So I saw this on my tree this weekend and wondered what the hell it was in case in was the cocoon of a bad insect. I used an identification app and it is the egg sac of a Praying Mantis. Each sac has over 100 eggs and she lays them now, after she ate the head off her mate, as she will die in the first frost. In Spring, hundreds on baby Praying Mantises will emerge. Pretty cool and thought I would share in case anyone sees one and wonders what it is. I later found her laying another one.

Wow! She got some real mileage out of that head meal!

RMD

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rduckwor,

I've been wanting to get some for around my place to keep the bugs down, but I understand that they can play hell with bee hives...and I'd rather have the bees.

Obviously, there are different species of mantid. Most of the egg sacs I see around here look like balls of brown/gray foam. When I was a kid, I'd stick these in a plastic bag and wait for the tiny mantids to hatch out and start eating each other. Also big fun to dump the freshly hatched little dudes and dudettes on an aphid-infested rose bush and watch them go to town!

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Originally posted by architect:
Obviously, there are different species of mantid. Most of the egg sacs I see around here look like balls of brown/gray foam. When I was a kid, I'd stick these in a plastic bag and wait for the tiny mantids to hatch out and start eating each other. Also big fun to dump the freshly hatched little dudes and dudettes on an aphid-infested rose bush and watch them go to town!

That's pretty interesting, you were a biologist at heart. I wonder how many dude's heads she had to eat before she finished up her lifecycle. If praying mantis's were 6 feet long, my guess is we'd have more of a problem on our hands. Those guys always remind of of a scifi thriller monster movie. They are fascinating creatures. I always give them wide berth, it's like they're thinking about snatching your head off when they stare at you. They probably are.

Cool pics. I see them around here once in a while but have never seen an egg patch.

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Originally posted by Bassamatic:
Cool pics. I see them around here once in a while but have never seen an egg patch.

I have now found six sets of egg sacs so far and I bet she lays more. I am going to have a ton of Praying Mantises running around come Spring!

I love it!

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Originally posted by wrightd:

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Originally posted by architect:
Obviously, there are different species of mantid. Most of the egg sacs I see around here look like balls of brown/gray foam. When I was a kid, I'd stick these in a plastic bag and wait for the tiny mantids to hatch out and start eating each other. Also big fun to dump the freshly hatched little dudes and dudettes on an aphid-infested rose bush and watch them go to town!

That's pretty interesting, you were a biologist at heart. I wonder how many dude's heads she had to eat before she finished up her lifecycle. If praying mantis's were 6 feet long, my guess is we'd have more of a problem on our hands. Those guys always remind of of a scifi thriller monster movie. They are fascinating creatures. I always give them wide berth, it's like they're thinking about snatching your head off when they stare at you. They probably are.

The Deadly Mantis. 1957

I remember watching that when I was a kid.

Pretty cool find. Prior to this post, had I seen one I would have smashed it. Thanks for letting me know, so I can keep them alive!

Really interesting! Would you be willing to update this post with pics once they start to hatch?
That’d be nuts.

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Originally posted by irreverent:
Really interesting! Would you be willing to update this post with pics once they start to hatch?
That’d be nuts.

I plan to try to catch when they hatch. They say that after about two weeks of warm weather after Winter is when they will emerge.

We had a nest in the Christmas tree we cut down a few years ago. Of course we did not realize it until it hatched and we had about 40 baby praying mantis' running around the house. That was fun.

I did not know that’s what those are. Thanks!

We have a lot of them around here and I love watching them. Fascinating creatures. I read that Robert Patrick studied their movements in preparation for his roll as the T-1000 in Terminator 2.

I used to always have them in a bush by my house, they stopped using it, I considered buying some just because I like having them around. I might buy some sacs this year instead of just saying I will.

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Originally posted by ss9961:

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Originally posted by wrightd:

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
Obviously, there are different species of mantid. Most of the egg sacs I see around here look like balls of brown/gray foam. When I was a kid, I'd stick these in a plastic bag and wait for the tiny mantids to hatch out and start eating each other. Also big fun to dump the freshly hatched little dudes and dudettes on an aphid-infested rose bush and watch them go to town!

That's pretty interesting, you were a biologist at heart. I wonder how many dude's heads she had to eat before she finished up her lifecycle. If praying mantis's were 6 feet long, my guess is we'd have more of a problem on our hands. Those guys always remind of of a scifi thriller monster movie. They are fascinating creatures. I always give them wide berth, it's like they're thinking about snatching your head off when they stare at you. They probably are.

The Deadly Mantis. 1957

I remember watching that when I was a kid.

Ha ! I'll see if it's avail on my setup.

Thought you were referring to Hillary.

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Originally posted by Leemur:
I did not know that’s what those are. Thanks!

We have a lot of them around here and I love watching them. Fascinating creatures. I read that Robert Patrick studied their movements in preparation for his roll as the T-1000 in Terminator 2.

Yeah I had no clue either and it looked like something alien, but so do Praying Mantis. They are fascinating and very beneficial insects though so I want as many around as possible. I am glad I looked it up and just didn’t crush the sac thinking it was something bad. That is why I figured I would pass the information on.

I would guess, somewhere that is a delicacy!

Wow! I have seen those sacks before but never knew what they were. I might have even removed them thinking they were bad. I love seeing the praying mantis around the house as I have flower beds all around the house and the front porch is full of potted plants and flowers. Have had them inside the house before and thought that was extra cool.
Thanks for posting this as I will know to leave them alone now and to not destroy the sacks.
Now I really want to locate a sack and try to watch it when it comes alive in the spring.
We have been seeing lots of green lizards and green frogs here which is also cool.
We have a very large number of gecko's which are kinda nasty. Hate finding the rubbery body parts after the cats have tortured them to peaces.

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Originally posted by Sailor1911:
Thought you were referring to Hillary.

Politics in an apolitical thread, and the bonus is that it's an incredibly old and truly unfunny comment.