THE ALIEN MANTIS PROJECT AT A GLANCE
WHAT IS THE ALIEN MANTIDS PROJECT?
The Alien Mantis Project is a citizen science project for the study, monitoring and education on allochthonous mantids species, focused mainly in Italy and promoted by Italian researchers, but without neglecting the European context and the whole international situation. This site is therefore in Italian but if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us from anywhere else!
WHO ARE WE?
The Alien Mantis Project is carried out by an informal working group of Italian scholars and researchers, academic and independent, taxonomists and biologists working in the field of research on mantids, on their biogeography and ecology in relation to the impacts of alien species in Italy and abroad. It is non-profit and advocates only on scientific matters. If you would like to collaborate with us or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!
ALIEN MANTIDS IN ITALY
The natural landscape of mantids in Italy has changed profoundly in recent years. In addition to the well-known Mantis religiosa, a dozen other species are naturally present in this country, mostly small, uncommon and very elusive mantids, whose knowledge is still quite incomplete.
In 2011, another large mantis species appeared on a small Sardinian island: the African Giant Mantis (Sphodromantis viridis), and in the following years our research group confirmed its stable presence in Sardinia. Its arrival is presumably artificial from neighboring Spain, but the population dynamics of this booming species in the Mediterranean are complex and still not well defined.
In the same years another giant mantis makes its way to the Balkans; this time it is the Asian Giant Mantis (Hierodula tenuidentata). This mantis was known for the Caucasus as Hierodula transcaucasica, but in recent years it has been synonymised with Hierodula tenuidentata. Having moved from the Balkans to the Greek islands, this species appears in Italy probably in 2016 and is currently well present in the lower Po Valley and most of the northern and central regions of Italy. Almost in the same years, another species appears in Europe, first in Provence in 2013 and in Italy in 2015, is the far Asian: Indochinese Giant Mantis (Hierodula patellifera), which is now distributed throughout most of northern Italy.
IS THIS A PROBLEM?
The rapid spread of these exotic, alien species in an environment such as ours raises important questions of ecology and conservation. What will be their impact on our ecosystems? Will they compete with native species? Will they feed on native fauna, or could they limit the spread of other alien species (such as the Asian stinkbug for example)?
WHAT WE DO?
To answer these questions, the Alien Mantis Research Project was born, whose primary goal is to understand the population dynamics of these new species. The research team behind it consists of entomologists, naturalists, and specialists in this insect group and is always open to new collaborations. The first step, which is also the one that has allowed us to understand its early developments, is participatory monitoring, or citizien-science. This site collects what is the scientific information so far known about these species in Italy to enable their identification and a form for reporting their presence.
Visit the Italian site and learn more