Thread: Orthodera novaezealandiae

Hey. I've been following this guy for a few weeks now. He (no confidence it is actually he or she but I've named him Murray) lives on my mandarin tree in the garden. I first found him moulting under a leaf. I've had a soft spot for our native mantis as we have a lot of South African or Springbok mantis (Miomantis caffra) around which I will kill on the spot. They are larger and will breed with our native to effectively breed them out. The NZ mantis is quite different with the spots on their front forelegs and a flattened thorax which is quite distinctive from the SA version. To the best of my knowledge they also are better lovers where the female will not often eat the male 😆 after doing the deed.
They are pretty voracious and will eat most insects. I've feed him a couple vine hoppers which was quite a trick. I check on him most mornings to see how he's going.