bigfish4me Posted August 29, 2017 Report Share Posted August 29, 2017 Bumper crop of praying mantis here around the house, found 3 cocoons around the pool this spring.... how's the action around the dock this year ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfish4me Posted August 29, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2017 (edited) Also got quite a few of these creepy suckers..... called a wheel bug and probably an inch and a half long... member of the assasain bug family Edited August 29, 2017 by bigfish4me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfish4me Posted August 29, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2017 And I'll round it out with an invasive species.... the spotted lantern fly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daves745t Posted August 29, 2017 Report Share Posted August 29, 2017 Those are very cool pics....that Wheel Bug is nutz! Just looked it up, considered a beneficial insect b/c it eats soft bodied ones. Nice Man, you can tell the fishing's slow... Just b/c you CAN, doesn't mean you SHOULD....(what you do DOES make a difference - be accountable)BigWave Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoorGunner Posted August 30, 2017 Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 This year has been a dud for insects at the dock. Hatched about a thousand mantis but now can only find one adult. I think I figured out what I did wrong so won't make that mistake next year. Everything nature wise just seemed a little off center this year. I keep looking but just not much to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyBunker Posted August 30, 2017 Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 7 hours ago, bigfish4me said: Also got quite a few of these creepy suckers..... called a wheel bug and probably an inch and a half long... member of the assasain bug family Hell yeah. Those things are cold killers. Saw a huge one a few weeks back. Supposedly you don't want to get hit by their proboscis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robtf Posted August 30, 2017 Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 13 hours ago, DoorGunner said: This year has been a dud for insects at the dock. Hatched about a thousand mantis but now can only find one adult. I think I figured out what I did wrong so won't make that mistake next year. Everything nature wise just seemed a little off center this year. I keep looking but just not much to see. what did you do? spray more this year? just curious... From The Grand State of South Jersey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoorGunner Posted August 31, 2017 Report Share Posted August 31, 2017 10 hours ago, robtf said: what did you do? spray more this year? just curious... I have a small garden area at the dock and never seem to have problems with harmful insects other than grubs in the spring. These I find when I turn the soil and just pick them out and toss into the parking lot where the local birds do their best. Never spray and with the mantis I welcome insects to visit their hunting grounds. My mistake this year was a simple one that caused a slaughter of the baby mantis. I hunt my cocoons during the winter months then place them in and around the garden. My mistake was that where I placed them they received direct sunlight all day long. They hatched too early and became food for all the birds from sparrows on up. They had very few places to hide and when you are the T-Rex of the insect world but start out about a quarter of an inch long you don't usually make it to become the Terrible Mantis. All my plants were just sprouting and the baby mantis were left out in the open. I gave a few cocoons to a friend and she placed them in her garden where there were a few shrubs and shade trees. Her cocoons hatched about a month later than mine and had plenty of hiding places. By the time her's hatched my garden was growing great and if mine hatched then there would have been a lot more that would have made it. So next year I'm keeping mine in the shady area until the plants begin to grow some cover and then I will place the cocoons into the direct sunlight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robtf Posted August 31, 2017 Report Share Posted August 31, 2017 ah ok, that's a great tip! From The Grand State of South Jersey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maine Guide Posted September 5, 2017 Report Share Posted September 5, 2017 I purchased 10 cocoons on line from a guy in PA. I have no idea if any ever hatched or not. I was moving a burning bush this past weekend and found one crawling around. Door Gunner - how can you tell when looking at the cocoon if anything hatched from it? Or it was a "dud"? * Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoorGunner Posted September 6, 2017 Report Share Posted September 6, 2017 On 9/5/2017 at 4:47 PM, Maine Guide said: I purchased 10 cocoons on line from a guy in PA. I have no idea if any ever hatched or not. I was moving a burning bush this past weekend and found one crawling around. Door Gunner - how can you tell when looking at the cocoon if anything hatched from it? Or it was a "dud"? Mantis cocoons are all built the same way. The eggs are all laid in sleeves in two rows on the side of the cocoon that is opposite where it is attached to a stick or branch. It's the most exposed part of the cocoon facing daylight. The sleeves are all sealed with a thin membrane that splits open when the eggs hatch. If you look at the cocoon after hatching you will notice little vent like openings where the mantis emerged. An unhatched cocoon will have a smooth outer finish. Here is a shot of an older cocoon that has already hatched. Notice how rough the outer skin is. Here is a shot of the eggs hatching and this will continue all the way up to the top of the cocoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yarddog59 Posted September 7, 2017 Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 Fantastic pictures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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