Hi Everyone,
The following are the thoughts of our invertebrate specialist. Hope they are useful.
Cheers,
Colin
The mantids will have no effect on any of the vertebrates other than to supply them with a dietary supplement. Mantids have been trialled many times for pest control and are sold commercially in the US to control pests in the home garden. However, as generalist predators, they never do as good a job as specialist predators and parasites and there are many insect pests that they have no impact on at all (such as small, sedentary pests). Horticulturists tailor the predator to the pest, such as predatory mites for two-spotted mites, Cryptolaemus for mealybug, ladybirds and lacewings for aphids etc. So although they'll be a nice addition to the display, I don't think they would make any impact. The other problem is that cockroaches tend to be nocturnal and mantids diurnal.
Patrick
-----Original Message-----We are wondering if anybody has released praying mantis into interior
From: katrina.lindahl [mailto:katrina.lindahl@...]
Sent: Tuesday, 11 April 2006 8:57 AM
To: AZH@...
Subject: [AZH] Praying Mantis
tropical exhibits for insect control? We are investigating the use of
praying mantis to control cockroachs.
If you have experiece with this insect, what kind of success and
challenges have you encountered? Have they had any negative effect on
the animals such as birds?
We look forward to hearing from you.
Katrina Lindahl
Woodland Park Zoo
Seattle, WA
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