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Author Topic: praying mantis hatch  (Read 1947 times)

Offline rober

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praying mantis hatch
« on: May 06, 2013, 09:58:54 am »
some of you may remember lst year's hatch. this year i bought 30 egg cases. this is the 2nd hatch.









Offline tefer2

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Re: praying mantis hatch
« Reply #1 on: May 06, 2013, 10:02:58 am »
Those things are bee eating machines. They also make a big mess on your hive bodies when you smash them.  :-D

Offline rober

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Re: praying mantis hatch
« Reply #2 on: May 06, 2013, 10:33:39 am »
i'd move them before i'd mash them.  they are one of the best bugs you could have around.

Offline tefer2

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Re: praying mantis hatch
« Reply #3 on: May 06, 2013, 11:18:21 am »
i'd move them before i'd mash them.  they are one of the best bugs you could have around.

Just not around your bee hives! I wonder how many bees one adult can eat a day?

Offline Kathyp

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Re: praying mantis hatch
« Reply #4 on: May 06, 2013, 11:19:57 am »
they are wonderful bug eaters...including your bees  ;)
Someone really ought to tell them that the world of Ayn Rand?s novel was not meant to be aspirational.

Offline BlueBee

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Re: praying mantis hatch
« Reply #5 on: May 06, 2013, 11:27:55 am »
Very cool pics rober.

We’ve got hoards of the things here.  Egg cases all over the place.  I have noticed more around since I’ve been keeping bees, but I haven’t seen them hanging around the hives.  They’re probably getting bees on the flowers and such.  I figure they’re a net positive though so I leave them alone. 

I do have those gray tree frogs all over my hives though.  I don’t smash them either since I figure they may be snacking on wax moths.   X:X

Offline rober

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Re: praying mantis hatch
« Reply #6 on: May 06, 2013, 04:35:27 pm »
i'm sure the birds & skunks are eating more bees than the mantids. being nocturnal i'd suspect the frogs are eating more moths than bees. i have been live trapping & drowning the skunks. a friend had a secondary yard of 20 that the skunks ate down to 8. the landowner noticed the skunks & called my friend who then discovered the loss.

Offline RHBee

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Re: praying mantis hatch
« Reply #7 on: May 06, 2013, 06:23:39 pm »
I wouldn't think that Mantis could significantly hurt a colony. Wouldn't think of killing one on purpose. They are my second favorite insect.
Later,
Ray

Offline hardwood

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Re: praying mantis hatch
« Reply #8 on: May 06, 2013, 10:24:55 pm »
Awesome, I love mantids! We've got a pretty good stock of natives here and always liked to keep them as pets as a kid. Where do you get your eggs?

Scott
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Offline tefer2

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Re: praying mantis hatch
« Reply #9 on: May 06, 2013, 10:59:19 pm »
I didn't dispatch the mantis on purpose. He was hidden between stacks on a pallet.   :imsorry:
I was just putting stuff back together when I noticed this green stuff squirting out.
I sat in a chair last year and watched one perched by an entrance to a hive.
They move so slow, until it's time to eat. We caught one just about every summer when I was growing up too.
« Last Edit: May 06, 2013, 11:44:26 pm by tefer2 »

Offline rober

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Re: praying mantis hatch
« Reply #10 on: May 07, 2013, 10:37:29 am »
do a search on flea bay for praying mantis eggs. i used to buy them thru a nursery but they quit handling them. i've searched the net & the best deals are on e bay. look thru all the buyers cuz' the prices can vart greatly.. i paid $2.10 per egg case but some are asking as much as $9.00 per egg case. i keep them in a vented jar & check them every morning.
the std procedure is to tie them to a tree or shrub branch but in the jars i know exactly how many hatched & i can put the hatching case somewhere reasonably safe from being eaten by birds. there can be anywhere from 25-200 bugs per case. the case in the photos probably had over 200.   

 

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