Mantis Diary 1

As I feared, the unusually warm temperatures have triggered the hatching of some of the praying mantis nymphs. At least two lots hatched today. I had to chase one nymph around a pole to get a shot of it. It was one of two that had just emerged. In the greenhouse I caught sight of another nymph that had just emerged from an ootheca (egg case) that the mother had attached to the underside of a rail. That one escaped very quickly, but I took a photo of the ootheca with all the strings and lids hanging from it. See the extra shot.

Last season I became increasingly involved with my praying mantis population and felt a bit guilty about that. This season will be guilt free, and I intend to go all out mantis, mantis, mantis!

Here I will note my concern that today’s hatchlings are unlikely to survive the next eight weeks of random frosts, let alone the weeding that must be done.