My house has an earwig problem this year, so I put one in with one of my baddest L3s, who wanted nothing to do with it. I put it in with another of my baddest L3s, who also seems mostly uninterested. In both cases, the mantis got close and looked ready to strike, but then backed off. To me, they look like they could defeat an earwig - they've taken down moths that were much bigger. I hope they'll eat earwigs once they molt to L4, because the earwigs are abundant, annoying, and free.
Anyone here ever seen a Chinese L3 eat earwigs?
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ismart
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You probally will have to wait until there a little bigger. Earwigs have the potential to cause some damage with there pinchers. A moth the same size or bigger is no threat to the mantis.
From what I've read and heard, though, the "pinchers" are mostly cosmetic - sort of a bluff to would-be predators. It seems to have worked in this case, because my mantids wouldn't touch them - yet. <_<
I stand corrected; they can pinch with those things! But a couple of my L4s still destroyed a couple of earwigs today in what was definitely the most intense combat I've seen since I've had these guys. Ok, maybe "combat" isn't the right word. It was more of a beatdown than a fight, but the earwigs struggled like crazy.
The mantids actually seemed smart enough to know of the possible threat those pinchers posed; one earwig was trying fiercely to use them at first, and the mantis noticed and began chewing on them. And the other mantis actually jumped on the other earwig and pinned it down with both front legs spread out pretty wide (a move I've never seen before) making it impossible for the earwig to bend its body and get at him with the pinchers. I swear these are the smartest bugs in the world. I also must admit that those earwigs were tougher than I thought they'd be!
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