The Legendary Praying Mantis

Last summer, a local praying mantis made headlines after being discovered in the Washington National’s outfield during a game against the New York Mets. Long believed to be a protected species, the mantis was carefully caught with a baseball glove, wrapped in a towel and escorted off the field.

Around the same time, another curious praying mantis made heads turn at the Willowsford Summer Fruit Festival in the Farm Garden. While Culinary Director Bonnie Moore was setting up an incredible spread of shortbread, berries and fixings for attendees, a mantis lurking in a nearby asparagus bed caught the attention of a few kids, joined in with the farmers and festivities, and even posed for a few pictures.

Folklore, legends and myths dating back to the 1950s have led many to believe that harming a praying mantis is against the law and could lead to a $50 fine. While there is no such fine or crime, it is entirely possible that the myth was started by a wise farmer or gardener who witnessed the many benefits of the praying mantis and sought to protect and value them among their crops.

Praying Mantises earned their rank among “beneficial insects” for several reasons. They are natural predators of pest insects like mosquitos, aphids, roaches, leaf hoppers, beetles, grasshoppers and night-dwelling moths. In fact, they are among the few nocturnal predators capable of catching and eating moths. Since the mantises don’t have a larval phase and their young are born fully formed as nymphs, even the small, newborn mantises are hungry and will immediately begin feeding on smaller pests.

Today, the first young mantises born to ootheca (egg sacks) deposited within the warming greenhouse tunnel are emerging - anxious to and protect and serve here on the farm.

The ootheca (praying mantises egg sacks) deposited outdoors will begin to hatching hundreds of young mantises later in the spring. If you’d like to see and monitor an ootheca for hatching, visit the Farm Garden. Two of the ootheca we found on tomato stakes in the farm fields will be displayed in the garden beds nearest to the market.

Here are a few additional facts about Praying Mantises:

• Their triangular heads turn 180 degrees and their compound eyes can detect movement up to 60 feet away.
• While their appearance may be startling, they pose no threat to humans.
• Their highly recognizable front legs snare their prey with reflexes so quick they are difficult to see with the naked eye. Their spiked legs are further equipped to hold prey in place.
• The adult female praying mantis is notorious for her mating behavior, sometimes eating her mate after – or even during – mating.
• The average lifespan of this carnivorous insect in the wild is 12 months.
• The most common praying mantis species seen in our region are the Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) and the Chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis).