Mantis Hunt in Southern Taiwan at November 12th, 2008

Many of mantids here appear in all seasons. Although it's November now, it's still warm in Kaohsiung. I decided to go out for a mantis hunt, to collect some Mantis religiosa individuals.

A L1 M. religiosa nymph appeared immediately.



An adult female soon appeared, too.



Then an adult male.



A large Tenodera aridifolia ootheca.



A M. religiosa ooth and a parasitoid wasp adult female was on it.



Tenodera aridifolia L6 nymph.



Tenodera superstitiosa adult female. This specie is uncommon in Taiwan.



The grass of their habitat.



Although it's November now, it's still lifeful outside.

eaglewarrior,

Thank you! The pictures are great. Do you have larger versions that can be accessed from another site?

This pretty much kills the idea that mantids are not a year round insect in Taiwan and that they follow annual or biannual seasons.

Scott

Good eyes!

Nice field excursion pics, eaglewarrior. Almost made me feel as if I went with you.

wOW, WHat an incredible adventure! I had a long and terrible day today and it was really refreshing and a pleasant escape to linger upon the photos of your most excellent adventure! Cheers!

Mantids can have an annual or biannual cycle even in tropical regions. They don't have to overwinter in the ootheca, though, but will do it as nymphs. Even if you find many instars troughout the year, they may have certain peaks when most specimens of a particular populations are adult. This is rather typical for many tropical taxa. People often think there aren't any cycles, but in most cases there are.

T. superstitiosa doesn't occurr in Taiwan. I cannot tell which species this was, though, without having specimens of both species before me.

In some studies, that also in coherent with many independent observation, the mantis here in Taiwan heavily rely on the food supply to survive over the winter. Breeding cycles not that apparent as it seems.

Christian said:

Mantids can have an annual or biannual cycle even in tropical regions. They don't have to overwinter in the ootheca, though, but will do it as nymphs. Even if you find many instars troughout the year, they may have certain peaks when most specimens of a particular populations are adult. This is rather typical for many tropical taxa. People often think there aren't any cycles, but in most cases there are.T. superstitiosa doesn't occurr in Taiwan. I cannot tell which species this was, though, without having specimens of both species before me.

Click to expand...

Christian, can this photo help you to identify it?

By the way, can you send me a T. superstitiosa photo to me? Thank you very much.

That species cannot be identified from a photo, as important diagnostic characters are to be examined closely from a specimen. It superficially resembles T. superstitiosa in being elongate, however, T. superstitiosa is still larger and has a broader pronotum. It only occurs in Africa. I don't own a photo of that species.