poppy Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 Anyone here ever deliberately release praying mantises in their yard for bug control ? How did it go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 Following! We are trying to hatch some right now. I'm only a little afraid they'll escape the enclosure and invade the house when they erupt from their pod! Eek. But releasing them is the plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kebo Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 (edited) Yes, we did it. Hundreds of tiny babies -- they were weirdly cute! Unfortunately after a few weeks we really couldn't find them anymore. I'm not sure why but I assume birds got them. We had seen a few adults before we hatched them, and every once in a while we see an adult now but we really didn't see the numbers increase. We tried one more time but the egg case never hatched.We had better luck releasing ladybugs when we had a bad aphid problem. They helped the problem considerably before they flew off. Apparently you need to have a good food source available or they just leave. Green lacewings might be another good option to consider, but I've never tried them personally. Edited March 26, 2017 by Kebo 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoVanGogh Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 I have released them many times in my garden but have never seen them hang around. Oddly enough, one time a neighbor - with a bare yard! - commented on how many praying mantis he had been seeing hanging around the back of his house... I do have a lot of birds and lizards so assume it may be dangerous for them in my garden. They are actually considered neutral for pest control. They eat beneficial insects and butterflies as much as bad bugs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 We have done praying mantis and ladybugs. So much fun! Alas, they didn't stick around for us either, so the pest control was negligible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 (edited) I have released them many times in my garden but have never seen them hang around. Oddly enough, one time a neighbor - with a bare yard! - commented on how many praying mantis he had been seeing hanging around the back of his house... I do have a lot of birds and lizards so assume it may be dangerous for them in my garden. They are actually considered neutral for pest control. They eat beneficial insects and butterflies as much as bad bugs. Praying mantises eat the good stuff too? or where you talking about the birds and lizards? I want to do both this year. Edited March 26, 2017 by mommyoffive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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