Species Stagmomantis carolina - Carolina Mantis
Classification Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Mantodea (Mantids)
Family Mantidae
Genus Stagmomantis
Species carolina (Carolina Mantis)
Other Common Names Carolina Mantid Synonyms and other taxonomic changes Stagmomantis carolina ( Johansson, 1763, alt. spelling Johannson, see Remarks) Explanation of Names Original description presumably based on a specimen from the Carolinas. Size Adults are 48-57 mm long (including wings). Identification Head and thorax almost as long as the body. Antennae about half as long as middle legs. Pale green to brownish grey, often inconspicuous on vegetation. Males usually brown, females green or brown. Wings do not extend to tip of abdomen, especially in female. (Females apparently flightless, or nearly so.) Abdomen of female strongly widened in middle. Tegmina (outer wings) are broad, reaching apical third of the abdomen, with a stigmatic (dark) black patch. Range New Jersey south to Florida; west to Utah, Arizona, Texas, and through Mexico to Central America Habitat Meadows and gardens, on herbs, low shrubs, and flower heads. Season Mantids are most commonly seen in late summer and early fall. August-frost (eastern North Carolina). Food Butterflies, moths, flies, small wasps and bees, true bugs and caterpillars. Often considered beneficial, mantids will eat almost anything they can catch and therefore do not differentiate whether their meal is beneficial to man or not. Life Cycle Eggs overwinter and hatch in early spring. Adults are mature by late summer and usually die by winter, however there have been cases of them living longer in Florida (Price 1984, Prete et al 1999). Remarks The Carolina Mantid is the State insect of South Carolina!
The author of this species is obscure. Quoting from the Hunt Institute (see also Biodiversity Heritage Library-- Johansson, Boas), the reference is a Ph.D. dissertation:
Centuria insectorum rariorum. Defended 23 June 1763 by Boas Johansson (1742-1809). Lidén no. 129. TOPIC: Descriptions of 100 rare insect species that were sent to Linnaeus from Carolina and Pennsylvania as well as from Surinam and Java.
There seems to be some disagreement as to whether Boas Johansson or Carolus Linnaeus is the actual author: other species ( Tremex columba, for example) described in the same work have Linnaeus attributed as the author. Print References Arnett, American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico, page 191 (1)
Brimley, Insects of North Carolina, p. 18 (2)
Deyrup, Florida's Fabulous Insects, pages 42-43 (3)
Evans, Field Guide to Insects and Spiders, p. 83 (4)
Helfer, How to Know the Grasshoppers and Allies, p. 33, fig. 51--shows male and female (5)
Lutz, Field Book of Insects, 3rd edition, p. 67, plate 80--female and egg mass (6)
Milne, National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects and Spiders, pages 397-398, plate 302 (7)
Salsbury, Insects in Kansas, p. 80--photos of green and brown phases (8)
Swan and Papp, The Common Insects of North America, p. 69, fig.28--adult and egg case (9)Internet References University of Florida Entomology Dept. PDF key to Florida mantids by P.M. Choate
Herper.com list of mantid species in the U.S., with breakdown of species by state
D.D. Centuria insectorum rariorum, p.13 The original description of the species (in Latin).
Works Cited | 3. | Florida's Fabulous Insects
By Mark Deyrup, Brian Kenney, Thomas C. Emmel |  |
| 8. | Insects in Kansas
By Glenn A. Salsbury and Stephan C. White | |
| 9. | The Common Insects of North America
By Lester A. Swan, Charles S. Papp | |
|
