bug hunting kicks butt!


----------



## yen_saw (Sep 29, 2009)

Katnapper said:


> Good bug hunting trip, Yen... well, at least until the cop shows up!


 Thanks, yeah the cop spoilt it. We were finding all the cool stuff until..... what a bummer! :angry: 


ismart said:


> Very nice!  Bug hunting kicks butt!


 haha!  it is fun, except the long drive.


----------



## massaman (Sep 29, 2009)

wish we had some of those kind of bugs up here to the north in Michigan but most of the bugs around here are just too bland and never see anything new or exciting!


----------

