A praying mantis suddenly appearing in your home or garden can be a startling sight. These insects are instantly recognizable by their specialized forelegs held in a posture that suggests prayer. While the instinct may be to eliminate the insect, the praying mantis is a fascinating and beneficial part of the ecosystem that warrants a safe, non-lethal approach for relocation. This guide focuses on humane methods to move the mantis from unwanted locations.
Are Praying Mantises Dangerous?
The formidable appearance of a praying mantis often leads to concerns about safety. These insects pose virtually no threat to humans or household pets. Praying mantises are not venomous and do not transmit diseases through bites or stings.
The two spiked front legs, known as raptorial legs, are specialized tools used for ambush hunting and securing insect prey. A mantis might pinch or deliver a non-venomous bite if handled roughly, but such instances are extremely rare and cause only minor irritation. They attempt to avoid contact with anything much larger than themselves.
Safe and Humane Indoor Removal
Finding a mantis inside the home requires a calm strategy for safe transfer back outside. The most effective method is the “cup and card” technique, which minimizes contact and prevents injury. You will need a clear, wide-mouthed container, such as a glass or jar, and a piece of stiff paper or thin cardboard.
Carefully place the container over the mantis, ensuring the rim is flush against the surface. A container at least twice the size of the insect is recommended to avoid crushing its limbs. Once trapped, slowly slide the stiff card between the container’s rim and the surface, completely covering the opening.
Maintain firm pressure on the card as you gently lift the inverted container, keeping the mantis secured inside. Take the captured insect outside to an appropriate release location, ideally in a garden or near a dense shrub. Tilt the jar toward the ground and remove the card, allowing the mantis to crawl or fly out naturally.
Encouraging Them to Leave the Garden
While indoor sightings are resolved with relocation, managing a mantis in a specific garden area requires deterrence through habitat modification. Praying mantises are ambush predators, establishing themselves in locations that offer dense cover and a high volume of potential prey. They are drawn to plants that attract smaller insects, such as those in the rose family or flowering herbs like dill and lavender.
To encourage a mantis to move away from a specific plant, such as a hummingbird feeder or beneficial pollinators, you must disrupt its preferred hunting environment. Physically removing the mantis and relocating it several yards away to a dense, peripheral area is the most direct humane method. This forces the insect to establish a new territory where prey is less concentrated.
Avoid the widespread use of broad-spectrum insecticides, as these eliminate the mantis’s food source and can also harm the mantis itself. Focus on reducing the local concentration of small prey insects near the areas you want to protect. You can also temporarily remove any structures, such as ornamental trellises or tall annuals, that the mantis uses as a long-term hunting perch.
The Value of Mantises as Natural Pest Controllers
The emphasis on humane removal is supported by the mantis’s significant ecological role as a natural pest controller. Praying mantises are generalist predators with a wide-ranging carnivorous diet. They consume a variety of insects considered pests, including grasshoppers, flies, mosquitoes, and smaller caterpillars.
Younger mantises, or nymphs, are effective at controlling soft-bodied pests like aphids and thrips early in the season. As they mature, they target larger insects, helping to keep the overall insect population in check without chemical intervention. Their presence is often considered an indicator of an active, healthy, chemical-free environment.
While they are indiscriminate hunters and may occasionally prey on beneficial insects like bees or butterflies, their overall contribution to pest management is substantial. Their predatory behavior helps maintain a natural balance, making them a valuable ally in organic gardening.