EGG-HATCH PHENOLOGY AND INTRAGUILD PREDATION BETWEEN 2 MANTID SPECIES

Relative timing of egg hatch between two co-occurring, congeneric mant ids, Tenodera angustipennis and T. sinensis, was experimentally manipu lated in replicated field enclosures to test the importance of intragu ild predation to survivorship and development of T. angustipennis. T. angustipennis is normally smaller than its congener because of later e gg-hatch. Delaying introduction of T. sinensis relative to normal egg hatch phenology reduced mortality for T. angustipennis, but did not af fect its rate of development. The results indicate that intraguild pre dation by normally earlier-hatching T. sinensis can be an important fa ctor in the early life history of T. angustipennis, but that interspec ific competition is not a strong selective factor in developmental asy nchrony between these two species.