Hatching Preying Mantids
The other day I wrote about the first baby praying mantis of the season. I was so excited to see one in the garden! But now I’ve got something even better to write about – the arrival of 100 praying mantids!!
In early February I bought a praying mantis egg case in a cup at the CT Flower & Garden Show. It sat in the fridge for three months and in late April I took it out and put it on the kitchen window sill. And there it sat. Doing nothing. Looking exactly the same, day after day. The instructions said the mantids would hatch in 2 to 3 weeks. After 3 weeks, nothing had happened. Four weeks, still nothing. Five weeks. Saw the baby mantis in the garden. Six weeks. Now I was convinced that nothing was going to happen. I was starting to think of just tossing it in the compost bin. Then two days ago I came down for breakfast and almost screamed – 50 critters swarming around in a tiny plastic cup! Yikes! Kind of freaking looking. As I watched, more insects emerged from the egg case. The only visible sign that something had happened was a trail of sawdust-like material hanging from the egg case where the babies emerged. All in all, there were about 100 praying mantids in that tiny little egg case.
As they emerged, they fell to the bottom of the cup and lay flat for a few minutes, bellies pressed to the ground and legs splayed in all directions. Then, slowly, they started to move, appearing to nibble on each leg as they brought it up to their mandibles. Next it was on to the antennae, giving them a quick groom. And then they ‘sat up’ into the classing praying mantis pose, with forelegs held in front. From there, they started exploring the inside of the cup, climbing over each other and making their way up to the top of the cup.
The next morning I took them outside and released them into the garden, scattering them in different sections. Some ended up on the deck railing, where they prompty put their heads down to the wet wood and appeared to be drinking.
Within an hour there was no visible sign of any praying mantids in the garden. Today, I haven’t been able to find any. So now, instead of waiting for them to appear from the egg case, I’ll be waiting for them to grow up and appear in the garden.
