Mantis silk

[Bugmankeith]

I've heard baby mantids hatch and release silk. Spiderlings and some caterpillars do this right after hatching and the wind catches onto the silk and carries them to a new location, it's called ballooning. Is it possible for mantids to do this to reach new locations?

 

[Sticky]

Excellant question!

 

[Tenodera]

My thought is that this refers to the thread that the neonate hangs by when it hatches from the ootheca, which is a membrane that surrounds the nymph and not silk that they produce. To my knowledge, mantids don't make silk, but silk is sometimes discovered in surprising orders (leaf-rolling crickets, for example).

 

[Rick]

To my knowledge ballooning is not seen in mantids. Hatching mantid nymphs drop from oothecae on short strands but that is the extent to my knowledge.

 

[Bugmankeith]

Ok thought Id ask, thanks for explaining.