Outside of avoiding insecticides, increasing the diversity of your landscape is important. Native good guys include natural enemies like lacewings, assassin bugs and tachinid flies, as well as pollinators. Ultimately, you are probably better off saving your money and doing what you can to promote native beneficial insects on your property instead of buying mantids. Praying mantids are not native to New Hampshire, which brings into question whether they should be released. You cannot count on them to stay where you want them and so may have little affect on a particular pest issue. They also prey on each other, so they are unlikely to become terribly abundant in the landscape even if they are released. They are just as likely to eat a butterfly or bumblebee as they are a nuisance caterpillar, making them a neutral factor in the garden, if anything. Despite being voracious and deadly predators, praying mantids are not entirely beneficial insects. Is it worthwhile to purchase and release praying mantids into the garden? Probably not. Though they do not occur in New Hampshire, two other species are common in North America: the non-native Chinese mantid ( Tenodera sinensis) and Carolina mantid ( Stagmomantis carolina). This species is native to Europe and was most likely introduced by gardeners on purpose and has since become widespread. Only one species of praying mantid is typically found in New Hampshire, the European mantid ( Mantis religiosa). Mantids feed on a variety of insects, including other mantids. Sharp spines on the insides of the legs pierce prey and hold it in place while the mantid eats it. They lie in wait until an insect moves into their vicinity, ambushing it and capturing it with their front legs. Mantids are predators that actively search for their prey visually. Mantid refers to all members of the insect group. Note that ‘mantid’ is a more accurate term than ‘mantis’, as only some praying mantids belong to the genus Mantis. Oothecae are commercially sold in some places for such uses.When gardeners think of natural pest control, praying mantids often come to mind. Although many people find mantises to be frightening, they are commonly kept as pets and even use them to help control pests. To increase their chances of survival, young mantises are well camouflaged, and some species even mimic ants to ward off predators. Each ootheca can contain hundreds of eggs, although few of the offspring survive to adulthood. After mating, female mantises deposit their eggs in sacs known as oothecae, which they attach to plants, flat surfaces, or the ground. In order to help avoid this, male mantises will try to avoid hungry females. Sometimes, female mantises will also decapitate males after mating, and may even eat their partners as well. Mantises use their claws to grip their victims tightly, and then bite off their heads. However, this posture is actually indicative of hunting mantises will sit motionless, waiting for prey (usually insects) to venture close enough for an attack. The term “praying” mantis comes from how mantises hold their massively enlarged, claw-like forelimbs in front of their bodies in a posture similar to prayer. They come in many colors, but green and brown are the most common. Males possess functional wings, but the females in many species do not. The dark spot that resembles a pupil in each eye is actually a result of light reflection. They possess long, thin bodies, similar to those of their close relatives, the stick insects, but wide heads with massive eyes. Praying (or preying) mantises are a large order of predatory insects containing around 2,300 species.
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