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Monday, May 21, 2012

Praying Mantis Hatch!

*Sorry I've been absent for a few weeks, between rehabbing my foot, playing catch-up with the gardens, and getting ready for and going on a week long trip to Cape Hatteras, blogging had to take a backseat.

So, where was I...oh yeah! The praying mantises (what is the plural of mantis? mantids? I like the sound of mantises better :) ) finally hatched and I was lucky enough to notice. It happened sometime in the week before last, and being a lover of mantises, it was awesome! There had to be at least a hundred or so of those little micro buggers emerging from that egg case. Although I read they're supposed to disperse and rarely are seen again, I'm still seeing dozens in the surrounding flower beds. I guess all that work making our yard a happy habitat is paying off. By the way, have you noticed more insects this year? (particularly bad ones like earwigs) I sure have, perhaps as a result of our mild winter?

For all you (beneficial) insect lovers out there, feast your eyes upon this...

Getting the camera to focus on the right thing was SO HARD! Here's one squirming out of the egg case.

Look at all those mantises! By the way, they're on a Caryopteris shrub and they are not responsible for the leaf damage you can see here, some other yet to be unidentified bug is.

Totally rad, dude! I wonder what could they possibly be eating since they themselves are so tiny (8-10mm).

4 comments:

  1. AWESOME! Love that second shot swarming with critters! Glad to know what the "hatchery" looks like, too! Thanks for keeping us up to date!

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  2. R K Young, you're welcome! Now I just hope they can avoid the hungry beaks of all the momma and papa birds out there in my yard.

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  3. Oh they are cuties! Congratulations (I feel like I should treat you like a grandma for this).

    Love the bluebird picture at the top of the blog too.

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  4. Ellen, they're definitely cute! Although I'd like to think I'm a bit young to be a granny, my progeny is quite prolific this Spring, lotsa babies everywhere!

    The daddy bluebird in that picture, along with his mate, successfully raised 4 babies already, and they just started work on brood #2. Like I said, prolific!

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