Like many of you, I’ve been having issues with Spotted Lanternflies destroying my flowers and herbs for the past few seasons. I’ve tried everything from squishing on sight to early season insecticides, and even egg sac hunting. I read that basically nothing predates on this highly invasive, garden destroying pest. Birds find them too bitter to eat, and they proliferate so quickly that they’ll soon be a major problem for all of us into horticulture.
A few days ago, I noticed that the praying mantis that lives in one of my balcony gomphrena displays—whom I’ve lovingly named Norbert—had left his planter and moved all the way over to the brick wall by the door. I then realized he was sneaking up on a spotted lanternfly! I barely had enough time to get out my camera before he’d snatched it off the wall and began ravenously devouring it headfirst. My little green dude left no evidence behind except for the severed little spotted wings that fell to my deck.
Just a few minutes ago, I noticed that Norbert was back in his favorite spot. I also saw a SLF on the other side of the balcony near the identical gomphrena planter, so I knocked it down with the fly swatter and began wondering if I could hand feed it to my buddy. Norbert’s little diamond-shaped head turned and stayed locked onto me as I approached, holding the barely-moving SLF by one wing. Immediately, my lil dude snatched it right out from between my fingers and clocked out for his lunch break. As he was chowing down—I shit you not—I watched as he slowly trained his beady little pupils from looking at the bug to directly at me, as if he was making note of my face or thanking me.
Long story short, here’s the takeaway:
- Praying mantises actively predate on SLF.
- Gomphrena (Globe Amaranth) will attract and make perfect homes for mantises, as their foliage is uncannily similar to the mantis body. The flowers don’t require dead-heading, the blooms are very long lasting, and they’re drought/heat tolerant. You should consider planting it as it could attract a friend of your own like mine did.
- Mantises are available to purchase online, and we should all consider introducing them to our gardens and/or local ecosystems as they are the only thing I’ve ever known to assist us in our efforts to eradicate the SLF.
That’s all for now. Wishing all of you a happy week and at least one confirmed kill. 😏😆
by Objective_Tangelo762
3 Comments
Awesome!! We all need to do what we can and eradicate SLF amd any other invasives
That’s awesome!! Depending on where someone lives, I also recommend researching if another mantis species is native to your area, when planning to buy some. For example the Carolina mantis are sometimes outcompeted by the Chinese mantis, which is not native to the US. But id say that when it comes to invasive lantern flies, an invasive mantis is the lesser of two evils.
That plant is so beautiful, and good work Norbert!!
Incredible photo