Is the praying mantis residing in England?

[monkeypoo]

Do these lovely creatures inhabit England's green fields? I have seen spiders on here that I have never seen in the wilds of Leicester so I'm wondering if Mantis also prefer southerners?

I'm going to be moving down to the coast soon as why would anyone prefer to live in the Midlands?

[Dogghound]

No, we dont get them in the UK. There are a number of species that live in southern europe though.

[monkeypoo]

oh that's too bad. I asked because on another UK site they have the Mantis listed but don't say why.

Is there any UK insect that comes close in terms of interesting bahavior? Zebra spiders are great to watch.

[Dogghound]

In my eyes every insect in one way or another has interesting behaviour. There are so many to mention what sort of thing are you interested in?

[monkeypoo]

No worries mate, it was a daft questiuon now I think about it.

[Dogghound]

Well up to you. Although I would recommend watching hunting dragonflies thats pretty good.

[Jason Green]

Originally Posted by monkeypoo

Is there any UK insect that comes close in terms of interesting bahavior? Zebra spiders are great to watch.

I take it you were thinking of other insects that hunt in a similar fashion, such as breaking patient camouflage then springing a front-legged attack? If so, look for camouflaging crab spiders such as Misumina vatia, the Goldenrod Spider. Excellent at fading in with a flowerhead it's on together with the ability to tackle prey bigger than itself. Just look on white or yellow flowers in grassland and if you find one, it may even get a catch in front of you!

As Dogghound said, hunting dragonflies are good to watch too.

[monkeypoo]

Thanks for the suggestions. I don't think I've even ever saw a Crab spider before, although I have looked for them. Dragonflies, I have watched them swooping and catching things on the wing but they are too far away and fast IMO.

I forgot about hover flies, I used to see if one would land on the tip of my finger and sometimes I'd feed them sugar water as a kid.

Ants are always amusing when you spot one carrying off a huge bit of crisp or something that you've dropped.

And Devils Coach Beetles are very impressive in a berserk kind of way.

I'm planning end up somewhere exotic within a year and I'd ideally like to be able to visit the rain forests of South America but that probably would be impossible/too remote.