Seriousness Praying Mantis' hatching from my Christmas Tree??!! - Page 2

kindlekitten · 01-08-2011, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenG

nada.

SolRaven · 01-08-2011, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Well, another reason to never buy a real tree

(beside the fact that I can't decorate a real tree without thick gloves on...)

Even if I had them every year it would still be worth is.

BenG · 01-08-2011, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

nada.

It should be fixed now

kindlekitten · 01-08-2011, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenG

It should be fixed now

yep. that's a big damn mantis!

BenG · 01-08-2011, 07:02 PM

No, this is a big damn mantis.

ardeegee · 01-08-2011, 07:03 PM

How big are these mantises? A "newborn" praying mantis is tiny-- a quarter of an inch, maybe less. It would take months of eating and molting to get to a more substantial size. The female mantis lays her eggs in a brown foamy substance that hardens into a little block that is around the size of a walnut (just check google images for "praying mantis egg case") in in the spring up to a couple of hundred tiny mantids hatch, lower themselves from a "thread", and drop to the ground. If you are seeing mantises much larger than an ant, then you aren't seeing newly hatched ones-- probably last year's adults.

As a kid, they were my favorite insect-- one year in primary school I took an egg case to "show and tell" (I think I had seen the egg cases in a book, so I knew what one was when I first found one) and then the egg case had been left over the "back dash" of my grandmother's car (okay, what DID they call that "shelf" under the back window, behind the seat of old cars back when they had "deep" back windows?) and the warmth inside the car made the eggs hatch early-- baby praying mantises all over the place!

lilac_jive · 01-08-2011, 07:13 PM

Remember no killing them! Luckily they are nice and slow so easy to scoop up with a piece of paper. Keep those fingers away though!

SolRaven · 01-09-2011, 12:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wayrad

I think the numbers will go down shortly. They are, after all, carnivorous.

Yeah, I heard they'll eat each other if no other food can be found.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenG

They aren't that big... yet!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardeegee

How big are these mantises? A "newborn" praying mantis is tiny-- a quarter of an inch, maybe less. It would take months of eating and molting to get to a more substantial size. The female mantis lays her eggs in a brown foamy substance that hardens into a little block that is around the size of a walnut (just check google images for "praying mantis egg case") in in the spring up to a couple of hundred tiny mantids hatch, lower themselves from a "thread", and drop to the ground. If you are seeing mantises much larger than an ant, then you aren't seeing newly hatched ones-- probably last year's adults.

They're the size of a pine needle, and look like them too. They aren't adults, they're babies. I would doubt that many adults would tolerate each other, while being shipped 800 miles and then stay hidden from view for 3.5 weeks in my living room, only to all come out at the same time. These definitely hatched prematurely because they thought it was spring. They're about 3/4" and seriously look like pine needles. I was trying to scoop one up and it "played dead" by straightening out it's legs. I couldn't believe how much it looked just like the pine needles that were laying near it on the floor. The I touched it and it went back to praying.

From what I've found on the internet

this isn't the first time. It looks like this woman had the exact same scenario as me. Here are mine:

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

Remember no killing them! Luckily they are nice and slow so easy to scoop up with a piece of paper. Keep those fingers away though!

Unfortunately, more died than I would have liked. A bunch got stuck to masking tape I had around a window. And trying to not step on them when I was taking down the tree was futile. I did scoop many up with the needles and put them on the grass instead of in the trash.

SolRaven · 01-09-2011, 12:51 AM

What are the odds that less than 24 hrs after I take down my Xmas tree where the praying mantis' hatched, that I'd meet an acupuncturist, who's practice is called Grand Mantis, who has a mantis tattooed on his neck, and was planning a trip back to NY to buy a few praying mantis' to bring to FL? What are the odds, really?

wayrad · 01-09-2011, 08:13 AM

I brought an egg case home when I was a kid too (in New England), and IIRC the newly hatched ones (my closet was full of them!) were only about the size Ardeegee said...maybe 3/8" tops. Pine needle size sounds rather large for newborns. Anybody know if there's more than one species in the US? If so, that might account for it.

SolRaven · 01-09-2011, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wayrad

Anybody know if there's more than one species in the US? If so, that might account for it.

Yes, there are quite a few species. The coolest ones, IMO are the orchid mantids:

Check out these and these. Some look like tree bark, a green leaf or a brown leaf. I'm sure there are more, but they are pretty cool as far as bugs go.

I mentioned that I had them to the Grand Mantis acupuncturist, he started rattling off the ones he suspected it to be. I'm pretty sure my tree came from North Carolina, so whichever species is indigenous in that region is most likely which one it is. When I lived in NJ, the only ones I had seen were the true green ones, which were 4-5" long, and brown ones from 3-4" long.

ardeegee · 01-09-2011, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SolRaven

I'm pretty sure my tree came from North Carolina, so whichever species is indigenous in that region is most likely which one it is.

The main mantis found in the Carolinas is-- uh-- the Carolina Mantis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_mantis

(I'm in South Carolina, myself.)

hrairoorah · 01-09-2011, 04:35 PM

This happened to us when I was a kid. We awoke to finds hundreds of the little mantis' all over the house. It was kind of creepy and also kind of neat.

poohbear_nc · 01-09-2011, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardeegee

The main mantis found in the Carolinas is-- uh-- the Carolina Mantis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_mantis

(I'm in South Carolina, myself.)

Yup - we like to export a little bit of NC with every tree!

Christmas tree farms are BIG business in NC.

SolRaven · 01-09-2011, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardeegee

The main mantis found in the Carolinas is-- uh-- the Carolina Mantis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_mantis

(I'm in South Carolina, myself.)

Well that's simple enough! Nice avatar, want a mantis? I found 2 more today.

01-09-2011, 08:13 AM	#25
wayrad Fanatic Posts: 551 Karma: 1121392 Join Date: May 2008 Location: USA Device: HTC One M8	I brought an egg case home when I was a kid too (in New England), and IIRC the newly hatched ones (my closet was full of them!) were only about the size Ardeegee said...maybe 3/8" tops. Pine needle size sounds rather large for newborns. Anybody know if there's more than one species in the US? If so, that might account for it. Last edited by wayrad; 01-09-2011 at 08:19 AM.

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01-08-2011, 07:02 PM	#20
BenG Home Guard Posts: 4,730 Karma: 86721650 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Alpha Ralpha Boulevard Device: Kindle Oasis 3G, iPhone 6	No, this is a big damn mantis.

01-08-2011, 07:03 PM	#21
ardeegee Maratus speciosus butt Posts: 3,292 Karma: 1162698 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: PRS-350	How big are these mantises? A "newborn" praying mantis is tiny-- a quarter of an inch, maybe less. It would take months of eating and molting to get to a more substantial size. The female mantis lays her eggs in a brown foamy substance that hardens into a little block that is around the size of a walnut (just check google images for "praying mantis egg case") in in the spring up to a couple of hundred tiny mantids hatch, lower themselves from a "thread", and drop to the ground. If you are seeing mantises much larger than an ant, then you aren't seeing newly hatched ones-- probably last year's adults. As a kid, they were my favorite insect-- one year in primary school I took an egg case to "show and tell" (I think I had seen the egg cases in a book, so I knew what one was when I first found one) and then the egg case had been left over the "back dash" of my grandmother's car (okay, what DID they call that "shelf" under the back window, behind the seat of old cars back when they had "deep" back windows?) and the warmth inside the car made the eggs hatch early-- baby praying mantises all over the place!

01-08-2011, 07:13 PM	#22
lilac_jive Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,870 Karma: 27376 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Device: PRS-505	Remember no killing them! Luckily they are nice and slow so easy to scoop up with a piece of paper. Keep those fingers away though!

01-09-2011, 12:51 AM	#24
SolRaven Wizard Posts: 2,214 Karma: 12796976 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: The Sunshine State Device: Clara, Voyage, Oasis, Paperwhite & PRS-650	What are the odds that less than 24 hrs after I take down my Xmas tree where the praying mantis' hatched, that I'd meet an acupuncturist, who's practice is called Grand Mantis, who has a mantis tattooed on his neck, and was planning a trip back to NY to buy a few praying mantis' to bring to FL? What are the odds, really?

01-09-2011, 04:35 PM	#28
hrairoorah Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: West Virginia Device: Kindle fire, Kindle 3	This happened to us when I was a kid. We awoke to finds hundreds of the little mantis' all over the house. It was kind of creepy and also kind of neat.