The pet mantis market: a first overview on the praying mantis international trade (Insecta, Mantodea)

Abstract

Praying mantises have recently gained popularity as domestic pets. Moreover, they are increasingly being bred and sold in fairs and pet markets or collected in the wild and reared by amateurs or professional marketers for the hobbyist community. This market is not well known, and its implications on the biology and conservation of these insects are complex and difficult to predict. For this study, a comprehensive survey was submitted to various hobbyists within this community to evaluate their knowledge of these insects and to assess their preferences for certain species characteristics (such as shape, color, behaviors, dimensions, ease of breeding, and rarity) over others. The aggregation of this data allowed for the generation of a formula that is herein proposed to predict targets and developments within the market in order to help identify conservation issues for vulnerable species. Both problems and opportunities of the pet mantis market are discussed, such as the absence of specific regulations or the potential for a stronger collaboration between the market community and scientists.

Analysis of potential niche shifts in alien pairs of mantis species (Insecta, Mantodea) with comments on the current taxonomic and ecological knowledge

“…In addition, there are biases toward some countries for both research efforts (Battiston et al 2022) and presence records. For example, there were almost nine times more observation points for T. sinensis in the United States than in Asia (Table 1).…”

“…Insects are usually introduced in non-native environments by accidental means (e.g., Meurisse et al 2019). Among them, mantises (Mantodea) were probably introduced in different parts of the world by both accidental transportation (Battiston et al 2018, 2020, Moulin 2020, Connors et al 2022) and pet mismanagement (Battiston et al 2022, Connors et al 2022, although the introduction pathway of each species may be different (Battiston et al 2022). Non-native mantises may compete with native Mantodea taxa (e.g., Fea et al 2013) and may also have secondary ecosystem effects, such as feeding on pollinators (Anderson 2019), herbivores, and intra-guild species Evans 2006, Crowder andSnyder 2010).…”

A new species of Microphotina Beier, 1935 from the southernmost region of Amazonia (Mantodea: Photinaidae)

“…In addition to habitat loss and population fragmentation, poaching represents an emergent conservation issue for praying mantises. These insects are part of the (legal and illegal) growing international market of exotic invertebrate pets (Battiston et al 2022). Although Brazilian species are rarely commercialized, they remain vulnerable as deforestation creates new opportunities for poachers to access species from previously inaccessible areas, including natural reserves (Symes et al 2018).…”

“…Although Brazilian species are rarely commercialized, they remain vulnerable as deforestation creates new opportunities for poachers to access species from previously inaccessible areas, including natural reserves (Symes et al 2018). Rare and novel species are attractive targets for wildlife traders (Lindenmayer & Scheele 2017) and praying mantises are no exception (Battiston et al 2022). As the global demand for new-to-market species increases their value, data deficiencies prevent the assessment of the conservation status of virtually all Neotropical taxa, including M. cristalino sp.…”

A big and hairy business: Investigating the interplay of species traits and trade dynamics in the tarantula pet market

“…However, the vast majority of contemporary research on pet trade dynamics and impacts focus on 'charismatic' vertebrate taxa (Bush et al, 2014;Fukushima et al 2020). Many other animals, particularly invertebrates like mantids, beetles, ants, snails, millipedes, and arachnids are traded as pets (Losey et al 2022, Battiston et al 2022, Lassaline et al 2023. Tarantulas (Araneae, Theraphosidae), for example, with their exotic appeal and low maintenance requirements, have gained popularity as pets since the 1970s, leading to the formation of several hobbyist tarantula societies worldwide.…”