In a now-viral video, a TikToker is calling out the sale of invasive Chinese mantises at garden supply stores, sparking discussion about the popular pest control remedy in the comments.
In the video posted by TikToker Jessie Dickson (@sacramentofoodforest) on June 2, he duets a TikTok posted by a garden supply store that advertises praying mantises as “beneficial bugs” and “pest control.”
“Do not buy these mantis egg sacks. This is a Chinese mantis. That mantis is up to three times the size of a normal mantis,” Dickson says in the clip. “That’s right, they eat hummingbirds, they eat lizards, they eat frogs.”
Text overlay on the video reads, “This is exactly how you destroy an ecosystem. Stop using bug spray and native beneficial insects will come for free.”
@sacramentofoodforest #duet with @territorialseedcompany those beneficial insects you see for sale at garden stores. Are actually the opposite of beneficial. Someone had to say it 😂 #hummingbird #greenscreen #insects #beneficialinsects #preyingmantis #mantis #poaching #wildlife #bug #bugs #hummingbirds #garden #gardening #didyouknow #invasivespecies #invasive #sacramento #sanjose #sanfrancisco #la #california #conservation #birdtok #birds #native #bird #nativespecies #nativetik #eco #environment #fyp #nursery ♬ CONFETTI INSTRUMENTAL – Utkarsh Uppal/Aymen Mohamedali/Shalee Gherbaz
The video is captioned, “Those beneficial insects you see for sale at garden stores. Are actually the opposite of beneficial. Someone had to say it,” and has over 117,000 views as of June 9, with commenters putting garden centers on blast for not educating customers about the invasive insect.
“I really am coming to have an extreme dislike for plant nurseries & garden centres. They prey on ppls lack of knowledge,” one commenter wrote.
“I tried calling a nursery to see if they had Chinese mantis (to be a pet mantis) and they didn’t know what species they had like—,” another said.
According to Pennsylvania-based Brandywine Conservancy, the Chinese mantis is one of the “most prevalent invasive mantis species” in many parts of the U.S., and “poses a threat to our native mantis.”
As an alternative to purchasing insects for their garden, Dickson offered some additional advice in the comments on how to attract native ladybugs to help with pests, writing, “I know if you leave your dead grass for a month or so thousands come move in for free.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Dickson via TikTok comment for comment on this story.
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