Talk:Orthodera novaezealandiae

Life history
Is a life history section possible? Heds (talk) 04:13, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

Photos
I also want something of a nymph and one eating prey at least, so I'm leaving the templates for now. Richard001 (talk) 08:26, 10 March 2009 (UTC)


 * That's a pretty good start, I've taken the request down now. Richard001 (talk) 06:50, 4 April 2009 (UTC)
 * All looks well & good, but in view of Archedictyon, a photo or diagram of its wing venation would be a big plus. Macdonald-ross (talk) 12:29, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

Differences between the New Zealand Mantis and the South African Mantis

 * Note that I have posted a similar message on the Talk:Miomantis caffra page.

It says that the New Zealand Mantis has a blue eyespot on the underside of their forelegs. Shouldn't there be other differences mentioned. Like how the New Zealand ones have fatter necks, while the South African ones have thinner necks.

The South African ones have yellow on their wings which also helps to differentiate them from the New Zealand ones, and although they never have blue eyespots, they sometimes do have tiny little black spots on their legs.

This information can be important to know, since the South African Mantis does sometimes do have tiny little black spots on it's legs. And some people need to know this to avoid confusion with the blue spots, if they are unfamiliar with spotting the difference. ― C.Syde  ( talk  &#124;  contribs ) 04:39, 3 May 2016 (UTC)

Some more references Suggestion
Until I get time to work on this, here are a couple of references that might be useful for rewriting the page. Giantflightlessbirds (talk) 23:18, 30 May 2016 (UTC)
 * Forest and Bird: http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/what-we-do/publications/forest-bird-magazine-article/springbok-invasion
 * NZ Geographic story on them here too. https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/on-a-wing-and-a-prayer/

Suggestions
Suggestion about what to add and also some of the errors or information that is questionable I noticed Entoglitch (talk) 00:39, 28 March 2024 (UTC)

The reo name for the New Zealand mantis is Whē and Rō This is shown in the Te Aka Māori dictionary. Miller (1952) The Insect people of the Maori also mentions these words as both terms for the New Zealand mantis as well as Wairaka which is a term I have only so far seen in older sources.

The temperature in the cultivation section seems unusually high, usually, room temperature is around 20-25 degrees Celsius. I am currently working on a project with mantises and they are reared at 24C and in that temperature, they have shorter lifespans and will eat more than at the lower temps I used (14C). Suckling (1984) Laboratory studies on the praying mantis Orthodera ministralis (Mantodea: Mantidae) did rear Oothecae and nymphs at 25C and 30C with the 30C oothecae hatching faster so if this is to stay it should use this reference but not call it room temperature.

In the ecology section "The New Zealand mantis is vulnerable to the use of pesticides, both directly and through the effects of a diminished food supply, and their ootheca are sometimes attacked by parasitic wasps.[4][11]" - The references for this sentences do not mention the NZ mantis being vulnerable to the use of pesticides directly and through the effects of the diminished food supply. A study by Rankin et al. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fooweb.2023.e00280) on two other mantis species showing the wide range of arthropods that mantises will feed on.