Chinese Mantis, on catnip

A chinese mantis, Tenodera aridifolia sinensis, commands a lofty lookout atop a spikelet of catnip, Nepeta cataria. Neither plant nor beast is native here, but both have their uses. These mantids can attain an almost frightening size, and the field that I found myself in last night was full of them.

I'm not a huge fan of nonnative mantids, which probably haven't helped our native insect fauna. Some people think that they've detrimentally impacted populations of native mantids, such as the beautiful Carolina mantis, Stagmomantis carolina (CLICK HERE). On the upside, chinese mantids can serve as a spark to trigger interest in insects, as people are naturally fascinated by the huge alien-looking bruisers.

Catnip, of course, has plenty of fans too. Most of them tend to have four legs and meow. This intoxicating mint is a fairly common weed, although more along the lines of an occasionally encountered curiosity rather than a full-blown invasive, at least in these parts. If you've got felines, grab a few stems of wild-growing catnip if you find some. Your cats will go whack over the stuff.

Chinese Mantid

Not long ago, before the temperatures plunged and winter set in (30 degrees as I write!), I saw my last mantis of the season.

A lot of people are unaware that nearly all of the "praying" mantids that they see are not native to these parts. They are an Asian import, and we'll have a look at the whopper that I saw, below.

Massive Chinese Mantis, Tenodera aridifolia, clambers over the fruit of a Staghorn Sumac, Rhus typhina.

These mantids were brought to the New World at the tail end of the 19th century, as it was thought that these voracious predators would provide efficient pest control around gardens. That they might, but mantids are not choosy about their victims and will snatch anything they can subdue. I have even seen photos of them with hummingbirds in their clutches!

Non-nativeness aside, mantids are very cool bugs. They possess an almost eery humanlike demeanor, and will watch you quite closely, turning their ET-looking triangular head to follow your movements.

Chinese mantids are wait and pounce hunters, sluggishly lurking in the foliage until some hapless lesser organism bumbles into range. Then, with a quick lunge, the mantis seizes the prey in what have to rank high among the most formidable insect forelegs out there. Armed with stiff spines, the mantis squeezes its victim in a scissor lock, impaling it with numerous needles.

Once the creature is thoroughly subdued, the mantid will proceed to slowly munch away at the often still living prey, with what strikes me as a disproportionately small mouth. I've also noticed that the mantid seems to enjoy starting its snack with the head. I've said this before, and I'll say it again - don't reincarnate yourself as a small insect. Something like this Chinese Mantid is apt to create your worst nightmare.

Many is the boy - and probably girl - who has brought a mantid egg case home. These are those brown, somewhat spherical clusters that look like they were sprayed out of styrofoam. I did one winter, when I was but a wee lad. Smart fellow that I was, I put the egg case and part of the plant that it was attached to in an open jar, never thinking that the warmth of the house might accelerate the hatch rate a bit. It did, and one morning we were greeted by scads of Lilliputian mantids clambering throughout the lower level of the house. My mother may well still remember that episode.

My advice, should you wish to raise some of these Chinese mantids as pets? Put a lid on the jar.