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Praying mantis are beautiful insects with a
voracious appetite, and a
delight to have in the garden. Being strictly carnivorous, they'll eat
almost
any insect of a size they can catch. Quietly waiting in ambush, when
the unsuspecting prey comes wandering they lash out in a vicious attach
going straight for the victoms neck!
Each praying mantis egg case will hatch
about 200-400 eggs. In order to hatch they'll need several days or
weeks of warm weather, to sence that spring (and lunch) has arrived.
Attach
the egg cases to a twig or plant about a foot or two off the ground
where there's
cover to protect the young. When hatching, the young crawl from between
tiny
flaps in the cases and hang from silken threads about 2" below the
case.
After drying out, the long-legged young disperse into the vegetation
leaving no
evidence of their appearance. This happens within an hour or two, and
it's very
difficult to know hatching has occurred unless the elusive, well
camouflaged
young are found. (The egg case does not change appearance in any way.)
If you'd
like to see when the mantis have hatched, place the egg cases in a
paper bag,
fold the top and seal shut with a paper clip or clothes pin. Place the
bag on a
window sill in direct sunlight. Periodically open the bag carefully,
and when
you see tiny mantids running around inside, take them outside and
sprinkle them
throughout the garden. Be patient - sometimes it takes up to eight
weeks of
warm weather for them to hatch.
On the other hand I have had some hatch in
the mail. one of my customers ordered egg cases over the
Christmas holiday. The holiday slowed the mail down and they
arrived just after Christmas. The Customer had for gotten she had
ordered them for her boyfriend. When they finally opened the package ,
hundereds of tiny Mantids came crawling out. She said "it looked like
something out of a freaking horor flick!" Be careful when you
order these to put them quickly into the chiller until spring.
Once hatched, praying mantis begin feeding
on small insects, such as aphids.
Later on, they'll continue advancing up to larger and larger prey. By
summer's
end, praying mantis can reach several inches in length. In the fall,
females
produce more eggs, deposited in a frothy secretion that hardens to
protect the
eggs from predators and severe winter climates. Egg cases are attached
to
twigs, leaves, fences, etc. Several egg cases may be laid before cold
winter
finally sets in. This new generation of praying mantis will hatch when
warm
weather returns, to repeat the process.
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