[Charlotte]

Hi All,

Can anyone help me to find for West Lynn Gardens how to go about eradicating the problem of the praying mantis they have in their butterfly house at the gardens in West Lynn.

They are having a severe problem with these pests (Could be South African Mantis?)

They would like to have a clean up in their butterfly house and would much appreciate anyone’s knowledge on this matter to help them.

Cheers

Char

[Anonymous]

Not exactly a wish, Char.
But if they decide to go with the egg hunting option,rather than spraying, I might be able to get a small team together to give it go with them. Do you know what their plan is yet?

[Charlotte]

Oh Trisha now you should of not said that;-)))LOL. West Lynn would love your help in the butterfly house. Contact West Lynn and ask for Margaret and talk to her.
She needs all the help she can get at the moment in there.

Careful what you wish for girlie;-)) LOL

Take Care
Char

[Anonymous]

Oh, OK.
I was interested in Norm’s comment, and what I read when I Googled, about the SA variety taking over our native ones.
For whatever reason, I feel happier to knock off a few SA eggs sacs.
I can imagine how much of a problem they would be in a butterfly house since they breed all year.
Hopefully Char will report back on how West Lynn Garden will manage them. Wouldn’t mind going out there on an egg hunt.

[Gilly]

I’ve seen natives attacking monarchs also…. its bug life…. a food chain…. unfortunate to us, at times, but life out there.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that Norm.
The South African ones were first sighted out west Auckland way, very close to the West Lynn gardens, so probably fair to assume they have a bit of a strongholdout that way.
The gardens are huge, so hunting them down will be a huge task.
Maybe they can minimise in the actual butterfly house if they keep up a year-round hunt for the eggs.
Will be interested to check mine out when they reappear. Didn’t find any eggs deposits when I went on a hunt yesterday and haven’t seen any around for many weeks.
Are the natives as aggressive with Monarchs? I didn’t see any actual attacks over summer.
Trisha

[Charlotte]

Thanks Norm will pass all the info along to West Lynn.
I didn’t realize there was different types. To me they all look the same.
But this girl is not getting close to them to see;-))

Char

[NormTwigge]

The praying mantis egg case in Roberts photo was the New Zealand native mantis. The South African mantis arrived in N.Z. about 1978 and because it breeds all year round, is in danger of over- running our native species. The African
mantis deposits an eggcase which is straw coloured and has the appearance of an elongated blob of foam.
The adult mantis can be distinguished by the fact the body section between the first two pair of legs is narrower than the width of its head, and its colouring can range from a green colour through to brown. Our native mantid can be distinguished by the blue and purple colour patch on the inside of its front legs, which the African species lacks.
Norm.

[Anonymous]

Yes, that is a problem Robert.
I didn’t know there were natives and the imports until fairly recently, so didn’t check out the ones here last summer.
Not many, fortunately.
Back in the 70s (yep – I am getting on) my kids loved them. A safe bet they were natives back then in East Auckland?
One laid eggs on the back of a curtain in a daughter’s bedroom and it was really surprising how many babies came along. Handled with great care and returned to the garden – they were very cute.

[Anonymous]

For a start I googled the pic as I was at work (+ it’s quicker too).

Anyway, they generally peel off the surface fairly easily (apart from the clothing when they do it on you laundry). At this point, just squash it.

I believe if the eggs are exposed to the air, they don’t develope

Problem is, it’s hard to tell the native from the Springbok one’s at this stage.

[Charlotte]

No Trisha thank goodness!! West Lynn has a problem with them.
I don’t like them much, never have really;-((

Char

[Anonymous]

Have you got them there, Char. I haven’t looked yet this season.
They happen on fence posts, esather boards etc.
My problem is I used to like mantis a lot before I grew Monarchs. They do good in the garden.
Finding a balance is hard.
Trisha

[Charlotte]

Good pic Rob of the egg nests. How do you remove them and like Trisha says what do we do with them?;-))

Char

[Anonymous]

And what do you do with the egg nests?

[Anonymous]

Winter’s a good time to remove the egg nests.

A picture at;

[Charlotte]

Someone else will have to do that for me Gill;-)) I cant touch them.LOL.

Char

[Gilly]

Put them in a box and send them to me Flutterfys… Pav LOVES them!

[Author]

Replies