I.D. Please - S. californica?

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Pssh

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Hello,

I was walking by this field by my house and found some ooths. I haven't really seen any other mantis except what I thought were S. californica over the summer. I know the mantis' weren't Chinese or European. These were kind of in odd places. The one without a stick was kind of dangling from a piece of grass, and the other one was laying in the dirt. The stick was already snapped and I found it just like that. Sorry about the coin, it was the only one I could find that was easy to get.

Thanks!

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh83/RawrXimaXduck/ac65c330.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh83/RawrXimaXduck/69aabf80.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh83/RawrXimaXduck/0ac17fde.jpg

 
Stagmomantis californica oothecae looks just like Stagmomantis carolina. My experience has been that it is slightly lighter color than S. carolina ootheca.

Scalifornicaooth.jpg


Where (state?) did you find the oothecae?

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Central California. :) sorry. I forgot to say that! That's why I think they are California as opposed to Carolina.

Edit: would it be a bad idea to let some Chinese mantids out in my plants in the summer? If it is, I'll just hatch these and have the adults make more and put them in my plants. In the Sumer I find the adults all the time. :) Usually it's only because I almost stepped on it and it flails around in it's threat pose.

Edit2: are these a communal species? Also, should these hatch, about how many nymphs should I expect? I'm guessing something around 50? I think I might be way off...

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yep, these are european mantids. I went out to collect some nymphs and I've been finding more than 20 one inch nymphs in a 3 foot squared area! In very low grass might I add. I had no idea they were so abundant here.

kamakiri said:
My thoughts exactly. I think M. religiosa range extends to northern/central CA. Pretty sure we don't have them down here.
Click to expand...
 
What do you think the chances are she's already mated? I've never seen one of these around here, so I'm assuming they are in smaller numbers? I actively look for mantids so, this was a strange find for me.

Edit: what size are the ooths? I think I've seen a few old ones around, so maybe they are more common than I thought?

 
Last edited by a moderator:
It's difficult to tell if she's already been mated. By looking at the pictures, I'm going to take a guess and say that it is. The species is known to be parthenogenic too. As for what the ooth looks like, it's not round like the ooths above in this topic. The females will have longer (not necessarily bigger) ooths if they are fed more. You'll see what I mean when yours produce an ooth for you.

 

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