Journal Article Laboratory studies on the praying mantis Orthodera ministralis (Mantodea: Mantidae)
D. M. Suckling
Aspects of the biology of the mantid Orthodera ministralis (Fabricius) were studied in the laboratory. Oothecae contained an average of 34 eggs per case, with a mean length of 11.3 mm. Oothecal and nymphal development was temperature dependent, and 6 ins tars were found. Adult female mantids consumed up to 6 large blowflies (Calliphoridae) in 6 hours, with a mean of 2.5 flies per female, and up to 26 Musca domestica (L.) in 3 hours, with a mean of 17.5 flies per female. Cannibalism among 3rd and 4th instar nymphs was highly significantly (p < 0.01) reduced by the presence of Drosophila melanogaster (Meig.), and highly significantly increased (p < 0.01) at the higher mantid density. Cannibalism by 4th instar nymphs on 1st ins tar nymphs was very highly significantly (p<0.001) reduced by the presence of D. melanogaster and a complex environment, and very highly significantly (p<0.001) increased by a higher 1 st instar density.
