Mantis Egg-Case and its Origin...

  seminal trace...Mantis Egg-Case Extract.Otheca Mantidis.Egg Case of Tenodera sinensis Saussure.Statilia maculata Thunb.Hierodula patellifera....

   Basic Botanical Data Info:

 Latin: Ootheca Mantidis
 Pharmaceutical Name:Ootheca Mantidis
 Botanical Name:Tenodera sinensis Saussure,Statilia maculata (Thunb.),Hierodula patellifera (Serville)
 Common Name:Mantis Egg Case,Praying Mantis Egg Case
 Source of Earliest Record:Shennong Bencao Jing
 Part Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations:Whole Prepared Egg Case,The egg case is collected in late autumn or spring, and then boiled or steamed and dried in the sun.
 Pinyin:Sang Piao Xiao
 Atmospheric Energy:Neutral
 Taste:Sweet and salty
 Organ Meridian Systems
 Liver and Kidney
 Primary Functions:Astringent, tonify Kidney Yang
 Varieties and Grading:Fresh looking, whole egg casings are best.

 

 Basic Botanical Data Info:
 Quality and Origin:
 Properties and Functions:
 Primary Combinations and Indications:
 Applications:
 Suggestions and Administrations:
 Modern Researches:
 Research Update:Mantis Egg-Case


   Botanical Description:

  Qualities: The egg casing of the Preying Mantis is a very useful Kidney/Liver tonic use primarily to conserve essence while building Yang. It is one of the Kidney Yang herbs most suitable and beneficial to women. It is often found in women's formulas where Kidney Yang is deficient manifesting in sluggishness, obesity, low sexual drive, infertility and premature aging. Many women claim that Mantis Egg Case is a female sexual stimulant.

  Origin:

 This is the egg case (Ootheca) of paratenodera sinensis Saussure and Statieia maculata Thunb., or mantis religiosa L., or Hlerodula patellifera Serville of the family Mantidae.

 Mantis refers to any of various predatory long-bodied large-eyed insects of the family Mantidae, primarily tropical but including a few temperate zone species, usually pale green and having two pairs of walking legs and powerful grasping forelimbs. The mantis feeds on live insects, including others of its own kind.

 Although the female mantis has the habit of eating the male after mating, its name suggests a more benign activity. Mantis is from the Greek word mantis, meaning ¡§prophet, seer.¡¨ The Greeks, who made the connection between the upraised front legs of a mantis waiting for its prey and the hands of a prophet in prayer, used the name mantis to mean ¡§the praying mantis.¡¨ This word and sense were picked up in modern Latin and from there came into English, being first recorded in 1658. Once we know the origin of the term mantis, we realize that the species names praying mantis and Mantis religiosa are a bit redundant.

 Egg-case of mantis has been used by the Chinese as an astringent drug for hundreds of years. Mantis is produced in most parts of China. From the late autumn to the spring of the following year, it is collected after removal of the twigs and soil. The died ovum, killed by placing in the boiled water or steaming, is dried in the sunlight. It can be used unprepared or cut into pieces before frying for later use.


   Properties and Functions:
 

  Properties: Sweet, astringent and salty in flavor, mild in nature; it is related to the liver and kidney channels.Sweet, astringent and salty in flavour, neutral in nature, it is tropistic to the liver and kidney channels. Its astringent flavour can string and the salty taste can act on the kidney. As a sweet, neutral and moist remedy astring, it can replenish the kidney and support Yang, preserve essence and reduce urination, serving to treat symptoms of lumbago and spermatorrhea due to insufficiency of kidney-qi and debility of the lower-jiao.

  Functions&Effects:

  To tonify the kidneys and strengthen yang: Nourish the kidney, suplement yang, preserve qi and alleviate polyuria (excessive secretion of urine). Tonifying the kidney, supplementing Yang, preserving essence and alleviating polyuria.

  To control essence and decrease urination: The astringent flavor of the mantis egg-case can draw matters together and the salty taste can act on the kidney. As a sweet, mild and moist astringent remedy, it can replenish the kidney and support yang, preserve qi and reduce urination, serving to treat symptoms of lumbago and spermatorrhea due to deficiency of kidney-qi and debility of the lower-jiao.

 

   Primary Combinations and Indications:

  1.Deficient yang of the kidneys manifested as seminal emissions, nocturnal enuresis or leukorrhea: Use with Dragon's bone (Longgu), Oyster shell (Muli), Dadder seed (Tusizi) and Psoralea fruit (Buguzhi). Dragon bone and Oyster shell and Cuscuta seed and Psoralea to tonify Kidney yang and to prevent seminal emissions

  2. For insufficiency of kidney-yang with deficiency cold of the lower-jiao, spermatorrhea and cloudy urine, impotence and premature ejaculation: it is used with herbs for tonifying the kidney and supporting Yang, consolidating the kidney and preserving essence such as Cornu Cerri Pantotrichum, Radix Morindae Officinalis, Semen Astagali Complanati, Fructus Schisandrae, Corex Eucommia ulmoides oliv. , etc.

  3. For insufficiency of kidney-yang with deficiency-cold of the lower-jiao and frequent urination:  it is used with herbs for warming the kidney to reduce urine shuch as Radix Linderae, Rhizoma Dioscoreae, Fructus Alpiniae Oxyphyllae, Fructus Psoraleae, etc.

  4. Deficiency Kidney yang and blood of women: it often used combinations with Dang Gui, Schizandra, Placenta and Cynomorium to tonify Kidney yang and blood in women.


   Applications:
 

  1. For deficiency of the kidney-yang with deficiency-cold of the lower-jiao, spermatorrhea and cloudy urine, impotence and premature ejaculation:

 Mantis egg-case is used with herbs for nourishing the kidney and supporting yang, consolidating the kidney and preserving qi such as Cornu Cerri Pantotrichum, Radix Morindae

 Officinalis, Semen Astragali Complanati, Fructus Schisandrae, Cortex Eucommia ulmoides oliv., etc.

  2. For deficiency of the kidney-yang with deficiency-cold of the lower-jiao and frequent urination:

 Mantis egg-case is used with herbs for warming the kidney to reduce urine such as Radix Linderae, Rhizoma Dioscoreae, Fructus Alpiniae Oxyphyllae, Fructus Psoraleae, etc.

 

   Suggestions and Administrations:

  Dosage and Administration: 3-10 g.

  Contraindications: Like all Yang tonics, this herb should be avoided when their is a deficiency of Yin and an excess of Fire. It should also be avoided when there is heat in the urinary bladder manifesting as frequent urination.

  Cautions: This substance is contraindicated in cases with deficient yin with excessive fire, or heat in the urinary bladder with frequent urine.

  Toxicity: The LD50 of the three species of Ootheca Mantidises are all over 320 g/kg.Reference:Comparison of pharmacological studies on ootheca Mantidis.Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi. 1997 Aug;22(8):496-9 inside back cover.Tan Z, Lei Y, Zhang B, Huang L.Sichuan Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Chongqing.


   Modern Researches:

 Praying Mantis egg cases are available from January through April (or while our supplies last). The hatching period is in the Spring months, earlier in the warmer Southern states, and as late as June in the Northern United States. The eggs hatch out when the weather becomes warm and their insect prey becomes available.

 After hatching, the baby mantises, also known as nymphs, emerge from the egg case and float to the ground. They resemble large mosquitoes when young and are very difficult to see as they blend easily with plant life. Through Spring and Summer, they shed their skins many times. They vary in color and are gray, green, and pinkish, but they usually darken with age. Their color is a natural camouflage - it fools even other insects.

 Praying Mantises have an enormous appetite and never seem to get enough to eat. In their young stages, they eat aphids, flies, small caterpillars, and other soft-bodied insects. As they grow, they start to eat larger insects. With plenty to eat, the Chinese species, and especially the females, sometimes grow to five inches. The female usually eats the smaller male after mating. They are carnivorous, or "meat eaters," and do not eat vegetation.

 The Mantises vary from Ladybugs in that they lay in wait for their prey and when it is close enough, snap it up with a lightning movement of their strong forelegs. Ladybugs are constantly on the prowl searching for food. Mantises seldom eat Ladybugs due to a bitter taste. However, when hungry enough, they even eat each other!

 Mantises are poor at flying and walk slowly. If they have plenty to eat, they usually stay close to where they were born. With plenty to eat, the female lays eggs in the Fall and the egg cases can stand severe Winter climates, hatching the following Spring. She may lay several egg cases in different locations.

 These insects are very ferocious looking creatures, but are harmless to humans. If handled properly, they do not bite. Do not pick them up behind the forelegs. They can become tame enough to be pets and will sometimes eat insects from your fingers. The mantis is the only known insect that can turn its head to look over its shoulder. Nature places the strong forelegs in a position to remind one of praying. From this they derive their name.

 When Your Egg Case Arrives:

 Remove the egg case from the small 1 oz. vial. Wash out the larger 8 oz. vial and let dry. Place the egg case in the large vial and cap. If you wish to use a larger container, make sure that it is vented but screened. When the mantises hatch, they are very tiny and may escape from a poorly secured environment.

 At a room temperature of 67 to 78 degrees, they should hatch in 3 to 6 weeks. When they hatch, it is suggested that you release all but 3 or 4 of them within the first two days as they need to forage for food. For those you keep, be prepared to find very small insects such as aphids to feed them. They are voracious eaters and grow quickly when provided with adequate food. They will get their water from these insects.

 Praying Mantis Egg Case

 The egg casing of the Preying Mantis is a very useful Kidney/Liver tonic use primarily to conserve essence while building Yang. It is one of the Kidney Yang herbs most suitable and beneficial to women. It is often found in women's formulas where Kidney Yang is deficient manifesting in sluggishness, obesity, low sexual drive, infertility and premature aging. Many women claim that Mantis Egg Case is a female sexual stimulant.


  Scientific References:

  1.Mantis Egg-Case and its Origin...