Argh I can't find anything!? Any help?

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Extrememantid

Extrememantid

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 25, 2012
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Location
Kelowna, British Columbia Canada
Hey guys!

So I am hoping that you guys can help me find some mantids (european mantids and Chinese mantids) I want to find some females as well as males, I'm pretty confident that I can go to some lights at night and find males. But i'm hoping you guys can share your techniques with me and where to look, other than lights! And if you have any suggestions about finding L. Minor (ground mantid) that would be appreciated to!

Thanks,

Cole

 
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Anywhere that has lots of bugs is where you should look. There are certain species of flowers that attract tons of butterflies and flies. I dont know species of flowers, but there is one bush that has yellow flowers in it and another ground cover with purple flowers that has a scent to it. Wish i could post pics from here, but i cant, so good luck!

 
Sneaky123 said:
Anywhere that has lots of bugs is where you should look. There are certain species of flowers that attract tons of butterflies and flies. I dont know species of flowers, but there is one bush that has yellow flowers in it and another ground cover with purple flowers that has a scent to it. Wish i could post pics from here, but i cant, so good luck!
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Thanks!

 
Gas stations at night...hehehe..I always seem to see them there. I just walk my dog every evening and generally find them under on lawns or bushes close to or directly under a street light. It's tough finding them in bushes, hats off to those that can, but if you live in area where folks leave their exterior lights on look on their driveways or garage doors. I always carry 2 plastic bags this time of year, one for my dog's business and one in case I find a mantid.

We actually found a large tan Euro female last night, my son wanted to carry her for awhile and sure enough after 5 minutes she flew off into the darkness. She was the first female of the 2012 season, but in the next 3 weeks they will be everywhere. I only have 3 housings at the Mantid Lodge & Resort and no vacancies. However, having 1 green female and 2 tan females as guests if I were to find another large green female I would evict one my tan females and move her in.

 
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I get wild mantids in the bushes in my yard,one was a rose bush,and the other i think was azalias,but I think they are there because of the house lights which attract all of the moths and flying insects at night. Everything I found this year is female,wild carolina and a chinese,no males for either yet,but want to keep looking. Fields are a good place as well if they are near something with lights or a parking light ect. and true about gas stations and stores as well. Helps to bring a net and something big enough to put w.e you find in it to get it home,the adults will fly off

 
Abandoned or overgrown lots with lots of weeds. Just trudge through and keep your eyes open. Don't worry about stepping on them. Unless you're stomping like a mad man, you'll only disturb them, making it easy to see them.

 
I have always had an eye for them. But weedy lots, weedy meadows, overgrown fencelines, etc. If you walk into a weedy area and you see millions of grasshoppers and other insects everywhere it is probably a good place to start looking. Just walk slowly and look carefully. You can also try lighted areas at night. If they have tons of insects on the walls and ground you may find a mantis.

 
Extrememantid said:
So, are females attracted to lights too? i thought only males?
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Males travel at night in hopes of finding a female. They can be found in the most uncommon places. A friend of mine recently messaged me during her vacations saying that there was a mantis inside a restaurant on the wall, dinner time. For such an unusual place I was 90% sure that it was male.

All insects are attracted to light but finding a female praying-mantis at night is not very easy. First they can't fly and second they don't travel much and prefer sedentary lives close to food sources. In other words, there's a better chance of finding females in the bushes while males are easy to find everywhere

If possible you can always lure males if you have a female. Just put her in a well ventilated cage outside. One day or another some males will pick up her scent and fly right to her.

 
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I have a whole bug paradise in my back yard so I sometimes find them there. Also my school is close to a mountain and has a lot of trees. I find tons of females there for some reason. Maybe the females stay there and males leave when thay get wings.

 
I don't know, females have been found in weirder places. My uncle is a correctional officer and he found a female european in the actual prison. Lol, he thought of me and caught it and then brought it down to me. But needless to say, I keep this one away from the other ones :gun_bandana: :gunsmilie:

 
MantidLord said:
I don't know, females have been found in weirder places. My uncle is a correctional officer and he found a female european in the actual prison. Lol, he thought of me and caught it and then brought it down to me. But needless to say, I keep this one away from the other ones :gun_bandana: :gunsmilie:
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Haha lol, :gunsmilie: interesting story!

 
Sorry I missed your L. minor question, hmm I'm not familiar with the geography of British Columbia, but I can describe how I find ground mantids when I'm in California and Nevada. Basically, I go to arid, dry and open areas (in direct sunlight so be careful). I walk along the edges of weedy lots that have dying or dead vegetation that's barely an inch long, and I just look down. You'll see the mantids scurrying in a lizard-like fashion (run-stop. run.stop.) I search the edges because they run out into the open ground and it's easier to catch rather than them running into the vegetation. And they are fast and agile, so be ready.

I'll link a thread that has a picture I posted regarding their habitat.

Scroll down first page

http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=25721

 
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MantidLord said:
Sorry I missed your L. minor question, hmm I'm not familiar with the geography of British Columbia, but I can describe how I find ground mantids when I'm in California and Nevada. Basically, I go to arid, dry and open areas (in direct sunlight so be careful). I walk along the edges of weedy lots that have dying or dead vegetation that's barely an inch long, and I just look down. You'll see the mantids scurrying in a lizard-like fashion (run-stop. run.stop.) I search the edges because they run out into the open ground and it's easier to catch rather than them running into the vegetation. And they are fast and agile, so be ready.

I'll link a thread that has a picture I posted regarding their habitat.

Scroll down first page

https://mantidforum.net/index.php?showtopic=25721'>http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=25721
Click to expand...
Thanks! :) , I'm always open to some collected mantids from you :D lol!

I'll link pics of the habitat here :)

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=safari&q=okanagan&biw=1024&bih=690&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=FIUoUMLkA8SXiQL4yYDYCQ#biv=i|16;d|SwB7-3I2cL0zcM

Or just search okanagan on google images

 

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