Reproductive Natural History of the American Grass Mantid, Thesprotia graminis

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

2024

Abstract

The American grass mantis, Thesprotia graminis, is an understudied mantis native to Texas, including the campus of Texas A&M-SA. Mantids are influential members of the ecosystem as a major predator of small insects. Therefore, measuring maternal investment, timing of oviposition, and fecundity provides important insight into their reproductive natural history. We measured the mass of 1st, 6th, and 7th instar mantids of both sexes and the masses of oothecas (egg cases) pre- and post-hatch. Interestingly, we found that this species lays multiple, progressively smaller oothecas throughout the reproductive season. Using the maternal masses, ootheca masses, and offspring masses, we were able to estimate variation in reproductive investment among females and the average number of offspring produced. Additionally, we documented the size of these species across multiple stages of development. These data represent the majority of the documented knowledge of the reproductive natural history of this small predator.

Comments

Poster Session
BLH Lobby

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS