Healthy landscapes still have pests

PROVIDED

Young praying mantis being raised by Tony Bertauski.

They live!

My praying mantises hatched. All 150 of them. I would pass out tiny cigars to celebrate, but most of them promptly died. Very sad.

You see, I purchased a praying mantis egg case online. For an insect geek like me, that's like Christmas Eve. Only when the package arrived, the little buggers didn't hatch for eight weeks. I was losing faith and thought I got a dud.

My brother and his family were visiting on the morning they hatched. He and I sat at the table watching the tiny predators crawl out of the case like worms, quickly dry and crawl away. We called the kids to witness this miracle of life. "Ew, they're bugs," one of them said. One of my nephews stayed with us for a bit, but he was bored in 30 seconds.

The little mantises crawled up the side of the netted cage to finish hardening. Insects don't have bones like you and me. They're bodies are rigid on the outside (exoskeleton). This is why certain insects, like cockroaches, crunch when you step on them. In order to grow larger, they will molt the outer shell by crawling out of it. At this point, their new exoskeleton is temporarily soft, allowing them to grow until it hardens again. Insects may molt several times over the course of their lives.

We couldn't name all the praying mantises because they looked identical. Our main problem was feeding them. Praying mantises are predatory, and if live prey is not available, they'll eat each other.

It seems cruel to eat your brothers and sisters, but it's nature's way of supplying food during those crucial early days. I didn't want them to eat each other, so I uncorked a tube of wingless fruit flies that I had purchased with them.

After two days, unfortunately, only 10 praying mantises remained. A day later, there were three. I named them for the three-man rock band Rush — Alex, Neil and Geddy Lee. They remained perched on the side of the cage, but the fruit flies were on the bottom feeding on a banana. Occasionally, I flicked Alex, Neil and Geddy Lee off so they could find food.

Another week went by and Neil had molted (or maybe it was Alex). I found aphids in the backyard and threw them in. It was a praying mantis wonderland. Food aplenty. Then, one morning, Geddy Lee was missing. I searched the bottom, but it was clear that Neil or Alex ate him. They probably got in a fight over an aphid and Geddy Lee lost. Nature doesn't mess around. If you think the Ultimate Fighting Championship is barbaric, at least we don't have to watch Anderson Silva eat his opponent after the fight.

It's been a month and Neil and Alex are doing well. They've each completed a third molt, their discarded exoskeletons hanging on the side of the cage. At some point, they'll be large enough to eat cockroaches. I'll probably release them in my backyard before then. I'd really like to see them establish back there, but that's unlikely. I'll buy more egg cases and keep trying. Insect predators are important to balance insect pests. They won't get rid of them, but they'll reduce them.

Releasing predators into the landscape isn't considered effective because there's no guarantee they'll stay. Instead, good practices such as planting a variety of annuals, perennials, trees and shrubs will ensure a diverse population of insects. Also, reducing pesticide use will keep healthy predator populations. The key, however, is to tolerate a certain number of pests. Healthy landscapes will have their blemishes, but they will be teeming with variety.

You can purchase praying mantises and other predators at http://gardeningzone.com, www.insectstore.com, or www.buglogical.com.

My only hope is that Alex is female. I know it's selfish, but I'd like to have grand-insects one day.

Tony Bertauski is a horticulture instructor at Trident Technical College. To give feedback or request specific column topics, e-mail Tony at tony.bertauski@tridenttech.edu.