Monthly Archives: March 2015

The Last of the March Mantids: High School Steroptypes!

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Polistes fuscatus

Written by Nancy Miorelli and Joe Ballenger It’s the end of the month, and our March Mantids theme month seems to have been a pretty big success. It was a lot of fun for us, because we got to talk … Continue reading →

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Crouching Tiger … Fighting Mantis

Posted on March 26, 2015 by SciBugs

Written by Nancy Miorelli I love this project because sometimes we get completely  random but interesting questions. Like where Mantis Kung Fu came from. Turns out there’s two distinct styles and many sub styles within them, so the answer is … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mantids and Cannibalism: a Surprisingly Complicated Affair.

Posted on March 23, 2015 by joeballenger2005

Written by Joe Ballenger Mantises, as we’ve seen, are interesting animals with a lot more going on than what it seems. They’re efficient predators which have an evolutionary history that many wouldn’t suspect, and they have their own weird biological … Continue reading →

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The Daily Catch: Patience and Spring Traps

Posted on March 19, 2015 by SciBugs

Written by Nancy Miorelli The other day I received an email from a former student about the persistence and strength demonstrated by praying mantises. Yes, she did say birds. It is pretty amazing when you think about how mantises can capture … Continue reading →

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Unlikely Sisters – Roaches and Mantises

Posted on March 16, 2015 by SciBugs

Written by Nancy Miorelli Cockroaches (Blattodea) and Mantises (Mantodea). They’re both insects. They’ve got their six legs, three segmented body parts, and a Johnston’s organ which guarantee them a spot in the class Insecta. But as it turns out, they’re more closely … Continue reading →

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Why do Mantids Only Have One Ear?

Posted on March 12, 2015 by joeballenger2005

Written by Joe Ballenger In my opinion, one of the more interesting questions about mantids we received concerns how they hear. As humans, we have two independently functioning ears which are located on our head. This works very well for … Continue reading →

Posted in Behavior, Physiology | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Why Do Insects Lay Their Eggs In Patterns?

Posted on March 9, 2015 by joeballenger2005

Written by Joe Ballenger We get a lot of identification requests on our Facebook page, and we do what we can to identify them. Sometimes, these turn into interesting conversations…which in turn lead to good questions like this: The moth … Continue reading →

Posted in Behavior, Ecology, Physiology | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Do Mantids Get Parasites?

Posted on March 4, 2015 by joeballenger2005

Written by Joe Ballenger @BugQuestions what kind of parasites do mantids have? Is there a link with lots of photos? — Sarah Herlong (@HerlongSarah) February 6, 2015 Everybody loves mantids. In fact, of all the questions we’ve gotten here on … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecology, Physiology | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments

Gardening and Beneficial Insects

Posted on March 2, 2015 by SciBugs

Written by Nancy Miorelli Spring’s right around the corner! Well, for those of us who aren’t heaped under mountains of snow. To kickstart spring, this month we’re going to post all about mantises! So shoot us your questions! Some of … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Ecology, Pollination | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments