Mantis religiosa

The bluff is a large mix of native, exotic, invasive, thriving, dying, and just-trying-to-exist plants, animals, fungi, and insects. It’s sort of wild, but it also reflects decades of human intervention, both good and bad. Rose City Bluff Restoration tries not to tame it but to create a semblance of what it might have been when it really was wild. So here we have a European mantis photographed last week on the bluff. It has the perfect scientific name, Mantis religiosa. It’s introduced, not native. Mantis egg cases continue to be sold to gardeners, which seems like a really bad idea to us. You can get them through Amazon. It has a bad rep for eating bees. We come down hard on the side of native plants and pollinators, but should we give a pass to this religiosa? Comments and opinions are welcome.

1 Comment

  1. Unknown's avatar Julie Griswold says:

    vote for catching/ keeping them as pets in captivity or sadly killed. They are otherwise remarkable.

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