Where did all the wild mantids go in AZ?

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[email protected]

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Nov 21, 2013
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Location
Phoenix, AZ
Hello!

I live in Phoenix AZ. The last 4 years my back yard had many wild iris oratoria mantids.  Last summer hundreds hatched, but I noticed they were slowly disappearing. Oddly, the only ones that survived were the ones that lived on my cactus. They were mostly males.  I took the last 2 females inside before they disappeared last August. 

This year there are no mantids or ooths anywhere in my yard or anywhere else that I have been looking.

By any chance does anyone live in AZ and seen any wild iris oratoria anywhere?

Does anyone know if mosquito spraying in Phoenix  could have killed them all?

Does anyone have any ideas why they would just disappear?

Thank you!!!!

 
I have no idea but I wish someone had them. 

 
you still have those two females right? so luckily if you or someone in your area finds a male then you could try to start a breeding population and raise the species in captivity. but it wouldnt surprise me if pesticides and insecticides like for mosquito spraying like you mentioned played some role in their disappearence 

 
CellyBean said:
you still have those two females right? so luckily if you or someone in your area finds a male then you could try to start a breeding population and raise the species in captivity. but it wouldnt surprise me if pesticides and insecticides like for mosquito spraying like you mentioned played some role in their disappearence 
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Mantids live typically 1 year (12 months) once they hatch, so if he caught them in August 2015 as stated, they are most likely already deceased or at the very least too old to breed/or even lay ootheca.

 
One of the females mated and laid 10 ooths.  I put half outside and half inside.  None of the ooths hatched outside!!!  The indoor ooths produced very small offspring that are too small to reproduce. I had 6 adult females, and one of the females actually died right after I tried to mate her. The other adults are still alive, but not laying any ooths.

Once they die, that is it!!! No more iris oratoria!!!

It feels like they are going extinct but I know they are only a naturalized species. 

I can't find them online anywhere either though. 

How do I know if they are still surviving in their native habitat?

 
well first off i would say keep the adults you have now and try to keep them alive for as long as possible

as for knowing if they're still around you could try searching for them and asking around other people who live in the same area as you

 
I found a ton of oothecas in AZ in the last year... Particularly Feb thru May. It about location and time of year.

 
Cute! Yes, that is the last time I saw ooths as well, last year. Not this year.

Did the ooths hatch last year?  Do you still have mantids from AZ Peter?

 
@[email protected] can you find me a male or two, Becuase I have a wild female and I think she is fertile but to make sure I want to mate her again. I'll will PM you. moderaters if it's against the rules to say this on a post then you can remove it 

 
I'm in AZ this week and hope to collect wild ooths as I did last year during the same time. Will try to take some infield photos and post. :ph34r:

 
@Kermit can't wait to see what you find, if you are down by pena blaca lake and find any S.hero's I'll take them off your  hands :) right at the moment unicorn mantis season seems to be late as tucson has been quite hot and that must have put a delay on them, as I haven't found much this year 

 
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I'm actually in Northern AZ, too far for Unicorns but hopefully will strike it rich with Limbata! 

Wish me luck!

spider_creations said:
@Kermit can't wait to see what you find, if you are down by pena blaca lake and find any S.hero's I'll take them off your  hands :) right at the moment unicorn mantis season seems to be late as tucson has been quite hot and that must have put a delay on them, as I haven't found much this year 
Click to expand...

 
Not good... no fresh ooths! 

spider_creations said:
@Kermit can't wait to see what you find, if you are down by pena blaca lake and find any S.hero's I'll take them off your  hands :) right at the moment unicorn mantis season seems to be late as tucson has been quite hot and that must have put a delay on them, as I haven't found much this year 
Click to expand...

 
[email protected] said:
One of the females mated and laid 10 ooths.  I put half outside and half inside.  None of the ooths hatched outside!!!  The indoor ooths produced very small offspring that are too small to reproduce. I had 6 adult females, and one of the females actually died right after I tried to mate her. The other adults are still alive, but not laying any ooths.

Once they die, that is it!!! No more iris oratoria!!!

It feels like they are going extinct but I know they are only a naturalized species. 

I can't find them online anywhere either though. 

How do I know if they are still surviving in their native habitat?
Click to expand...
Iris oratoria was introduced from the Mediterranean region into California between 1933-1937 and has since spread throughout much of the Southwest and into western Texas.  It also occurs deep into Mexico.  They are quite common in Las Vegas through St. George, Utah. I have plenty in my backyard and reared over a dozen this year.  The distribution map is as follows:



I. oratoria Map.jpg

 

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