Travis Wetland Monthly Newsletter August 2017


Travis Wetland Trust

August 19 2017

Workday reminder, August 19 2017

Travis monthly workday, Saturday August 19 2017, 9 am – noon.

Meet at the education center (the old farm house) behind the Beach Rd car park at 9 am.

Bring your own gumboots but don’t worry if you don’t have any we can loan you some.

All gear provided.

We will be working beside the Beach Rd entrance driveway (same place as June)

There will be “morning tea” afterwards for those that want to stay for a chat.

 

Latest News

From the Treasurer

The Travis Wetland Trust financial year starts on 1 July, so membership fees for the 2017-18 year are due. The website now has a membership form you can use to send in your renewal details. We can’t accept online payments by credit card, but if you fill in the page and submit the form the website will email you back with the Trust’s bank account number so you can make an online banking payment. Note that we have a new Kiwibank account, so if you have the Trust’s account number saved from a previous year please make sure you update the number!

Please support the work of the Travis Wetland Trust and renew your membership. Enquiries may be emailed to the treasurer (Dave Evans) at treasurer@traviswetland.org.nz

 

Anne Flanagan

Julie Woodward, Carol Ryan, Deidre Johns

Julie Woodward, Carol Ryan, Deidre Johns

In 1984 a consortium going under the name of Travis Country Estate brought ‘Travis Swamp’ from the Florance family. Their plan was to develop a residential area of about 700 housed on an 80 hectare block. Concerns were raised by residents in the area; issues of loss of habitat for wildlife and flooding fears were raised. Anne Flanagan the vice-president of the North New Brighton Community Council began a long fight to save the wetland from development. The Travis Wetland Trust was set up in 1992 with Anne as its president. A petition was circulated calling for the Christchurch City Council to purchase the land gaining nearly 7000 signatures. David Bellamy, international environmental campaigner and botanist, supported the campaign and personally meet Anne. Sadly, Anne died in 1994 after suffering a long illness. By 1997 the Christchurch City Council had purchased 119 hectares which was gazetted as a nature heritage park. Without Anne’s vision and determination the wetland may have been lost to development.

Some committee members along with Anne Flanagans family members with memorabilia.

Some committee members along with Anne Flanagans family members with memorabilia.

The Travis Wetland Trust had the privilege of members of Anne’s family presenting the Trust with memorabilia from her time as a Community Board member and Travis Wetland Trust President. Julie Woodward and Deidre Johns (a current Travis Wetland Trust Board member) Anne’s Granddaughters and Carol Ryan (Anne’s daughter) presented the Trust with several items; one being a bust of Anne that Hans Muller carved in 1989 in recognition of all the work Anne put into the wetland. The other is a photo of Anne and David Bellamy. The Travis Wetland Trust are thrilled to have these items and the other presented. The photos will be displayed on the walls of the Education center and a special cabinet is to be purchased to display the bust and other memorabilia the Trust holds including the petition.

 

New Zealand Praying Mantis (Orthodera novaezealandiae) and South African Praying Mantis (Miomantis caffra)

The oldest known fossil remains of a mantis so far found is 87 million years old.
This is the Cretaceous period before the extinction of the dinosaurs.
There are currently over 2,400 species known worldwide.
Only two are found in New Zealand.
Of those only one is native, the other is an invader from South Africa that was first found in Auckland in 1978.
Since that time it has steadily made its way south displacing our native as it goes.
This article is about how to identify the two species.

There are 2 main differences in the appearance.

Body shape:

New Zealand Praying Mantis, Orthodera novaezealandiae

New Zealand Praying Mantis, Orthodera novaezealandiae

New Zealand Praying Mantis (Orthodera novaezealandiae)

The area between the front legs is as wide as the head and tapers gradually back to the waist.
They are usually green very rarely yellow.

South African Praying Mantis (Miomantis caffra)

 

The body section between the first two pair of legs is narrower than the head
They are green to pale brown and often larger than the NZ mantis.

South African Praying Mantis, Miomantis caffra

South African Praying Mantis, Miomantis caffra

South African Praying Mantis, Miomantis caffra

South African Praying Mantis, Miomantis caffra

 

Eye patch on the inside of the forelegs:

New Zealand Praying Mantis, Orthodera novaezealandiae

New Zealand Praying Mantis, Orthodera novaezealandiae

New Zealand Praying Mantis (Orthodera novaezealandiae)

The bright blue and purple patch on the inside of its front leg clearly distinguishes it from the South African species.

See the image above for a South African.

Ok so now you know how to tell these two mantids apart.

New Zealand Praying Mantis, Orthodera novaezealandiae

New Zealand Praying Mantis, Orthodera novaezealandiae

Would you like to know the sex of any mantid you find ?
Just count the abdominal segments.
Female mantis generally have 6 and males 8, it’s a good guide for sexing young mantis that you find.

 

 

 

 

Here are a few more comparison facts.

The new Zealand mantis can fly. The SA mantis doesn’t fly.
The female NZ mantis vary rarely eats the male after copulation. The SA female mantis often eats it’s partner.
Generally the NZ mantis can be found on the top side of a leaf. The SA mantis usually will lurk on the underside of a leaf.
The NZ mantis doesn’t overwinter. The SA mantis can overwinter in warmer climates.

 

South African Praying Mantis, Miomantis caffra

South African Praying Mantis, Miomantis caffra

Research:

There has been research done into the pheromone attraction of the NZ mantis male to the SA female.
Not good news for the NZ male,
“Holwell and his colleagues at the University of Auckland in New Zealand have been testing which species is most attractive to male native mantises. Given a choice between females of their own or the invasive species in a Y-shaped maze, the males approached invasive springbok mantises more than 80 percent of the time. Mantis females commonly use pheromones to attract males, and the researchers suggest that the New Zealand and South African species may use the same pheromones. Such interspecies attraction has been seen before in other praying mantises.

Next, the team allowed males and females to mingle on a nice leafy branch. Female springbok mantises ate nearly 40 percent of males of their own species, and nearly 70 percent of native New Zealand males. Males that weren’t eaten tried to mate with the females, more evidence of their attraction. The results are reported November 26 in Biology Letters.”

That’s from
https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/gory-details/cannibalistic-mantis-invades-new-zealand-eats-natives

To finish off lets have a look at the differences in the ootheca of the two species.
Like the mantis they are both easily recognisable.

 

 

New Zealand Praying Mantis, Orthodera novaezealandiae

New Zealand Praying Mantis, Orthodera novaezealandiae

New Zealand Praying Mantis, Orthodera novaezealandiae

A New Zealand Praying Mantis, Orthodera novaezealandiae ootheca.
This has been laid in the lichen Xanthoria parietina

New Zealand Praying Mantis (Orthodera novaezealandiae)

The NZ mantis has a neat darker compact ootheca

South African Praying Mantis (Miomantis caffra)

The SA mantis looks like foam when laid, often with a blueish tinge.
The real give away is the SA mantis has drawn out ends on the ooth.

South African Praying Mantis, Miomantis caffra

South African Praying Mantis, Miomantis caffra

South African Praying Mantis, Miomantis caffra

South African Praying Mantis, Miomantis caffra

 

So where is this all leading to ?
The SA mantis is not widely distributed in the South Island at all, let alone the ChCh region.
They are certainly round the Nelson region.
There are reports of it becoming established at Lyttelton.
Remember they can’t fly so if we can catch them early we can limit their spread.
Currently they are unknown from Travis Wetland.
We do have a population of the NZ mantis here and would like to keep it that way.
If you find any South African mantis there please squish them or if you’re unsure of id let a ranger know or contact the trust via our contact form and let us know where you found them, someone will go and have a look.

 

Latest Images

Travis Wetland Sunset 2017 07 10

Travis Wetland Sunset 2017 07 10

Travis Wetland Sunset 2017 07 10

Travis Wetland Sunset 2017 07 10

Sacred Kingfisher, Halcyon sancta, Kotare

Sacred Kingfisher, Halcyon sancta, Kotare