We have a total of three chrysalis’s (no idea how to spell that) after our recent caterpillar transplant, which makes it a successful operation in my book.
Of course there may be more than that, as they’re secretive little buggers at the best of times. We were checking out the swan plant this weekend and discovered a praying mantis, listlessly prodding one of the caterpillars that seemed much too big for it, at around twice its own weight. A brief Google search revealed that the mantis itself was an interloper, a South African import and a certified pest here in Aotearoa, so we decided its only safe future was under incarceration. We soon found a companion, a female that had either had a very large lunch or was heavily pregnant.
Here they are in transitional housing.
Half an hour after this photo was taken, she was in a new enclosure and laying an ootheca. See what you can learn when you have offspring with special interests?
The reason this type of mantis is a pest is partly because the male of our native mantis can’t tell the difference between the springbok females and those of its own species. Well that’s his story and he’s sticking to it.