I'm an Entomologist- ask me anything!

[Trundlebug]

Hi all, so I thought this would be something fun to do. Like the title says, I'm an Entomologist - meaning I work with insects professionally. since most of you are hobbyists (I hope?) I might have some insight into any questions you have about insects, mantids, or my field in particular.

Any questions? Ask away!

 

[jrh3]

Question answered lol. Have you ever worked with horsehead hoppers?

 

[Jay]

Okay Trundlebug - I hope you can give me a bit of insight on this one.

This forum has had several discussions about inbreeding and inbreeding depression. Though some species of mantis were once available to the hobby for a generation or two, either because the breeders did not keep enough stock or something else happened, the species no longer produced viable offspring. This has led some of us to consider inbreeding depression a possible threat to some mantis species.

With this in mind - how prevalent a problem is inbreeding depression in most insects and how large of a population of a specific species of mantis would you suggest to keep a breeder from experiencing inbreeding depression with his (or her) mantis landrace? (In answering this question I understand that specific species may be more sensitive to inbreeding depression than others - but I was just wondering your opinion)

Though I apologize for the length of the question, I am hoping a thoughtful question will evoke a thoughtful response.

Thanks!

-Jay

 

[Rick]

Do you work with insects in a broad sense or do you focus on one system in particular?

 

[Krissim Klaw]

Is it morally acceptable to taunt one's mantis with a mouse pointer? :whistling:

 

[Darkrai283]

Okay Trundlebug - I hope you can give me a bit of insight on this one.

This forum has had several discussions about inbreeding and inbreeding depression. Though some species of mantis were once available to the hobby for a generation or two, either because the breeders did not keep enough stock or something else happened, the species no longer produced viable offspring. This has led some of us to consider inbreeding depression a possible threat to some mantis species.

With this in mind - how prevalent a problem is inbreeding depression in most insects and how large of a population of a specific species of mantis would you suggest to keep a breeder from experiencing inbreeding depression with his (or her) mantis landrace? (In answering this question I understand that specific species may be more sensitive to inbreeding depression than others - but I was just wondering your opinion)

Though I apologize for the length of the question, I am hoping a thoughtful question will evoke a thoughtful response.

Thanks!

-Jay

I'm interested in this as well.

 

[Rick]

Keep on topic please.

 

[Trundlebug]

Question answered lol. Have you ever worked with horsehead hoppers?

I haven't! They are very, very cool looking though -- they seem very similar to katydids. I bet our outreach program would love to get a few of those.

 

[Mantis Man13]

Are any mantises classified as endangered at all?

 

[Trundlebug]

Okay Trundlebug - I hope you can give me a bit of insight on this one.

This forum has had several discussions about inbreeding and inbreeding depression. Though some species of mantis were once available to the hobby for a generation or two, either because the breeders did not keep enough stock or something else happened, the species no longer produced viable offspring. This has led some of us to consider inbreeding depression a possible threat to some mantis species.

With this in mind - how prevalent a problem is inbreeding depression in most insects and how large of a population of a specific species of mantis would you suggest to keep a breeder from experiencing inbreeding depression with his (or her) mantis landrace? (In answering this question I understand that specific species may be more sensitive to inbreeding depression than others - but I was just wondering your opinion)

Though I apologize for the length of the question, I am hoping a thoughtful question will evoke a thoughtful response.

Thanks!

-Jay

What an interesting question! Just really quickly, I want to link this quick read for anyone who might not know what inbreeding depression is. The article explains it really well!

Inbreeding depression in insects is actually poorly studied (save for fruit flies and a few different types of beetles), and actually only seems to occur in laboratory settings (or in the home, as it is now ). Insects are pretty good about avoiding inbreeding in the wild.

Thinking about the life history of mantises, they're fairly good at dispersal -- they have to be, being predators -- and are probably more sensitive to it than, say, a type of beetle that lives and reproduces in one tree for generations. How sensitive they are highly depends on their evolutionary life history. Do they come from a small pocket of individuals in the wild? Or like the chinese mantis, are they everywhere? A species that comes from a tiny specialized area has a much higher risk than one that's found over a larger region. The farther away a population is generationally from wild individuals, the more the risk increases as well.

To avoid inbreeding depression, you would definitely need to bring individuals in from the wild at some point or another. The more we breed and trade the babies with one another for more breeding projects, the more towards inbreeding depression we inevitably go! We're essentially just breeding more and more offspring from a limited pool of resources. If you knew the lineage of every mantis you kept, you could avoid it much easier, but that's a difficult prospect now.

 

[Trundlebug]

Do you work with insects in a broad sense or do you focus on one system in particular?

I've done both! Right now I work with two specialized systems. One is the biological control of the polyphagous shothole borer, which is a tiny ambrosia beetle that is destroying our avocado trees, and the second is the bacterial symbionts in kissing bugs (transmitters of Chagas disease) that allow them to digest blood meals.

I also just like to play around with different bugs too! I work in our insect outreach program from time to time, taking care of beetles, roaches, phasmids, grasshoppers, centipedes, millipedes, black widow spiders, and loooots of tarantulas. People like those. We used to have mantises before I started working here as well.

 

[Trundlebug]

Is it morally acceptable to taunt one's mantis with a mouse pointer? :whistling:

No. I mean... yes. :stuart:

 

[Trundlebug]

Are any mantises classified as endangered at all?

I can't think of any, and paper searches are turning up nothing as well. Most endangered insects are butterflies, beetles, and aquatic species, it seems...

 

[Krissim Klaw]

No. I mean... yes. :stuart:

Have you ever seen any studies done on mantis aversion to giant hairy man arms? I've had so many mantises over the years who flat out refuse to climb on my dad's arms. All it takes is one try for them to learn to completely snub his manly man arm hairs. I keep asking him to shave a strip up his arm so they would have a hair free walk way, but so far he keeps turning me down, even when I say it is for science. :taz:

On a slightly more serious note, do you know of any studies on honey and its affects on insects outside of bees? Honey is generally considered within the hobby to be an acceptable treat for mantises. Over the years however there are also those that claim its useful for health benefits. Some like to feed it to mantises that have been puking, under the assertion it's natural antibacterial properties will help cleanse the mantises gut of any bacterial/fungle type infections/imbalances. I've seen other's that like to slather it on wounds, once again under the assumption it will prevent infection. I'm curious what your thoughts on this would be and if you know of any studies that might support or discredit such thoughts?

 

[agent A]

my indoor luna moths eclosed and attracted wild males but it seems like my outdoor ones have yet to emerge

why is it that the indoor ones that emerge early are in sync with local populations but the ones outside under the same conditions as local populations are not? do microclimates and a spread out flight season account for this?

 

[mantisman 230]

Going back to lineages, we hobbyists have what is known as IGM, this is essentially a stock number that denotes one stock of a species from another, take IGM 267, that is a stock for Acanthops erosula.

 

[baskmantids]

I've read on a few post that bee pollen can be use to supplement mantids. was wondering what kind of effects does bee pollen have on mantids. is it similar to dusting reptile food itemd with multivitamins?

 

[Forcep]

I can't think of any, and paper searches are turning up nothing as well. Most endangered insects are butterflies, beetles, and aquatic species, it seems...

If you search Mantodea on IUCN there will pop out a species (Ameles fasciipennis) rated as CR.

 

[Jay]

What an interesting question! Just really quickly, I want to link this quick read for anyone who might not know what inbreeding depression is. The article explains it really well!

Inbreeding depression in insects is actually poorly studied (save for fruit flies and a few different types of beetles), and actually only seems to occur in laboratory settings (or in the home, as it is now ). Insects are pretty good about avoiding inbreeding in the wild.

Thinking about the life history of mantises, they're fairly good at dispersal -- they have to be, being predators -- and are probably more sensitive to it than, say, a type of beetle that lives and reproduces in one tree for generations. How sensitive they are highly depends on their evolutionary life history. Do they come from a small pocket of individuals in the wild? Or like the chinese mantis, are they everywhere? A species that comes from a tiny specialized area has a much higher risk than one that's found over a larger region. The farther away a population is generationally from wild individuals, the more the risk increases as well.

To avoid inbreeding depression, you would definitely need to bring individuals in from the wild at some point or another. The more we breed and trade the babies with one another for more breeding projects, the more towards inbreeding depression we inevitably go! We're essentially just breeding more and more offspring from a limited pool of resources. If you knew the lineage of every mantis you kept, you could avoid it much easier, but that's a difficult prospect now.

Thanks for your response, Trundlebug!

Yes - it seems we, as a group of hobbyists have much to do to improve this situation so that we can raise a healthy, robust population of mantids.