Rearing notes for our first instar European mantis (Mantis religiosa) nymphs. These originated from a wild collected ootheca at Canyon Trail Park (El Cerrito, California), April 2017. Rearing Notes 5/13/17-5/??/17: 5/20:
5/17:
5/16:
5/14:
5/13: ![]() Authors Alan Liang
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The European mantis ootheca (Mantis religiosa) that we collected from Canyon Trail Park (El Cerrito, California) has begun to hatch. On April 10th, we collected what we believed was a viable European mantis (Mantis religiosa) ootheca at Canyon Trail Park in El Cerrito, California. We had initially expected it to hatch very soon, considering the ootheca that we found last year in our backyard hatched on April 2nd, so we were a little puzzled when nothing happened after several weeks. In fact, we decided to put the ootheca into our incubator just a few days ago to try to speed things up or at least help it break diapause if it hadn't already. However, we were surprised to find that it had actually begun hatching this morning! It was difficult to get an exact count of how many there were, but a rough estimate would be 20 or so. There should certainly be more than that many eggs in the ootheca, so we expect that it continue to hatch over the next several days. We consolidated all of the new hatchlings into a small deli container and stuck in about a dozen melanogaster fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) and a few random aphids. We just hope that the mantises are able to catch them. ![]() Authors Brian Liang Rearing notes for our European mantis (Mantis religiosa) ootheca collected at Canyon Trail Park (El Cerrito, California). 4/11:
4/10: ![]() Authors Alan Liang Today we decided to visit Canyon Trail Park (El Cerrito, CA) to see if we kind find anything before the season is truly over. No more Pipevine Swallowtails (Battus philenor hirsuta), of course, but we did find a complete Genista Broom Moth (Uresephita reversalis) infestation on some plants behind the pipevine. This common moth is a notorious pest in gardens for good reason: the eggs are laid in big clusters and the caterpillars hatch to be gregarious, easily defoliating the small weeds plants they feed on. The ones we found were mostly small ones, no more than third instar, all hiding in their silken nests. Just walking around Caynon Trail Park, we spotted many small butterflies flying around like various skippers, Edith's Checkerspot (Euphydryas editha), and various hairstreaks. Also, huge red flame skimmer dragonflies (Libellula saturata). In addition, we found two hatched European Mantis (Mantis religiosa) egg cases along the rim of a fence, a typical place for finding them. Lastly, we also stepped upon a very blue pigmented Anise Swallowtail fifth instar (they are normally green with only a bit of blue lining each stripe). It was feeding on some fennel that was completely dry and brown, which could possibly explain this odd coloration. It may be hard to tell in the photo, but compared to others that we have seen it is quite blue. - Brian
Today as we were on the Ohlone Greenway (Albany, CA) picking pine (Pinus), we found some emerged Anise Swallowtail chrysalises (Papilio zelicaon) and hatched European Mantis (Mantis religiosa) oothecae along a fence. Alas, it seems more often than not we find things a season too late. Most species of any insect diapause some time in the fall to spring -- pretty much any time but June to August which is when we have the free time to search for them as we are not in school! Today, without any intention of finding them, we stepped upon five emerged Anise Swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon) chrysalises attached along a wooden fence that stretched along the path of the Ohlone Greenway. Near the fence, there are various landscaping trees growing such as pine (Pinus), though there were some native growing American Plum (Prunus americana) trees mixed in. We had previously found Western Tiger Swallowtails (Papilio rutulus) chrysalises attached on a wooden fence in a similar location along the rim of the fence. So perhaps it wasn't too much of a surprise that we found the five emerged Anise chrysalises on the Ohlone Greenway fence, though it was puzzling to us that they were located in a place without any potential host nearby. Of course, the caterpillars sometimes wander quite a distance from their host tree in order to find a suitable location to pupate, but all five of the chrysalises were located very close to each other (some were right next to each other, in fact) which can hardly be a coincidence. We searched for some time our the area, but found no other chrysalises except these. Most likely, we predict that there used to be sweet fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) growing along the path at some point, but they were removed. Along the same fence, though maybe a block away from the chrysalises, we found four European Mantis (Mantis religiosa) egg cases distanced a few feet from each other. If we were to guess, we'd probably say they came from only two or three females since it is hard to imagine how so many of them found this one spot! Like the chrysalises, two were attached in the corner near the top of the fence formed by the rim; the other two were in a crack formed by two parallel rims. Both the chrysalises and egg cases were located in the same kind of location as the chrysalises and egg cases that we found on our own fence at home and as the fence at Albany Middle School, clearly indicating some sort of preference. If we were to look for their live counterparts later this year, perhaps in September or October, we will certainly keep this in mind and look at these places. Update 8/18: We found a ton of emerged cocoons of some tiger moth (Arctia) on the fence behind a plum tree. At least two were parasitized with the emerged tachinid fly puparium still there! - Brian
The last installment of rearing notes for our European Mantis (M. religiosa) in the fifth instar . . . Rest in peace. Rearing Notes 6/29: 6/29
It was certainly a notable feat to be the last survivor of the wild-caught newborns. It was a very long run. Farewell and rest in peace, old friend. - Brian
Rearing notes for our European Mantis (Mantis religiosa) in the fourth instar, the last survivor from our wild-caught newborns. Rearing Notes 6/3-6/28: 6/28:
6/27:
6/26:
6/22-25:
6/21:
6/20:
6/18-19:
6/17:
6/16:
6/15:
6/13-14:
6/12:
6/11: Nothing significant worth noting. 6/10:
6/6-6/9:
6/5:
6/4:
6/3:
- Brian
Rearing Notes 4/19/16-4/30/16: 4/30: 4/22: Second Instar European Mantis (Mantis religiosa) Eating a Fruit Fly 4/19: - Brian
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Timeline 2012–2017
Albany, California This timeline is a series of daily posts recording our observations on and experiences with various insects in Albany California and surrounding areas, from 2012-2017. Since we did not publish this site until 2016, posts before that were constructed retroactively. Starting in August 2017, we moved to Ithaca, New York; posts from there on can be viewed at Timeline 2017-present: Ithaca, New York. Archives (1,011)
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![]() ![]() Full Species List (Alphabetical by scientific name) Note: - Not every species we encounter is necessarily presented on this site, rather a selection of those that were of particular interest to us and that we felt were worth documenting. - We can't guarantee that all species have been identified accurately, particularly taxa we are not as familiar with. Lepidoptera Actias luna Adelpha californica Agraulis vanillae Allancastria cerisyi Antheraea mylitta Antheraea polyphemus Anthocharis sara Argema mimosae Attacus atlas Battus philenor hirsuta Bombyx mori Caligo atreus Callosamia promethea Coenonympha tullia california Citheronia regalis Cricula trifenestrata Danaus plexippus Eacles imperialis Erynnis tristis Estigmene acrea Eumorpha achemon Eupackardia calleta Furcula cinereoides Heliconius erato Heliconius hecale Heliconius sapho Heliconius sara Hyalophora cecropia Hyalophora columbia Hyalophora euryalus Hylephila phyleus Hyles lineata Junonia coenia Langia zenzeroides formosana Lophocampa maculata Manduca sexta Morpho peleides Nymphalis antiopa Orgyia vetusta Orthosia hibisci quenquefasciata Pachysphinx modesta Papilio cresphontes Papilio eurymedon Papilio glaucus Papilio machaon oregonius Papilio multicaudata Papilio polyxenes asterius Papilio rumiko Papilio rutulus Papilio zelicaon Phyciodes mylitta Phyciodes pulchella Pieris rapae Plejebus acmon Poanes melane Polites sabuleti Polygonia satyrus Pyrgus communis Rothschildia jacobaeae Samia cynthia advena Samia ricini Smerinthus cerisyi Smerinthus ophthalmica Strymon melinus Trichoplusia ni Uresephita reversalis Vanessa annabella Vanessa atalanta Vanessa cardui Unidentified Lepidoptera Hybrids Papilio glaucus × Papilio rutulus Papilio polyxenes asterius × Papilio zelicaon Orthoptera Melanoplus devastator Phaneroptera nana Pristoceuthophilus pacificus Scudderia mexicana Trimerotropis pallidipennis Phasmatodea Carausius morosus Phyllium giganteum Mantodea Mantis religiosa Phyllocrania paradoxa Hymenoptera Apis mellifera Bombus vosnesenskii Brachymeria ovata Linepithema humile Pediobius sp. Polistes dominula Xylocopa varipuncta Unidentified Diptera Lucilia sericata Unidentified Hemiptera Brochymena sp. Leptoglossus sp. Nezara viridula Odonata Argia vivida Libellula croceipennis Coleoptera Coccinella septempunctata Cycloneda polita Diabrotica undecimpunctata Hippodamia convergens Araneae (Class: Arachnida) Araneus diadematus Phidippus johnsoni |