The Chinese Mantid

Article & Images by John Hoepfner

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Have you ever browsed the garden catalogs and seen the advertisements for beneficial insects for your gardens? Have you ever wondered about whether ordering such insects and introducing them into an area where they may not exist in the native population is a good idea? I have, and it is my opinion that the Chinese Mantid (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis) should not be introduced in Wisconsin under the guise of being a beneficial insect! I feel passionate about getting the word out that I feel that this insect is not beneficial in my home state.

I have done considerable research, plus I have raised these critters for two consecutive summers and have come to the conclusion that they do not belong in Wisconsin. First of all they are not native. Second due to climatic reasons they do not belong in Wisconsin. They are not, nor ever will be, the beneficial insect that they are advertised as being.

Dr. Lawrence E. Hurd, co-author “The Praying Mantids” Johns Hopkins 1999, is my mentor concerning this matter. I quote from Dr. Hurd’s personal thoughts,

I used a number of fields in and around Chapel Hill to monitor mantid populations over several consecutive years in the 1970s and 1980s. In some of those fields there were initially viable (reproductive) populations of the native mantid, Stagmomantis carolina. In other fields, there were populations of the introduced Chinese mantid. Eventually, I began to find the Chinese mantids in fields where they were formerly absent, but in which the native species had previously robust populations. Over a very few years (2–3, usually), the native mantids disappeared from those fields, while the Chinese mantids built up large populations. What I suspect was happening was that the Chinese mantids deposited their egg cases on the same loblolly pines used by the native species, and their eggs hatched before the natives. So, when the natives emerged, they were in the presence of large numbers of voracious predators that had gotten a head start on them and were therefore larger. In any case, I think there is enough circumstantial evidence that the Chinese mantid had a hand in eliminating a native animal and I would not spread them around on purpose.

My additional comment to the above statement by Dr. Larry Hurd is this: The Chinese mantids needs warm and humid weather to hatch along with a food supply and again humidity. In my part of the world, Appleton, Wisconsin, our springs and early summers are generally too cold and humidity is not present and food is scarce. One of the prey of the mantids is aphids. However, the birth of aphids and mantids, because of climatic reasons, do not always coincide.

Fact is, the Chinese mantids just have a tough time surviving in the Wisconsin climate. And if they do survive and deposit egg cases, the cases have a high rate of mortality due to improper fertilization or as a result of drying out or from predation.

This wraps up my argument for not introducing the Chinese mantid in the State of Wisconsin under the guise of a beneficial insect that will rid your garden of pests. By the way, did I tell you that the preying mantis loves to eat Monarch Butterflies.

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