This species and several other varieties of preying mantises are not well studied. More research would be beneficial.
If pesticides are used, the mantis has no way to protect itself from the chemicals and also its food supply diminshes.
This mantis species eats pest insects. The praying mantis has a very large appetite, leading many people to use them to control insects in their gardens.
Like other praying mantises, this species is a strictly carnivorous predator that feeds primarily on live arthropods. It eats grasshoppers, cockroaches, houseflies, blowflies,wasps, buterflies, moths and spiders. This mantis tends to concentrate on the species that is most abundant in its territory. It is also able to prey on an animal that is the same size as itself.
O. novaezealandiae is native only to New Zealand.
Biogeographic Regions: australian (Native ); oceanic islands (Native )
This species prefers shrubland and land that is open. It uses leafy vegetation for camouflage and as a position to capture prey. It gets all of it water needs from its prey and from water caught in leaves.
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; forest
Mass is not available. Body length for the species varies between 3.5-4.5 inches. The head of the mantis is triangular with large well developed compound eyes, which are far apart to allow the best possible binocular vision. Though these eyes are well developed and the positioning is optimal, these mantises have a peculiar blind spot which affects the recognition of the prey. The mantis is well designed for to be a predator. Its front legs are long and are armored with spines that are extremely sharp and that can be used as daggers. As in most insects, there is a size difference between females and males. In this species, as in most praying mantises, the female is larger. In this species, the wings are different in the "development of the archedictyon and the absence of cross-veins in the forewing". (Ramsay. 1990)
Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Mating occurs and eggs are produced in the autumn. Although the female of some species of praying mantises is known for eating the head of its mate after copulation, this rarely occurs in this species and when it does, it may be an artifact of captivity. The egg sacks (oothecae) are deposited on flat open surfaces between Febuary and continue through to April . Laying can take between 3-5 hours. The female produces between 2-5 egg sacks which hold between 5-70 eggs each. The mantis passes the winter in the egg stage and is triggered to emerge by warming spring temperatures. When the nymphs emerge in the spring, all the hatchlings hatch within 11 days of each other. Nymphs pass through six stages (instars). Each stage lasts between 10-15 days and it can take between 3-6 months before the mantis is mature.
Orthodera novaezealandiae, (Māori: whe)[1] known as the New Zealand mantis or the New Zealand praying mantis, is a species of praying mantis which is, as both the scientific name and common names suggest, indigenous and endemic to New Zealand.[2][3][4][5][6]
O. novaezealandiae nymphs are pale, translucent green with a dark stripe running from head to end of abdomen. As adults, they are bright green and grow to between 35 mm and 40 mm in length.[6](see note [7]) As in most mantis species, sexual dimorphism means the female is larger.[4][6]
The New Zealand mantis has a triangular head with slightly oversized compound eyes that give it excellent binocular vision (although they do have a blind spot). Its wings differ from those of other species in the "development of the archedictyon and the absence of cross-veins in the forewing".[4][6]
"A very active little Mantis",[6] O. novaezealandiae is well adapted as a predator. Its specialized forelimbs are long and equipped with extremely sharp spikes to trap prey.[4] Blue eyespots on the underside of the insect's forelegs helps in differentiating this species from Miomantis caffra, an introduced species from South Africa that became established in New Zealand during the 1970s.[2][5][8][1]
The ootheca of the New Zealand mantis has eggs arranged in two rows, quite different from the messier egg mass of Miomantis caffra. Oothecae are generally arranged facing north towards the sun, on the warm faces of branches and tree trunks.[9]
O. novaezealandiae prefer open, shrubby terrain where its similarity to leafy vegetation may be used as camouflage to ambush prey. It can reach high numbers in the branches of small manuka and kanuka trees in open meadow-like habitats where grass-dwelling prey such as small moths are abundant. It hides well from predators and is near or at the top of the invertebrate food chain in its habitat. As an endemic species of New Zealand that eats pests and has a very large appetite, O. novaezealandiae is a beneficial insect to those involved in agriculture and they are used in many gardens.[4][10]
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] Male O.novaezealandiae appear to be attracted to females of the introduced species M. caffra, which can result in their fatality due to the sexually-cannibalistic behavior of the latter species.[12]
The only two species of mantis in New Zealand are this native species and the previously mentioned introduced species M. caffra discovered as established in the Auckland suburb of New Lynn in 1978. O. novaezealandiae is taxonomically very close to, and has sometimes been considered conspecific and synonymous with, the Australian species O. ministralis.[2][3]
The New Zealand mantis is bred in captivity.[6][13] Special care must be taken to prevent this small, quick-moving species from escaping. Nymphs are especially fast and can leap relatively far as well. It can be kept at room temperature (25–30 °C or 77–86 °F) but does prefer warmth. Their enclosure should be sprayed with water a few times a week, and when they are young their enclosure should be kept at around 50%–60% humidity. Captive O. novaezealandiae can be fed on a diet of small crickets and flies.[6] Nymphs can be reared easily on fruitflies such as Drosophila melanogaster.
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{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Orthodera novaezealandiae, (Māori: whe) known as the New Zealand mantis or the New Zealand praying mantis, is a species of praying mantis which is, as both the scientific name and common names suggest, indigenous and endemic to New Zealand.
