PRAYING MANTIDS — GURNET 355 



prey may consist of insects that parasitize insect pests. Also, prey 

 sometimes includes bees useful in pollinating fruit, alfalfa, or clover. 

 Under certain circumstances, therefore, mantids may be harmful, but 

 the good they usually do probably more than offsets the harm. The 

 possibility of propagating them for the control of harmful insects is 

 sometimes very appealing to people who are impressed by their tremen- 

 dous appetite and conspicuous predatory habits. Because they do 

 not eat just one kind of insect, but are rather general feeders, they 

 cannot be directed against a specific pest, such as the Japanese beetle. 

 Many pests, such as various kinds of borers, live inside of plant tissue, 

 and so mantids could never attack them under natural conditions. 

 If mantids became unusually abundant, birds might be inclined to 

 feed on them more, or the crowding might lead to more cannibalism. 

 For these reasons, mantids are not likely to be important in practical 

 biological control projects. 



People impressed by the value of praying mantids occasionally 

 inquire whether there are laws protecting them. I have made an 

 effort to determine whether any State or local ordinances have been 

 passed to protect mantids from being molested by people, and thus 

 far no such laws have come to my attention. 



There are several beliefs or superstitions concerning the ability of 

 mantids to kill livestock. For instance, it is often thought in the 

 Southwestern States that a horse or cow will die if it eats a mantid 

 or if it drinks water from a trough into which one has fallen and 

 drowned. These beliefs are naturally unfounded, and furthermore 

 a mantid cannot hurt a person except by the inconsequential scratching 

 of the claws and spines when handled. 



SPECIES FOUND IN THE UNITED STATES 



1. Chinese mantis, Tenodera aridifolia sinensis Saussure : 



The Chinese mantis is widespread in eastern Asia and nearby 

 islands. It was accidentally introduced into the United States, where 

 it was first noticed near Philadelphia in 1896. It has spread until 

 it occurs from New Haven, Conn., to Virginia along the Atlantic 

 coast, and at scattered localities elsewhere. In February 1949 about 

 200 Qgg masses were distributed in Warren County, 111., and, accord- 

 ing to Dr. R. I. Sailer, the 1950 population appeared to be increasing. 

 I have recently learned (letter from Edwin Way Teale) that a colony 

 has been started in California and that an Ohio dealer in biological 

 supplies has been selling Qgg masses ; so it is easy to see the wide oppor- 

 < unities that the Chinese mantis has for enlarging its distribution. 

 It is our largest species, usually being 3 to 4 inches in over-all length 

 when the wings are folded over the back. The egg mass is sometimes 

 as much as 1,1/^ inches lon^ and usually an inch or nearly an inch in 

 diameter. 



