Look what almost burned up with the dead perennials!
Location: Naperville, IL
November 7, 2011 1:47 pm
Dear Daniel~
I am sad that bug season is coming to an end here in Illinois, but at least I can continue to see all the wonderful specimens from more temperate climes, thanks to your web site. It is the time of year when I cut down my dead perennials and prune back some shrubs, most of which end up on my burn pile. I always come across a handful of mantis egg cases in the process, and this one was inches away from the flames when I noticed it. It’s attached to a yew branch, and I also have them this fall on a lilac stem, a raspberry cane and a wire garden fence. I’ve yet to find any on an actual dead perennial, which makes me wonder if the female mantis knows the difference. Have a lovely week!
Signature: -Dori Eldridge
Mantis Oothica
Hi Dori,
We are happy to hear that this Mantis Oothica or egg case was spared the flames because you found it before it was tossed onto the bonfire.
¶ Posted 08 November 2011 § Eggs ‡ ° What’s this bug?
Location: Gainesville, FL
October 25, 2011 7:30 pm
I found this bug hanging out on my front door frame at night. And it scared me as I’ve never seen this kind of bug before. I was afraid it might fly in my house as I ran in, but it did not move at all when I cracked my door open to check if it was still there. The next morning, I found it dead on the ground and took a couple of pictures. After searching the internet, I came to the conclusion it might be part of the Corydalidae family. However, I didn’t find an identical looking picture. Can you help me identify it? Thanks!!
Signature: Gee
Grizzled Mantis
Dear Gee,
We are sad to hear that some misfortune befell this lovely Grizzled Mantis, Gonatista grisea, sometime during the night. We identified it on BugGuide. The long wings indicate that this individual is a male.
Grizzled Mantis
¶ Posted 25 October 2011 § ‡ ° Mantis- Arusha Tanzania
Location: Arusha Tanzania. October
October 20, 2011 2:30 am
Dear Bugman.
I would just like to share this picture of a Mantis that found its way into our house. She was non too pleased when I tried to put her outside. She responded by spreading her wings, then she sat up and turned her raptorial legs outwards to flash an inside streak of blue…quite impressive, very aggressive!
Signature: Teena
Devil's Flower Mantis
Hi Teena,
The threat posture seems to be globally universal for many Mantis species when they feel threatened. We will try to identify you species. The shield structure of the thorax is a significant identifying trait for your individual. It is not pictured on the African Mantis Study Groupwebpage.
Devil's Flower Mantis
Thanks so much Daniel for your email.
I am forwarding some pics of the mantis in different positions if that helps in the identification.
I have lots of interesting photos of invertebrates which I would love to share with the group. I certainly do not expect you to find the species of all of them. Is there a place on your website that I can post just for the sake of sharing- or is going through the identification request the way to do it?
Once again many thanks- your time is much appreciated.
Teena
Devil's Flower Mantis
Hi again Teena,
This is really a beautiful Mantis. We suspect one of our readers might be able to supply an answer in the future. Providing a comment on the posting will allow you to be notified in the future if that identification takes weeks, months or years. Though our editorial staff does not deal much with the social networking components of the website, we do have active Twitter and Facebook users and the postings there are not controlled, unlike the website proper.
Devil's Flower Mantis
Update: Unknown Mantis identified as Devil’s Flower Mantis
Shortly after posting these photos, Neftali wrote in and identified this awesome Mantis as Idolomantis diabolica. We did some additional research and learned it is called a Devil’s Flower Mantis. There is a great photo by Igor Siwanowicz on PhotoNet. There is also a nice photo on BioLib and it made the Rogue’s Gallery of the 10 Most Disturbing Bugs on Oddee.
Dear Daniel thank you very much for the identification of this beautiful Mantis as well as all the interesting links. Kind regards Teena
Teena Payne
Possible African Mantis – Bark Coloured
Location: Zambia – North Western Province
October 11, 2011 3:04 pm
The following bug landed on my wifes foot. She became startled and tried to push it off. It bit her foot. Her foot swelled up and was quite painful for several days. See image 3 which was taken after 24 hours. She saw a doc who gave her an anti-biotic. Her foot got better after 3-4 days but still sore 6 days later. I have seen bugs like this several times in the last 6-8 weeks. Is it a type of African mantis?
Signature: Ken
Unknown African Mantis
Hi Ken,
In answer to your question, Yes, this is a mantis. We don’t recognize the species and African insects can be very difficult to correctly identify. Many are probably not yet described and there isn’t much internet information available on African species. We are surprised to hear about the reaction your wife had to her encounter with the mantis. We are not yet ready to agree that it was a bite. Mantids have sharp spines on their raptorial front legs, and it is our editorial staffs experience that Preying Mantids will stab an attacker before they will bite. We are also curious if this was an individual allergic reaction of if this Mantis actually has some type of defense venom. We have not heard of any venomous Mantids, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. We would be more likely to presume that perhaps there was some foreign substance on the Mantid, like perhaps some plant toxin or other agent, and that caused the reaction.
Reaction to Mantis "Bite"
The red spots at the base of the forelegs should be a good diagnostic feature in our attempts to identify this Mantis. We also hope to elicit the assistance of our readership in this identification.
Unknown, possibly venomous, African Mantis
Preying Mantis
Location: NW of Nogales, Arizona
October 11, 2011 2:20 pm
I took photographs of an interesting preying mantis near the Mexican border NW of Nogales, Arizona a couple of years ago and would like to identify it. Can anyone help me? See the two photos.
Signature: Glenn McCrea
Grasshopper Mantid
Hi Glenn,
Your fascinating Mantis is one of two species in the genus Yersiniops and they are commonly called Grasshopper Mantids. We quickly identified them on bugGuide which states: “A small species, less than 35 mm long.” Also according to BugGuide, Yersiniops sophronicum is sometimes called the Horned Ground Mantid, and we suspect that since your individual has more pronounced horns, it is likely the Horned Ground Mantid. The other species, Yersiniops solitarium, has less pronounced horns according to the photos posted on BugGuide.
Horned Ground Mantid
¶ Posted 12 October 2011 § ‡ ° Prey of the Praying Mantis
Location: Biggsville, Il.
October 9, 2011 7:07 am
I was going to post this to your general comment site but there wasn’t any place for a picture. I took this Tues. Oct. 4th. I assume this was the last Hummingbird in the garden. I have had quite a few Praying Mantises in the garden this year and many butterflies fell prey to them but when I saw this Hummingbird in it’s grasp I was truly amazed. I’d heard stories but only thought they were campfire stories much like a Hummingbird flying south on a gooses back.
Signature: Randy Anderson
Preying Mantis eats Ruby Throated Hummingbird
Dear Randy,
We are truly honored that you have submitted your amazing Food Chain images to our website. We would strongly urge you to post a comment to our posting in the event that anyone out there in cyberspace is interested in using your images for some purpose in the future. We cannot stop internet piracy and we realize there are many folks with questionable ethics that might try to steal your images. As least we do not post the high resolution images and people are only able to easily grab the thumbnails. While we are certain that your photos may horrify some of our sensitive readers because Hummingbirds are so beloved, they also represent the possibilities that occur in nature. Perhaps the Hummingbird was old or feeble. A large female Preying Mantis is a formidable hunter and her raptorial front legs have a strong grasp. We also have an image buried in our archives of a Golden Orbweaver that captured and fed upon a Hummingbird. Thanks again for allowing us to share your images with our readership.
Preying Mantis eats Ruby Throated Hummingbird
Location: Mt Washington, Los Angeles, California
October 2, 2011
We saw the third male California Mantis, Stagmomantis californica, in a week today. The first was in Claremont California on Monday. The disoriented creature was on a terrified student’s shirt, but Daniel rescued it and released it in the bushes. The second was at the Mt Washington Homeowners Alliance at the Carlin G Smith Center in Mt Washington on Tuesday at the board meeting. The poor confused mantis kept flying into the ceiling fans until it was captured and released outdoors onto a toyon bush. The third was tonight at our Mt Washington offices, and luckily there was a camera available. The poor California Mantis was trapped in an Orbweaver’s web, though the spider was not to be seen. Perhaps it moved to another location or perhaps it fell victim to a predator. The Mantis was rescued and released and it promptly flew away, but a few minutes later it returned and posed for some photos taken with an electronic on camera flash.
California Mantis
Update: October 3, 2011
The California Mantis is still resting on the light fixture the next morning.
California Mantis
¶ Posted 02 October 2011 § ‡ ° moth
Location: colorado springs colorado
September 24, 2011 12:00 pm
i have to do a project with bugs and im having a hard time figuring out these bugs.
Signature: gigi mcoy
Girls Bug a Preying Mantis
Dear gigi,
Even though they might be bothering this Preying Mantis, it isn’t nice to call girls “bugs”.
¶ Posted 24 September 2011 § ‡ ° 
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