Biology of the Minor Mantid, Litaneutria Minor Scudder (Orthoptera, Mantidae)

Abstract

At the very edge of the Rio Grande Plain where rough country marks the sudden ascent to the Edwards Plateau, Uvalde, Tex., lies just below the Balcones Escarpment. Here two geographic divisions of Texas merge, and a diversity of animal and insect life is represented. Litaneutria minor Scudder, a small mantid common in the dry West, is sometimes encountered here frequenting low rocky ridges sparsely covered with bunch grass. Less often it is found in low flats where mesquite grass predominates.