Wild Chinese Mantis (Video) Tenodera sinensis

[Precarious]

Adult female Tenodera sinensis (2010-10-07)

Saw her sitting on the fence and invited her in for a snack. She was very mellow and friendly.

I fed her a cabbage butterfly. Tried to get her to eat a bumble bee but she wasn't interested.

Butterfly landed on my head (3:45) while I was holding her and the bumble bee!

 

[Precarious]

The next day she was back on the fence waiting for a free meal.

I fed her another butterfly and then gave her some honey on a toothpick. She loved it!

I haven't seen her since. The weather is getting colder so I hope she got to lay her eggs.

More butterflies on my head here:

http://mantidforum.n...showtopic=19376

 

[MrPitseleh]

A chinese female just what I was looking for half an hour ago for my lonely male all I managed to get was a couple grasshopers and a yellow butterfly for him. I find tons of wasps out do they hurt the mantis population?

 

[manzano167]

nice video!

 

[Precarious]

A chinese female just what I was looking for half an hour ago for my lonely male all I managed to get was a couple grasshopers and a yellow butterfly for him. I find tons of wasps out do they hurt the mantis population?

It's never advisable to feed mantids anything that can fight back too much. I guess it would depend on the size of the mantid vs the size of the wasp. I feed my Ghosts and Violins medium sized bumble bees and they do fine.

I kinda wish I'd taken this girl in because it got chilly over the following days.

 

[LauraMG]

She's such a pretty girl

 

[lancaster1313]

Bugs, you can't have just one. :lol: I love the videos where you interact with insects. My daughter and I were just practicing the art of honeybee petting this afternoon. When I was young, people thought I was nuts when I handled bees and other things that could bite and sting. It would be cool if there were bumblebees around where I live, but there are none that I can find. We did find a Mournful sphinx that was pretty calm.

 

[Precarious]

We did find a Mournful sphinx that was pretty calm.

Wow, Mournful sphinx are really cool looking. Never heard of them before.

I love when the bumble bee in the first video is shaking its rump at the mantis.

I'll probably post a video soon of petting bumble bees and making them wrestle on my hand. :lol:

 

[LauraMG]

I love when the bumble bee in the first video is shaking its rump at the mantis.

He was saying "Nana nana boo boo!" :tt2: :lol:

 

[Seattle79]

What a great looking Mantis.

 

[lancaster1313]

Wow, Mournful sphinx are really cool looking. Never heard of them before.

I love when the bumble bee in the first video is shaking its rump at the mantis.

I'll probably post a video soon of petting bumble bees and making them wrestle on my hand. :lol:

I just found a Manduca rustica on our American flag this morning. It climbed on my finger with a little coaxing. It was easy to spot on the flag, that moth is pretty big. My fingers are all itchy from those sharp tarsal claws. :lol: