Disease?

[hadrurus 666]

sorry i am new to the insect part of arachnoboards, but i have recently got a european mantis and was wondering if they carry diseases + why they need to go through quarantine if arriving from another country.

 

[Scythemantis]

All living organisms can suffer from diseases and parasites, but if by "carry" disease you mean something a human can catch, that would be impossible. Insect diseases are pretty rare too. In fact, I've never heard of anyone have problems with them other than beekeepers.

Mites and fungi can also be considered "diseases" and many of them attack insects.

 

[lucanidae]

Hmmmm, if insect disease is so rare I guess I don't need to be taking this course on insect pathology. Actually insect diseases are quite common. Insects also spread a lot of diseases!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Insect-borne_diseases

This link leads to a collection of all the wiki articles on insect borne diseases, most are pretty good. Not that the insect actually causes the disease in most cases, but they do transmit them.

As for your mantis, it shouldn't have anything harmful to humans in/on it. As for the quarantine period if coming from another country....just watch out because you need proper permits to import insects. However, European mantises are common in the U.S. so it isn't likely this one was 'imported' per se.

 

[Scythemantis]

Hmmmm, if insect disease is so rare I guess I don't need to be taking this course on insect pathology. Actually insect diseases are quite common. Insects also spread a lot of diseases!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Insect-borne_diseases

I was talking about insects SUFFERING from diseases, I thought I specifically made that distinction, and I thought that was his whole question: diseases that mantids could die from or give to his other inverts

 

[lucanidae]

Yes, but what I'm saying is insect do suffer from all sorts of ailments and diseases. That's the distinction between medical entomology (study of bug borne illness) and insect pathology (study of insect pathogens/diseases).

Insects, through their diversity in types, numbers, life cycles, and habitats expose themselves to a wide range of pathologies. Whatever goes wrong with an insect may be considered a pathology or disease. This aspect will be expanded on in the following chapters, where we shall discuss the different types of diseases in insects.

This quote is the start of Insect Pathology the comprehensive text book on insect diseases.

It's a little pricey....but in case you are interested:
http://www.amazon.com/Insect-Pathology-Yoshinori-Tanada/dp/0126832552