Wild Caught ID please - Northern California

[womantis]

Female - Wild Caught Nov 2013 - Northern California - ID Please

Approximately 5 inches long.

My guess is Chinese?

 

[Extrememantid]

Please post a picture, thats the only way we can tell, it may be a Chinese but we need a pic

 

[womantis]

oops, i was able to post in the gallery, but can't seem to post here and it doesn't give me the option to attach...ugh...

 

[Extrememantid]

Yes def a Chinese

 

[womantis]

thanks extreme! you are fast. first time i have ever seen this species in the wild! and she is HUGE. looks like she just finished laying an ooth..

 

[Extrememantid]

Look around for the ooth, or did she lay it in captivity? Haha I know I usually reply fairly fast lol

 

[womantis]

she didn't lay in captivity. just found her on the side of our recycling bin, but it looked like there is some residual ooth material at the end of her abdomen. i'll go searching in the morning to see what i can find.

 

[Extrememantid]

Yup, go search within I'd say 150 feet of where you found her...

 

[MantidLord]

Hmm I've never found a chinese in Northern California. May I as around what area are you from? (Bay area, Sacramento, etc). Also, are you near maybe a plant nursery that sells chinese ooths?

 

[womantis]

hi mantidlord! i am in silicon valley - sunnyvale. you had sent me some m religiosa last year and iris oratoria. (btw, we had an ooth from the religiosa collection that did hatch!)

this chinese (a HUGE one) ) was just sitting on my recyling bin - she's a bit raggedy looking, but very healthy and looks like she had just laid an ooth - as it appears there is still some residual ooth material. we aren't near any nurseries, all residential. the only mantids we've seen in the area are the religiosa.

she is so big that i saw her from the corner of my eye and thought it was a big lizard. totally caught me off guard. i've been looking to see if there are any others in the vicinity, but so far, nothing.

 

[MantidLord]

Oh Hey! Sorry about that! Haha I didn't look at the name of the op, just read the posts and saw the picture. That's great to know that the ooths ended up hatching. Sorry about Iris apparently not being able to reproduce.

She's probably on her way out given the time of the year. I'd look for an ooth (as others said) especially since she may not make it to her next ootheca.

Thanks for the information. I ask because I'm doing research on mantids in northern California and haven't been able to find any areas with T. sinensis (other than plots right next to nurseries that probably aren't self-sustaining populations), although M. religiosa is abundant and Iris is abundant in certain areas (eg Sacramento area).

 

[womantis]

Thanks! She's incredibly robust and eating like a machine and plumping up, so i'll keep my fingers crossed. I agree with you on your thoughts about the distribution in northern california.

 

[PlayingMantis]

Cool! Maybe she can plump up enough for another ooth!

I grew up in the southwest, and I don't remember ever seeing a T. sinensis until I moved to the east coast. That is really cool you found one! Though now, T. sinensis is the only mantis I can find in the wild, and I wish I can have some more variety.

 

[womantis]

Ooth (big big big) laid a few days ago. She is still super active and an eating machine...