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Which information or source do you want to challenge? I'll leave you with this, for now, from F.R. Prete's "The Preying Mantids." (pg. 50, hardcover, JHU Press):

Subsequently, I have on a number of occasions found oothecae of this mantid attached to the underside of freight cars. Mother mantis played unintentional roulette with her offspring, gambling that they would be in a good place to live when they hatched. I would be greatly surprised if vehicular dispersal, from bicycles to buses, has not been responsible for an appreciable fraction of the distribution of mantids in this country.
If the Chinese mantis already exists in other parts of the U.S, given the above would it reason they have also reached FL since the birth of the industrial revolution? I would speculate they had previously been introduced to FL via ship traders, long before cars existed.

Imagine a shipbound sailor merchant who shares our delight in mantids, for both personal and professional reasons. He gladly demonstrates their bug hunting prowess to his customers and spins a yarn... "So you have rotting filth and flies in the hull of your ship? Here, tie this magical eggsac to a dry corner while your ship rests. And before the moon is full again, you will have an army of mantis warriors to combat your vermin. Harmless to you and brings good fortune to your men!"

 
Getting to the original posed premise that the smaller mantids would wipe out the native mantids, how does this happen. I must have missed something? Are there not over a dozen approved native species that can be legally bought, sold, released in the wild.? Does size have anything to do with the criteria?

 
Are you worried about an introduced species (that already exists there) wiping out the native population of one particular other mantis species? Because that's likely unrealistic - habitats aren't the same. I don't have it handy but I recall reading in Keeping Aliens that Chinese can share a habitat with other introduced species and populations coexist in the same garden, because they live in different kinds of vegetation.

I understand your concerns about upsetting the balance of nature in a particular area, and you're right, it happens, but in this case it's basically already happened.

Something else to chew on - the people who are putting ooths in their gardens are doing so instead of loading on artificial fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and genetically modified crops. In my opinion... nature wins here. I have heard that it happens quite frequently that the people who put the ooths out say the mantids kind of dissipate after a year or two. That hasn't been the case in my garden - I grow a lot of herbs and the stems are low, thin and sturdy, perfect for a T sinensis egg case. But in a lot of cases, nature finds her own balance if permitted. Whether they are awesome for pest control or not is debatable (they don't seem to like the bugs I really want them to munch on, or they're in the wrong life stage when those bugs are a problem), but I just really like having them around, inside and out, so I wouldn't discourage anyone from getting an ooth. In fact, I have shared several with other organic gardeners.

 
just because there is a popoulation of chinese dont mean its hurting other populations of mantis and there is more for other species and such to worry about then just the chinese and the odds are of the hypothetical answerr with the 20 mantids is not all of them would survive and out of a small number of mantids that hatch only maybe a handful or two would be around to perpetuate itself unless everyone in florida has a mantis ooth and hatches them in unison!

 
WHEN OTHER MEMBERS ARE RIPPING ON ME

THATS WHEN I BACK OUT

 
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its a very simple question with a very simple answer

Q: can i release chinese mantids?

A: yes? or no?

but hey

it doesnt matter anymore

 
Oh I see wat is going on

U r hertarems friend in Florida aren't u?

I'm srry if u feel singled out or ripped on but I don't think it was intentional, someone was misinformed and was just trying to help u and it got a bit out of hand

This forum is a good place, things maybe get out of hand every now and then but for the most part the moderators have it under control

Please consider staying :(

 
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Whatevs! Don't get butt hurt over a little ripping. Just move on. Take the info you find usefull and discard the rest. It's a shame to see people leave because they feel like "people are being mean". Get a thicker hide, it doesn't get any better. :p

Oh, I forgot my favorite phrase to people leaving..."don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya". :eek: :lol:

 
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Why is it that people assume the plural for mantis is "manti"? Lol I always find that amusing.

And for the sake of not being reported as spam: Release the chinese, they're naturalized. Just don't release some "exotic" species like an orchid or ghost or something.

 
WHEN OTHER MEMBERS ARE RIPPING ON ME

THATS WHEN I BACK OUT
There really is no need to get upset mykey14, I for one just tried to give you a informative answer that includes my experience with releasing. Unless you live in Hawaii(Big no-no) I believe Chinese are fine out doors, just don't go crazy with like 10 ooths is all. So smile :) no one is trying to hurt you feelings here, it's just a public chat. ;)

 
mykey14,

no one is trying to upset you. we each have our own thoughts on this, and even I agree that it may be no big deal to release some.

my point in the past was to give you the flip side of the coin when it comes to releasing anything in Florida. mantids included.

if my post got you to at least think a little bit on the subject then I did my job. if like many you don't care, then so be it. do as you wish.

the best of luck to you no matter what.

Harry

 
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