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469-333-TURFThe Praying Mantis is a tad frightening at a first glance, especially in its adult stages, but by all accounts, these mantids are considered beneficial insects in a flower / vegetable garden. However, since mantids can feed on almost all types of insects and even small wildlife, many Texan homeowners consider them vicious pests one needs to get rid of. Attracting and caring for praying mantids in your garden certainly requires some skill and some vigilance, our pest control Waxahachie, TX experts consider, emphasizing on the benefits of the mantids as natural pest hunters.
In case you didn’t make up your mind about mantids and their entertainment vs. deterrence, let’s hear what our pest control Waxahachie, TX experts have to say about this amazing and curious creature!
Praying mantids are carnivorous insects and they make fierce hunters throughout summer and especially fall (when they reach adulthood and impressive sizes – about 2/5 to 12 inches in length). Some gardeners have mixed feelings about the mantids as they can feed on many living creatures besides your common garden pests:
Following the principles of organic and sustainable lawn care and landscaping, many gardeners make an effort to attract and preserve pollinators and beneficial insects around. To their dismay, the praying mantis doesn’t discriminate very well between beneficial insect and garden pest. This is one of the reasons people don’t feel comfortable with entertaining the mantids on their properties. Besides, while they don’t look too scary in their nymph and young stages in spring and summer, come fall and their adult shape, size and behavior can kill a sensitive person’s appetite.
People more tolerant with the mantids say these insects are great garden pets: they help reduce and even exterminate large pest populations including aphids, flies, moths, leafhoppers, mice and other creepy crawlies that usually lurk on all Texan properties. From this point of view, gardeners revere the mantis, as it is an excellent pest predator, it can move its head side to side at a 180 degree angle – making it a funny, special and quite enjoyable creature that seems to be looking or listening to you –, and it can be easily attracted and contained in its adult stages.
Our pest control Waxahachie, TX specialists consider praying mantids to be beneficial insects provided you keep an eye on them and don’t let them feed on pollinators or other companion insects. In order to do so, you can attract them to your garden and keep them there. The praying mantis loves flowers, especially the rose and the rose and the raspberry families. It also needs tall, shady grasses to hide, and shrubberies offering it shelter.
Spring and summer are the hardest seasons, as nymphs and young mantids seem to roam around your property undetected, but adult mantids are easy to be seen and released in those parts of the property where they are allowed to thrive. They need bugs and pests to feed on, foliage plants to hide and no other predators to fear.
If you see praying mantids around your property and still don’t know what to do about them, call your pest control Waxahachie, TX pros to help you make an informed decision.
