Wild mantis in early July

[yen_saw]

Went to two different places around Houston to collect and observe the mantis population on the 4th. Was surprise to see mantis doing well with healthy population after the harsh winter and long drought in Houston region. Following are some pics.

Carolina mantis nymph

B. borealis nymph

Grass mantis adult female and nymphs

 

[kmsgameboy]

You must have an eagle's eye to spot those little buggers Yen! I have a hard time spotting the Chinese and Carolina mantids I have living in my own yard!

 

[kmsgameboy]

You must have an eagle's eye to spot those little buggers Yen! I have a hard time spotting the Chinese and Carolina mantids I have living in my own yard!

 

[yen_saw]

Thanks kmsgameboy. Yeah mantis are not easy to spot in their own habitat, or they would have been easy meal for the birds!

Some other insects found besides mantis.....

Two of the interesting bugs found by flipping this log

Patent Leather Beetle (Odontotaenius disjunctus)?

Also spotted a few of this Two-striped Walkingstick, Anisomorpha ferruginea? mating pair on the first pic. i lost the male during collecting, but found another one in the same log.

Antlion traps everywhere

Assassin bug

 

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Wow, what a great adventure!

 

[animalexplorer]

Really cool! It looks like noon time in some of the images, doesn't it get pretty hot out there when your buggin? Do you just look into the foliage or do you use other techniques to find bugs in the daytime. I've seen some people take a white sheet lay it on the ground underneath and give the bush a good shake and insects would drop onto the white becoming pretty easy to spot and catch.

 

[Mantismaniac]

You must have an eagle's eye to spot those little buggers Yen! I have a hard time spotting the Chinese and Carolina mantids I have living in my own yard!

HA!HA! Same here (LOL)

 

[hibiscusmile]

Nice photos Yen, always give me a break to go hunting with you!

 

[yen_saw]

Really cool! It looks like noon time in some of the images, doesn't it get pretty hot out there when your buggin? Do you just look into the foliage or do you use other techniques to find bugs in the daytime. I've seen some people take a white sheet lay it on the ground underneath and give the bush a good shake and insects would drop onto the white becoming pretty easy to spot and catch.

Sorry for being ignorant Paul. Yes it was near noon time. The weather was hot that day and been very hot here, 95F with 85% humidity make it feels like 110F out there, so both Kenneth and I only spent about 40 minutes on the field. We used butterfly net to collect both B. borealis and S. carliona nymphs. T. graminis nymphs were found at the bottom of tree stem or near the building walls. The white sheet with beating stick method will certainly works too.

 

[animalexplorer]

You are never in question, as I have the utmost respect for your shared knowledge and the wonderful posts you have contributed to the mantid community as well as the incredible species you have given us the opportunity to add to our collections. Yes, I remember when I was down in Texas, I was invited to photograph the Houston zoo's bird collection for them. As I was walking around on the nice hot day that it was, I noticed no one was really around as they were all indoors enjoying the pleasures of air-condition controlled environments while I was sweating like a pig in a barbecue. I was inside a lot of the enclosures and I would ask myself how can those birds stand it.(lol) so I can relate to your experience.

 

[yen_saw]

You are never in question, as I have the utmost respect for your shared knowledge and the wonderful posts you have contributed to the mantid community as well as the incredible species you have given us the opportunity to add to our collections. Yes, I remember when I was down in Texas, I was invited to photograph the Houston zoo's bird collection for them. As I was walking around on the nice hot day that it was, I noticed no one was really around as they were all indoors enjoying the pleasures of air-condition controlled environments while I was sweating like a pig in a barbecue. I was inside a lot of the enclosures and I would ask myself how can those birds stand it.(lol) so I can relate to your experience.

That's the bad part since outdoor temperature is higher than our body temperature we will just keep sweating, at a rate faster than how much our body could re-hydrate, which is why we didn't stay long out there on the field. Human doesn't like the heat but insects love it Oh yeah i will take dry heat anytime than hot and muggy weather, which is why bug hunting at Tucson is more comfortable than Texas coast area.

 

[Malti]

That's the bad part since outdoor temperature is higher than our body temperature we will just keep sweating, at a rate faster than how much our body could re-hydrate, which is why we didn't stay long out there on the field. Human doesn't like the heat but insects love it Oh yeah i will take dry heat anytime than hot and muggy weather, which is why bug hunting at Tucson is more comfortable than Texas coast area.

you can bet on that...just went bug hunting - its 33C/91.4 F and I ended up sweating buckets...atleast caught 40ish Lucilia sericatasome woodlouse, and observed dragonflies, carpenter bees and possibly a Black-and-yellow Mud Dauber or one of its cousins. No M. religiosa though