Ooth hunting tips?

[cloud jaguar]

I hike much in the woods with my kids and wife. Lately my wife and I have been looking around for ooths to trade. Around here all we have seen is S. Californica. This is a super cool mantid - we really like its look and medium size. It appears to be most common under flowers and is very often found around where i live in Los Angeles county in a cool pink color. The first one we found and released this season was from a pink Mandevilla vine we used at our wedding 7 yrs ago. The pink mantid was perfectly camoflaged (sp?) in that plant. Anyways, supposedly these can be encouraged to be bright and colorful which is cool.

Anyways, where the heck are all the ooths? We have seen zero despite looking like crazy. Our S. Californica laid an ooth just after we introduced her to a butterfly cube 12"x12" wich some thin green fake foliage evergreen like branches and a couple of long cherry blossom like fake twigs. It liked oothing on the thin, long cherry blossom twigs because its ooth kind of wraps around the side - well thats what i think anyways

So, where do we look for the ooths? any type of plant or twig type or height or anything to look for? The S. Californica ooth is pretty low profile too, mostly just looks like a bump on a twig. Thanks

~Arkanis

 

[sidewinder]

Arkanis,

I grew up in Pasadena. What area of town do you live in?

Scott

 

[Rick]

First step would be to stop looking in the woods. Go to a weedy fenceline or meadow once leaves have dropped (if they do). Places that held a lot of grasshoppers like the meadows and overgrown lots are where mantids live in the greatest numbers. I would wait a little longer into the year though.

 

[yen_saw]

HI Arkanis, for me it is always easier to find mantis than ootheca cos mantis move but ootheca blend well with surrounding and doesn't move (I am quite bad at spotting things that don't move!), but that's just me. I have no experience on S. californica. But for S. carolina, the oothecae can usually be found on large tree bark about 3-6 foot above the ground, or on wooden structure like mail post column, fences, or thin branches. I remember finding three or four oothecae under the roof of a gazebo in a park, basically next to each other so the female must have stayed there for quite a while! Personally i would look for adult female which will guarantee ootheca rather than hunting for ootheca which could have been hatched or been attacked by parasitic wasp in the wild. Good luck!

 

[cloud jaguar]

Thanks Rick and Yen_saw for your advice about ooth hunting - i will definitely look for adult females and move the ooth search back to town! lol

Sidewinder, i was raised in Pasadena and now live in Altadena! small world eh?

~Arkanis

 

[Rick]

I find it easy to find ooths, especially the large chinese ooths. Once leaves have dropped they are easy to spot. Just look for the big brown thing stuck in the weeds. Stagmomantis ooths are harder find. Like Yen said they are often found on buildings, especially under overhangs down low or on thick branches.

 

[kamakiri]

Been a loooong time since I looked for 'em in the wild...but bark of trees, shrubs, and vines would be my first suggestion. Eaves and wood fence structures next...

Since you're in Pasedena, perhaps I'd try the Hunington Library Gardens?

Good luck!

 

[cloud jaguar]

Kamakiri -

wOW, there are some mantids over there at Huntington Gardens! Saw a fat S. Californica there with my wife and kids today!

 

[yen_saw]

NIce!! Where there is mantis, there is ootheca too. With keen eyes you should be able to spot some oothecae. Good luck!

 

[Katnapper]

I've had good luck finding ooths in the Burning Bush shrub (Euonymus alatus). Mostly S.carolina, but also found one T.sinensis this year. I didn't find any on a couple of trips to the woods. Seems they like to hang out around where people dwell.

 

[shorty]

I used to find many m. religiosa and t. sinensis ooths when I was younger but my eyes aren't what they used to be. Also, the places I used to find mantids and ooths are now private property and the land is posted. Unfortunately, it's hard to find them anymore around here. Hopefully, when the snow melts I'll have more luck finding them as I haven't found any so far this year.

 

[obregon562]

i love pasadena, minus UCLA that is.

I have had good luck (in Long Beach), finding ooths in decidous trees, such as peach, maples, and the brush around them. As Rick said, the weedier the better!