California mantis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Stagmomantis californica |
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| Female California mantis Stagmomantis californica | |
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Stagmomantis
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S. californica
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| Stagmomantis californica Rehn & Hebard, 1909
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The Stagmomantis californica, also known as the California mantis, is a type of praying mantis. This insect is native to the Western United States. It is a skilled hunter that catches and eats other insects.
What Does It Look Like?
Adult California mantises are usually about 2 to 3 inches long. They can be green, yellow, or brown. Younger mantises and adults often have dark stripes across their upper body. Their wings are a mix of dark brown or black, and their back wings are a bit purplish. The inside of their front legs is orangish, and they have some black spots near their mouthparts.
They look a lot like other praying mantises. Two other types of mantises also live in California: the slightly smaller Stagmomantis carolina and the larger, more common Stagmomantis limbata. However, the egg cases (called oothecae) and the newly hatched babies of the California mantis are different from those of S. limbata.
Where Do They Live?
The California mantis is common in the warmer, drier areas of southern California, especially below 10,000 feet. They like places with lots of shrubs and plants, like chaparral (shrubland) and desert environments. They often hide and hunt in plants such as the creosote bush.
Their home range stretches from southern California up into the Central Valley. It also goes eastward into Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and western Texas. In the late 1980s, they started appearing in southern Idaho. It seems they are moving north and learning to live in colder places. You can also find them in Mexico.
How Do They Behave?
Like all mantises, the California mantis is a carnivore, meaning it eats meat. It will eat almost any other insect it can catch, even other California mantises!
Males and females meet only to reproduce. Otherwise, adult mantises live alone. Baby mantises, called nymphs, hatch in the spring from hard egg cases laid the previous fall. Adult mantises usually live less than nine months and do not survive the winter. Females sometimes live longer than males, which gives them more time to lay their egg cases on plants or rocks before they die.
Both male and female mantises can fly, but they are also fast runners. Male mantises are especially good at flying because their wings are much longer than their bodies. Female wings are shorter. Males are often drawn to bright lights at night. They fly mainly to find new places to live, not to hunt for food.
When California mantises mate, it can take many hours. Sometimes, during or after mating, the female mantis will eat the male. This gives the female enough protein to create a strong ootheca (egg case). All California mantises have special sensors near their legs. These sensors allow a mantis to still move and function even if it loses its head.
See also
In Spanish: Stagmomantis californica para niños
