05 November 2006
Mantis vs. Garden Spider
My sister told me a lovely story about two top garden predators. Earlier this year, she placed a mantis very close to a garden spider's web, wondering how this fight might turn out. The Argiope spider approached the mantis quickly. However, it stopped when it got nearer and scuttled away. The mantis also appeared interested in the spider until it, too, decided that the battle wasn't worth it and crawled away.
30 October 2006
Insect List October 30
Here's a list of all the buggies I saw today..
Honeybees, of course. They were out and about cleaning off the leftover honey from the frames we left out for them.
A really cool, huge wheel bug.
Some question mark butterflies and a wasp and a bluebottle fly, also cleaning up the honey.
A grasshopper that looked quite lost on our driveway in the middle of the woods.
The wild honeybees (a swarm that escaped us and took up residence in a hollow tree along the driveway) certainly seemed busy and happy.
Honeybees, of course. They were out and about cleaning off the leftover honey from the frames we left out for them.
A really cool, huge wheel bug.
Some question mark butterflies and a wasp and a bluebottle fly, also cleaning up the honey.
A grasshopper that looked quite lost on our driveway in the middle of the woods.
The wild honeybees (a swarm that escaped us and took up residence in a hollow tree along the driveway) certainly seemed busy and happy.
09 October 2006
Praying Mantis
Common Name: Praying Mantis or Praying Mantid
Family: Dictyoptera (Mantids and Roaches)
Characteristics and Behavior:
The Mantis is a sleek eating machine. Its triangular head pivots so that it can look directly behind itself. The eyes are large, enabling it to see tiny movements. Its antennae are short, though, hinting that this predator relies on its sense of sight to hunt prey. Next comes a long thorax, on which are mounted two grasping legs and four walking legs. The grasping legs remind one of crab claws, but their spikes are much sharper and longer (proportionally) than any crab’s. These legs are held folded, which makes the mantis appear to be at prayer. Long wing covers hide the membranous wings against the abdomen. Sometimes the abdomen appears quite heavy, especially in a female gravid with eggs. Most mantises are green or brown, though I have seen some that looked black. In tropical places, mantises come in all sorts of colors and shapes.
Mantises respond to movement. They will eat nearly anything that moves, unless it is bigger than they are. Mantises have been known to devour insects (including their kin), spiders, small toads, and even mice! If an animal can be caught in a mantis’s forelegs and subdued, it will be eaten. When a mantis eats, the prey is usually still kicking. The soft parts, such as the abdomens, are eaten first. Usually a mantis will drop the less palatable bits, like moth wings. Caterpillars seem to be favorite snacks. A mantis will eat almost constantly.
When a mantis emerges from its egg in the spring, it is very tiny. It is bright green, like the plants surrounding it. There are no wings in this nymph stage. A mantis egg sack hatches hundreds of babies, but the little ones eat each other until they have distributed themselves. After eating many teensy bugs, the mantis molts. A typical mantis will molt several times before it reaches its adult stage in late summer. As adults, the males are markedly smaller than the females. Often when mating, the female mantis will eat her mate, pivoting around and starting with the head. By the time she finishes him off, the eggs are well fertilized. A female will lay her eggs on a plant stalk. It looks like a foamy mass, which hardens into a fluffy-looking round shape. By the time winter comes, all the adult mantises will be dead. The eggs overwinter in the egg case, ready to hatch when Spring comes again.
Relation to Humans:
Mantises are generally seen as beneficial, since they eat other insects. However, mantises eat any insect, not just the ones destroying your vegetable garden. They will eat other beneficial insects just as ravenously as they do pests. Mantises make great indicators of the general health of an area, since they are top insect predators.
I kept mantises in my window as a child. They make excellent pets. It’s important to keep a mantis well fed. Fortunately, this is easy. I used to go out every evening and catch moths by the security lights. I discovered that mantises don’t seem to like big black crickets very much, and that an aggressive cricket will sometimes kill a mantis. When I took them out to play with them, my mantises always liked to climb up to the top of my head. Some of them would ride around, while others would then fly off and I’d have to catch them before my mom got too excited. I had a couple of mantises that would take bologna or hot dog off the tip of a moving toothpick. Several of them left their egg cases behind. To keep a mantis happy as a pet, make sure your container is large enough. They need something to climb on, like a stick or two. Make sure you clean out the cage often. Mantises will see you and watch you when you are around, so hold completely still if you want to observe them eating.
Attraction and Control:
As high-level predators, mantises are rather sensitive to pesticides. If you want to attract them to your yard, make sure you don’t use harsh chemicals. They seem to prefer landscapes with lots of goldenrod, Echinacea, and other tall flowering plants with sturdy stems. They will go where there are lots of prey insects to eat. One way of importing mantises is to collect their egg sacs from nearby fields in the fall. Just put the stalk in your garden, and baby mantises will hatch the following spring. I don’t recommend keeping the egg sac in your home unless you want to be inundated by mantis nymphs!
Mystical Mantis:
Because of its prayerful attitude and awareness of us, the mantis has often been considered a divine insect. The Bushmen of Australia considered Mantis a god. Other religious traditions have found Mantis to be a divine messenger. According to Joanne Elizabeth Lauck, it is not uncommon for mantises to show up synchronistically when someone is reading about the Bushmen and their traditions (Voice of the Infinite in the Small, 2002). Some people find Mantis a negative symbol, focusing on its ravenous appetite and alien appearance. But most humans, especially children, look upon Mantis with awe. It is approachable, yet utterly other. If Mantis comes into your life, pay attention. Perhaps the Divine is trying to make a connection with you!
Links and References:
Lauck, Joanne. Voice of the Infinite in the Small: Re-Visioning the Insect – Human Connection. Boston, MA: Shambhala, 2002.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/176
http://www.herper.com/insects/mantids.html
http://www.earthlife.net/insects/mant-key.html
http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/bionb424/students/gjs23/
http://whatsthatbug.com/mantis.html
http://www.earthlife.net/insects/mantids.html
http://www.bugsincyberspace.com/mantis.html
http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/entfacts/trees/ef418.htm
Family: Dictyoptera (Mantids and Roaches)
Characteristics and Behavior:
The Mantis is a sleek eating machine. Its triangular head pivots so that it can look directly behind itself. The eyes are large, enabling it to see tiny movements. Its antennae are short, though, hinting that this predator relies on its sense of sight to hunt prey. Next comes a long thorax, on which are mounted two grasping legs and four walking legs. The grasping legs remind one of crab claws, but their spikes are much sharper and longer (proportionally) than any crab’s. These legs are held folded, which makes the mantis appear to be at prayer. Long wing covers hide the membranous wings against the abdomen. Sometimes the abdomen appears quite heavy, especially in a female gravid with eggs. Most mantises are green or brown, though I have seen some that looked black. In tropical places, mantises come in all sorts of colors and shapes.
Mantises respond to movement. They will eat nearly anything that moves, unless it is bigger than they are. Mantises have been known to devour insects (including their kin), spiders, small toads, and even mice! If an animal can be caught in a mantis’s forelegs and subdued, it will be eaten. When a mantis eats, the prey is usually still kicking. The soft parts, such as the abdomens, are eaten first. Usually a mantis will drop the less palatable bits, like moth wings. Caterpillars seem to be favorite snacks. A mantis will eat almost constantly.
When a mantis emerges from its egg in the spring, it is very tiny. It is bright green, like the plants surrounding it. There are no wings in this nymph stage. A mantis egg sack hatches hundreds of babies, but the little ones eat each other until they have distributed themselves. After eating many teensy bugs, the mantis molts. A typical mantis will molt several times before it reaches its adult stage in late summer. As adults, the males are markedly smaller than the females. Often when mating, the female mantis will eat her mate, pivoting around and starting with the head. By the time she finishes him off, the eggs are well fertilized. A female will lay her eggs on a plant stalk. It looks like a foamy mass, which hardens into a fluffy-looking round shape. By the time winter comes, all the adult mantises will be dead. The eggs overwinter in the egg case, ready to hatch when Spring comes again.
Relation to Humans:
Mantises are generally seen as beneficial, since they eat other insects. However, mantises eat any insect, not just the ones destroying your vegetable garden. They will eat other beneficial insects just as ravenously as they do pests. Mantises make great indicators of the general health of an area, since they are top insect predators.
I kept mantises in my window as a child. They make excellent pets. It’s important to keep a mantis well fed. Fortunately, this is easy. I used to go out every evening and catch moths by the security lights. I discovered that mantises don’t seem to like big black crickets very much, and that an aggressive cricket will sometimes kill a mantis. When I took them out to play with them, my mantises always liked to climb up to the top of my head. Some of them would ride around, while others would then fly off and I’d have to catch them before my mom got too excited. I had a couple of mantises that would take bologna or hot dog off the tip of a moving toothpick. Several of them left their egg cases behind. To keep a mantis happy as a pet, make sure your container is large enough. They need something to climb on, like a stick or two. Make sure you clean out the cage often. Mantises will see you and watch you when you are around, so hold completely still if you want to observe them eating.
Attraction and Control:
As high-level predators, mantises are rather sensitive to pesticides. If you want to attract them to your yard, make sure you don’t use harsh chemicals. They seem to prefer landscapes with lots of goldenrod, Echinacea, and other tall flowering plants with sturdy stems. They will go where there are lots of prey insects to eat. One way of importing mantises is to collect their egg sacs from nearby fields in the fall. Just put the stalk in your garden, and baby mantises will hatch the following spring. I don’t recommend keeping the egg sac in your home unless you want to be inundated by mantis nymphs!
Mystical Mantis:
Because of its prayerful attitude and awareness of us, the mantis has often been considered a divine insect. The Bushmen of Australia considered Mantis a god. Other religious traditions have found Mantis to be a divine messenger. According to Joanne Elizabeth Lauck, it is not uncommon for mantises to show up synchronistically when someone is reading about the Bushmen and their traditions (Voice of the Infinite in the Small, 2002). Some people find Mantis a negative symbol, focusing on its ravenous appetite and alien appearance. But most humans, especially children, look upon Mantis with awe. It is approachable, yet utterly other. If Mantis comes into your life, pay attention. Perhaps the Divine is trying to make a connection with you!
Links and References:
Lauck, Joanne. Voice of the Infinite in the Small: Re-Visioning the Insect – Human Connection. Boston, MA: Shambhala, 2002.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/176
http://www.herper.com/insects/mantids.html
http://www.earthlife.net/insects/mant-key.html
http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/bionb424/students/gjs23/
http://whatsthatbug.com/mantis.html
http://www.earthlife.net/insects/mantids.html
http://www.bugsincyberspace.com/mantis.html
http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/entfacts/trees/ef418.htm
30 July 2006
Japanese Beetles
Where I live, in the Midwest, Japanese Beetles are wreaking havoc. Roses in particular seem to suffer from their rampages, as do beans and other broad-leafed ornamentals. People around here hate them. I must admit, I'm not too fond of them myself when they get into my herb beds, but I don't detest the little beasties. After all, they are unaware of their destructiveness and merely wish to live. And they're quite pretty, if you see one up close. Their carapaces shine green and bronze in the sunlight.
Unfortunately, we only have ourselves to blame for the massive waves of Japanese beetle destruction. These insects were brought overseas by someone who didn't pay attention or didn't care about the little insects hanging off the plants they were importing. That's how a lot of destructive creatures get into places they were not meant to be. And then they take off and proliferate, taking resources from local bugs and ravaging local plant life.
Around here, people want to get rid of Japanese beetles. They spray harsh chemicals, which may do temporary good, but in the long-term create more problems. Most insects quickly become resistant to the chemicals sprayed on them, as the survivors leave to breed more insects with their tolerances. This leads to heavier and heavier doses of potent chemicals that also have the potential to harm humans and the entire environment. You might think that the small amount of pesticide you use is just a drop in the bucket, but when you and all your neighbors use chemicals, it adds up. One of the largest sources of pollution is impossible to pin down - it's the accumulation from homeowners spraying their lawns and gardens.
Another way people attempt to deal with Japanese beetles, without pesticides, amuses me. One can buy bright yellow traps impregnated with Japanese beetle sex pheremones. The beetles are attracted to the pheremone, fly in, and are trapped in a bag or bottle. These traps are great if you want to attract all the Japanese beetles in the neighborhood. In my experience, the traps quickly fill with a stinky crawling mass of Japanese beetles, leaving the rest (still attracted) to hang out in your yard and eat your gardens. Unless you are available to dump the traps (handling that squirmy, stinky mess) often, the pheremone traps are much more trouble than they're worth. Although your neighbors may thank you!
The best way to deal with an overload of Japanese beetles is to plant or refrain from weeding) a decoy food source. I have found certain weeds that I end up calling "beetle trees" because they attract the beasties. Pay attention to your yard, and see what the beetles favor. Then, on your special plants, pick off the individuals that are hurting them and put them in a bucket of soapy water. They will die, and you're not attracting more to your area and you're not spraying potentially harmful chemicals in your garden.
Other helps include planting four-o'-clocks, and possibly other plants that reputedly kill Japanese beetles. I had four-o'-clocks at my previous residence, and I can honestly claim that my yard had a low amount of Japanese beetles compared to the rest of my neighborhood. Also, in New Harmony, IN, I observed a lot of dead Japanese beetles on the ground near some trees in the center of the Open-Roofed Church, and I wonder if those trees had a similar effect.
Unfortunately, not very many predators like to eat Japanese beetles. My daughter's pet praying mantis refused to touch them, even when they were the only food available. The beetles, as you may notice when they are in large numbers, stink. This is a chemical defense they create within their bodies to deter predators. Unfortunately for us (but fortunately for the beetles), it works rather well.
Remember, the Japanese beetle is not an enemy. It's an insect that has an instinct to eat what is tasty and make love in groups. It doesn't know that it's population size damages your plants. Your kindest and best option for dealing with the beetle is to do what you can to limit the population. They won't all die off, but they will be in balance with the rest of your little piece of the world.
Unfortunately, we only have ourselves to blame for the massive waves of Japanese beetle destruction. These insects were brought overseas by someone who didn't pay attention or didn't care about the little insects hanging off the plants they were importing. That's how a lot of destructive creatures get into places they were not meant to be. And then they take off and proliferate, taking resources from local bugs and ravaging local plant life.
Around here, people want to get rid of Japanese beetles. They spray harsh chemicals, which may do temporary good, but in the long-term create more problems. Most insects quickly become resistant to the chemicals sprayed on them, as the survivors leave to breed more insects with their tolerances. This leads to heavier and heavier doses of potent chemicals that also have the potential to harm humans and the entire environment. You might think that the small amount of pesticide you use is just a drop in the bucket, but when you and all your neighbors use chemicals, it adds up. One of the largest sources of pollution is impossible to pin down - it's the accumulation from homeowners spraying their lawns and gardens.
Another way people attempt to deal with Japanese beetles, without pesticides, amuses me. One can buy bright yellow traps impregnated with Japanese beetle sex pheremones. The beetles are attracted to the pheremone, fly in, and are trapped in a bag or bottle. These traps are great if you want to attract all the Japanese beetles in the neighborhood. In my experience, the traps quickly fill with a stinky crawling mass of Japanese beetles, leaving the rest (still attracted) to hang out in your yard and eat your gardens. Unless you are available to dump the traps (handling that squirmy, stinky mess) often, the pheremone traps are much more trouble than they're worth. Although your neighbors may thank you!
The best way to deal with an overload of Japanese beetles is to plant or refrain from weeding) a decoy food source. I have found certain weeds that I end up calling "beetle trees" because they attract the beasties. Pay attention to your yard, and see what the beetles favor. Then, on your special plants, pick off the individuals that are hurting them and put them in a bucket of soapy water. They will die, and you're not attracting more to your area and you're not spraying potentially harmful chemicals in your garden.
Other helps include planting four-o'-clocks, and possibly other plants that reputedly kill Japanese beetles. I had four-o'-clocks at my previous residence, and I can honestly claim that my yard had a low amount of Japanese beetles compared to the rest of my neighborhood. Also, in New Harmony, IN, I observed a lot of dead Japanese beetles on the ground near some trees in the center of the Open-Roofed Church, and I wonder if those trees had a similar effect.
Unfortunately, not very many predators like to eat Japanese beetles. My daughter's pet praying mantis refused to touch them, even when they were the only food available. The beetles, as you may notice when they are in large numbers, stink. This is a chemical defense they create within their bodies to deter predators. Unfortunately for us (but fortunately for the beetles), it works rather well.
Remember, the Japanese beetle is not an enemy. It's an insect that has an instinct to eat what is tasty and make love in groups. It doesn't know that it's population size damages your plants. Your kindest and best option for dealing with the beetle is to do what you can to limit the population. They won't all die off, but they will be in balance with the rest of your little piece of the world.
15 July 2006
Insect Advocate Introduction
Hello, this is your friendly Insect Advocate. You'll find this blog devoted to those six-legged wondrous little beasties that share our world. I love insects. I hope that through this blog I can help people to better understand and appreciate them. After all, they are with us for better or for worse. Feel free to post comments and questions; I enjoy targeting my advocacy toward the insect issues you are currently facing.
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