Brunner's Stick Mantis
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''Brunneria borealis'',
common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...
Brunner's mantis, Brunner's stick mantis, or northern grass mantis, is a
species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
praying mantis Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate ...
native to the southern United States. It is the only mantis species known to reproduce solely through
parthenogenesis Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek + ) is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which the embryo develops directly from an egg without need for fertilization. In animals, parthenogenesis means the development of an embryo from an unfertiliz ...
; there are no males.


Description

''Brunneria borealis'' is an elongated green insect with the typical raptorial forelimbs of a mantis. The adults have reduced-size wings and are probably unable to fly. They can grow to a length of about .


Distribution and habitat

''B. borealis'' is native to the southern United States, from the Atlantic Ocean as far west as Texas where it occurs in Bell County, Brazos County, Comanche County,
Erath County Erath County () is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Texas. According to the United States Census bureau its population was 42,545 in 2020. The county seat is Stephenville, Texas, Stephenville. The county is named fo ...
, Montgomery County,
Tarrant County Tarrant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas with a 2020 U.S. census population of 2,110,640, making it the third-most populous county in Texas and the 15th-most populous in the United States. Its county seat is Fort Worth. T ...
, and Parker County probably as separate local populations. It has been recorded in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. At
Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
it was found on flowerheads of the slender aster (''Symphyotrichum subulatum''. At
Cedar Creek, Texas Cedar Creek is an census-designated place (CDP) in Bastrop County, Texas, United States. It is located about west of the city of Bastrop. The community takes its name from Cedar Creek, a tributary of the Colorado River that is close to the ar ...
it was found in meadows of little bluestem grass (''Schizachyrium scoparium'') at night but was unnoticeable by day.


Biology

This mantis does not breed sexually and the adults, which are all female, lay their eggs without the involvement of a male. The clutch of eggs is protected by an
ootheca An ootheca (: oothecae ) is a type of egg capsule made by any member of a variety of species including mollusks (such as '' Turbinella laevigata''), mantises, and cockroaches. Etymology The word is a Latinized combination of ''oo-'', meaning " ...
or egg-case. In most mantis species, each mantis nymph emerges from its own hole in the egg-case, but in this species, one of the ootheca is drawn out into a point and all the nymphs emerge through this. The nymphs are similar to the adults in appearance and go through a series of moults as they grow. Mantises are generally ambush predators, but little is known about the diet of this mantis. It can be found at night about a foot off the ground, climbing higher among the grasses if disturbed. Judging by its size, it most likely feeds on
grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...
s. This species also enjoys eating grass dwelling
phasmatodea The Phasmatodea (also known as Phasmida or Phasmatoptera) are an Order (biology), order of insects whose members are variously known as stick insects, stick bugs, walkingsticks, stick animals, or bug sticks. They are also occasionally referred ...
, which are often slender instead of robust and have few defenses against the mantises. When disturbed, it will sway or stiffen much like a stick insect.


See also

*
List of mantis genera and species The following list of mantis genera and species is based on the "Mantodea Species File", which is the primary reference for the taxonomy shown here. The insect Order (biology), order Mantodea consists of over 2,400 species of mantises in about 460 ...


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4979094 B Mantodea of North America Endemic insects of the United States Fauna of the Southeastern United States Insects described in 1896 Taxa named by Samuel Hubbard Scudder