Amazing mantid survival

[Bugmankeith]

I found a Chinese mantis female outside a month ago solid and not moving, I thought it was dead.

I placed it under a shrub and checked on it next day and it was alive in a shrub! I fed it Turkey baby food, and for a month since it’s still outside alive! It moves into direct sunlight to warm up then goes on the ground at night in leaves. We’ve had snow flurries and frosts, I don’t know how it’s still alive!?

It seems they can tolerate more cold than we realize, but end up dying from starvation eventually. 

 

[TheWolven]

Are you up for taking him/her inside? TwT

 

[guapoalto049]

Yes they’re much hardier than we give credit. I actually tend to find Carolina mantises later than Chinese. For example, this year I’ve found 5-6 Carolinas in November in PA after a week straight of frost, once inside they liven up and live normally! 

 

[hibiscusmile]

Thats interesting, great job.

 

[Curiosity]

Thanks for answering one of my longstanding questions about mantises Do you suppose they lose consciousness when they get that cold? 

 

[TheWolven]

Yes they’re much hardier than we give credit. I actually tend to find Carolina mantises later than Chinese. For example, this year I’ve found 5-6 Carolinas in November in PA after a week straight of frost, once inside they liven up and live normally! 

Yeah Carolinas are quite sturdy. Had a male smack into a ceiling fan and he was no worse for wear.

 

[Bugmankeith]

Thanks for answering one of my longstanding questions about mantises Do you suppose they lose consciousness when they get that cold? 

I’m not sure, I see the eyes go dark until it warms up. Maybe like an extreme slow metabolism?

 

[Bugmankeith]

Yes they’re much hardier than we give credit. I actually tend to find Carolina mantises later than Chinese. For example, this year I’ve found 5-6 Carolinas in November in PA after a week straight of frost, once inside they liven up and live normally! 

This discovery is interesting, but at the same time brings  up a  sensitive topic.

Many put mantises in cold temps to humanely euthanize, but seeing how they can bounce back after periods of cold temps, are we killing live mantids and tossing them out unknowingly?

Is it possible for wild mantids to live after winter “hibernating” coming to life in spring? 

 

[Curiosity]

@Bugmankeith That is an interesting question…the mantises I have euthanized this way were pretty clearly dead when they came out. Of course, most of them were already dying of illness or injury first, and they might have just finished bleeding out in the freezer. But I get pretty sentimental about the corpses and keep them around for a while, at first specifically to see if they were actually dead, and I've never seen one revive before. 

Also, this wouldn't apply to all species. There's no way tropical mantises can survive being frozen. 

It also falls smack into the category of questions it would be easy to answer, if only I had a test subject I was willing to lose. I could just stick one of my mantises outside and see if she revives in the spring. Not happening, for obvious reasons  

 

[TheWolven]

I believe like a lot of insects, they can survive very low temperatures. Like when you put flies into the fridge and they just kind of unthaw after a few minutes. Carolinas are also native to America whilst Chinese mantises have only been here for a hundred years or so. Carolinas have had a much longer time to adapt to our temperatures. I'm not so sure about the weather in China that Chinese mantises have to deal with but I do know American weather. Believe me when I say that Carolinas are sturdy. 

 

[Curiosity]

@The Wolven The freezer is way different from the fridge, though. I have been wondering for a while if it's possible to anesthetize mantises in the fridge. One of my mantises needed an amputation this year, and if that situation ever comes up again I'm testing that theory. 

 

[Bugmankeith]

Interesting news, the female just laid an ooth outside today! We’ve had unusually high temps in the 50’s and I guess  she had enough nutrition to produce one. 

 

[TheWolven]

Interesting news, the female just laid an ooth outside today! We’ve had unusually high temps in the 50’s and I guess  she had enough nutrition to produce one. 

Guess she knows who to thank huh? 

 

[Grapple_Apple]

This discovery is interesting, but at the same time brings  up a  sensitive topic.

Many put mantises in cold temps to humanely euthanize, but seeing how they can bounce back after periods of cold temps, are we killing live mantids and tossing them out unknowingly?

Is it possible for wild mantids to live after winter “hibernating” coming to life in spring? 

No. Native species do not survive our winters here in the US. There are certain species like those in the Empusa genus that diapause in Europe, but do not survive below 0 freezing temperatures. Only the ova in the ootheca are able to survive that due to their insulation. 

 

[hysteresis]

Only the ova in the ootheca are able to survive that due to their insulation. 

And even then, only temperate species oothecae. And those vary in what cold they can take as well. Stagmomantis wont range into Canada. Heck, it wont range into the far northern states. Perhaps into the Pacific Northwest near the coast? I dunno.

Brunneria oothecae diapause, but not like religiosa. 

 

[Krissim Klaw]

@The Wolven The freezer is way different from the fridge, though. I have been wondering for a while if it's possible to anesthetize mantises in the fridge. One of my mantises needed an amputation this year, and if that situation ever comes up again I'm testing that theory. 

I've heard of other people using the fridge method when they needed to still inverts for something hands on like that.

 

[hibiscusmile]

Why dont you bring her in?

 

[Curiosity]

@Krissim KlawThanks for mentioning a precedent