What's the right thing to do?

[minomantis]

A couple posts ago the idea of the Carolina Mantis being the only mantis native to the continent  was brought up and it got me thinking.

I knew this information passively, but I never really thought about it.  I only thought about it more this year because for the first time I'm raising a mantis that I can't release in the wild (but then should I have been releasing the Chinese mantids into the wild?).  Anywho, I then started to feel bad because there's no way the Carolina mantis can compare to the Chinese mantis I don't think.  I've honestly never seen a Carolina mantis in person so I'm not too sure.

I started thinking what the right thing to do is.  Do we stop trying to sell Chinese and European mantis and start raising more Carolinas in the area.  To be honest, I'm kind of conflicted about this.  Obviously this is something that we couldn't fix right away, but should we as hobbyist start trying to make it "right"?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Synapze]

Since Carolinas are native it is probably best to  release those vs. non-native Chinese or European. I've released both Carolinas and Chinese, but lately I've been rethinking my annual hatch and release ritual after speaking to a County Extension Office official while studying local honey bees. His response to my releasing Chinese was simply, "Please don't do that." He gave several valid reasons. 

Many people are beginning to oppose hatch and release for pest control,  especially for the larger and more aggressive Chinese. If you plan to hatch and release, I'd suggest sticking with Carolinas and just keep the Chinese as pets. That's what I plan to do.

 

[Rick]

Carolina mantids are not the only native mantids on the continent. There are many native mantids. But you're correct at least for some areas such as where you are located. 

I wish more people did release Carolina mantids (in their native range) as opposed to the non-native species. 

 

[bugboymark]

Interesting topic.  I've been doing a lot of thinking about it for a while.  I would point out that though they aren't as big as Chinese, Carolina mantises eat their fair share of pollinators (honey bees, mason bees, bumble bees, small wasps, etc). "Pound for pound", I think they're even more willing to tackle bigger prey (relative to their body size) than the Chinese mantises. Fortunately for honey bees, they just aren't big enough to tackle honey bee until their last couple stages. Less of an issue for a Chinese mantis. Regardless, the honey bee population in the US is facing much bigger obstacles to restoration than one species of mantis over the other. 

That being said, I am always in favor of a return of native species. I'm just skeptical that efforts of a few individuals (coordinated or not) would be able to restore the original mantis species once the new/stronger ones have been established. In my case, since I'm probably on the far northern edge of the Carolina mantis range and Chinese have a pretty strong foothold here, it's probably an exercise in futility. But it won't stop me from releasing Carolina mantises anyhow!    ? 

 

[Kris Anderson]

 ​

There are 21 species of Mantodea "native to the continent".   They include:

Brunneria borealis Scudder, 1896

Gonatista grisea (Fabricius, 1793)

Litaneutria elongata Anderson, 2018

Litaneutria emarginata Anderson, 2018

Litaneutria minor (Scudder, 1872)

Litaneutria ocularis Saussure, 1892

Litaneutria pacifica Scudder, 1896

Litaneutria skinneri Rehn, 1907

Yersiniops solitarius (Scudder, 1896)

Yersiniops sophronicus (Rehn & Hebard, 1908)

Stagmomantis carolina (Linné, 1763)

Stagmomantis floridensis Davis, 1919

Stagmomantis gracilipes Rehn, 1907 

Stagmomantis limbata  (Hahn, 1835)            

Stagmomantis wheelerii (Thomas, 1875)

Pseudovates arizonae Hebard, 1935

Pseudovates chlorophaea (Blanchard, 1836)

Mantoida maya Saussure & Zehntner, 1894

Bistanta mexicana (Saussure & Zehntner, 1894)

Oligonicella scudderi (Saussure, 1870)

Thesprotia graminis (Scudder, 1877)

[SIZE=11.5pt]Myth: Mantises eat insect pests so they should be used for biological control purposes. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11.5pt]Truth: Since the late 1800’s, many reports and observations have circulated around the agricultural community concerning mantises feeding upon noxious insects.  Even though reports from the same time period indicate the indiscriminate feeding of mantises upon nearly all insects that they encounter, they have traditionally been regarded as providing more benefit than harm.  [/SIZE]Mantises are generalist/opportunistic predators. As such, they will attack and eat nearly any creature within an appropriate size differential, including beneficial insects and other mantises. The relevant size differential in conjunction with their attraction to movement of potential prey items allows mantises to favor pollinators such as bees and butterflies over smaller, less mobile pests like aphids or scale insects.  As adults, the larger invasive species will navigate toward and rest upon late season flowers where pollinator density is the highest, thereby almost exclusively feeding upon the likes of bees. Many lifecycles of pest species do not intersect with mantis development, as the larval form of the targeted pest may be too large when the mantis is immature or too small when the mantis is an adult.  Further, many pest species may be too indiscreet for mantises to notice them, e.g. insects that live within the substrate or inside plant material. Thus, utilizing mantises for biological control is not only entirely ineffective but actually causes harm to pollinators and, when the species used are invasive, the practice is detrimental to the native mantis population.

I would suggest not trying to manipulate any natural ecosystem, i.e. do not release anything into the wild unless you obtained it from the selected location initially-- especially any species not naturally found in the U.S.  And, of course, boycott any sales of Tenodera sinensis or Mantis religiosa. 

Kris  

 

[MantisGirl13]

Wow, @Kris Anderson That was a lot of information, but I think you got your point across. It is neat that you are always ready with a more scientific answer to a question, rather than an opinion. 

- MantisGirl13