I just remembered I have a couple oothecas in storage. Last year when I was camping I saw my first mantises. I had no idea they were native to British Columbia, and had never seen one in real life...
I just remembered I have a couple oothecas in storage. Last year when I was camping I saw my first mantises. I had no idea they were native to British Columbia, and had never seen one in real life before. Somehow this campsite was just covered in them, and by the end of the summer I saw a dozen or so egg sacs stuck to trees and rocks around the place. Two of them were stuck to our RV, so I carefully detached them and stuck them in a cupboard to deal with later. I forgot about them and I broke up with my girlfriend. She would have put everything from that cupboard into storage. Makes me wonder if we're going to have hundreds of baby mantises crawling out of our storage locker in a couple months.
I honestly had no idea mantises could be found in Canada either... but apparently only the ground mantid is actually native, the rest are introduced/invasive species:...
I honestly had no idea mantises could be found in Canada either... but apparently only the ground mantid is actually native, the rest are introduced/invasive species:
Three species of mantids are found in Canada. The European mantis (Mantis religiosa) was accidentally introduced to New York State from Europe in 1899. It subsequently spread to Southern Ontario and Quebec and was later introduced to the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, to control grasshoppers.
The Chinese mantid (Tenodera aridifolia) was introduced to Eastern North America from China in 1896 to control insect pests. The ground mantid, (Litaneutria minor) ranges from Mexico north to BC. It is the only mantid native to Canada, where its range is limited to the dry grasslands of the southern Okanagan Valley.
That's really neat! I did some really quick research when I first encountered them, but never narrowed them down to a specific species. Looking at pictures they were certainly Mantis religiosa....
That's really neat! I did some really quick research when I first encountered them, but never narrowed them down to a specific species. Looking at pictures they were certainly Mantis religiosa.
Now that I know they're an invasive species I feel a lot better about accidentally putting their babies in a place they can't survive. Though, the outside of our camper trailer would have been a pretty awful place anyway.
FWIW I saw no grasshoppers anywhere around. There were swarms of some kind of stinkbug for a couple weeks though. The whole ecosystem of the Okanagan is pretty fucked if you ask me. It's all irrigated desert, everything is artificial, but then when you do find some patch of untouched wilderness it's still been completely disrupted by the surrounding farms. The place we were camping that was apparently infested by these mantises was officially an ecological preserve.
Despite living most of my life in Ontario (and abroad), I was actually born in BC, and most of my blood family is still living there. And I have visited Kelowna (where several of them live) many...
Despite living most of my life in Ontario (and abroad), I was actually born in BC, and most of my blood family is still living there. And I have visited Kelowna (where several of them live) many times over the years, and actually lived there myself for half a year, so I know what you mean about the Okanagan. It's still a very beautiful region, but far removed from its natural state thanks to all the vineyards, farms, and other development in the region. It's akin to the Niagara region out here in Ontario. Pretty, but the native environment has been almost entirely wiped out at this point due to all the agriculture and irrigation.
This Youtuber doesn't have many videos yet, but he has some really interesting pets, and builds pretty cool habitats for them. So if you found this interesting, I highly recommend checking out...
This Youtuber doesn't have many videos yet, but he has some really interesting pets, and builds pretty cool habitats for them. So if you found this interesting, I highly recommend checking out their other videos:
I just remembered I have a couple oothecas in storage. Last year when I was camping I saw my first mantises. I had no idea they were native to British Columbia, and had never seen one in real life before. Somehow this campsite was just covered in them, and by the end of the summer I saw a dozen or so egg sacs stuck to trees and rocks around the place. Two of them were stuck to our RV, so I carefully detached them and stuck them in a cupboard to deal with later. I forgot about them and I broke up with my girlfriend. She would have put everything from that cupboard into storage. Makes me wonder if we're going to have hundreds of baby mantises crawling out of our storage locker in a couple months.
I honestly had no idea mantises could be found in Canada either... but apparently only the ground mantid is actually native, the rest are introduced/invasive species:
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mantid
That's really neat! I did some really quick research when I first encountered them, but never narrowed them down to a specific species. Looking at pictures they were certainly Mantis religiosa.
Now that I know they're an invasive species I feel a lot better about accidentally putting their babies in a place they can't survive. Though, the outside of our camper trailer would have been a pretty awful place anyway.
FWIW I saw no grasshoppers anywhere around. There were swarms of some kind of stinkbug for a couple weeks though. The whole ecosystem of the Okanagan is pretty fucked if you ask me. It's all irrigated desert, everything is artificial, but then when you do find some patch of untouched wilderness it's still been completely disrupted by the surrounding farms. The place we were camping that was apparently infested by these mantises was officially an ecological preserve.
Despite living most of my life in Ontario (and abroad), I was actually born in BC, and most of my blood family is still living there. And I have visited Kelowna (where several of them live) many times over the years, and actually lived there myself for half a year, so I know what you mean about the Okanagan. It's still a very beautiful region, but far removed from its natural state thanks to all the vineyards, farms, and other development in the region. It's akin to the Niagara region out here in Ontario. Pretty, but the native environment has been almost entirely wiped out at this point due to all the agriculture and irrigation.
This Youtuber doesn't have many videos yet, but he has some really interesting pets, and builds pretty cool habitats for them. So if you found this interesting, I highly recommend checking out their other videos:
Building a Slice of the Ocean, Nano Reef Tank Build
Vampire Crabs, Mourning Geckos, and so much more!
My Pet Wasps
Tiny Lizard Terrarium (Vivarium)