Praying mantis egg cases

Near where we often start our walks on weekend mornings, I noticed LOTS of praying mantis egg cases, scattered on the Clethra alnifolia shrubs planted along the road.

There were at least fifteen, in a group of maybe 6-8 plants. A lot (I thought, and many more that I'd ever seen before in one place).

Each egg case will hatch between 100-200 young mantises in late spring. Remarkable!

Comments

  1. Yes I have seen a good number of cases lately myself. Did you know that the hatch-lings many of their first meals are siblings!

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  2. My husband just said I am "such a dork" for being super excited about this! We have one on a tree in our front yard (2nd year in a row) and I never knew what it was! Now I'll have to watch and try to see some little ones!

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  3. Wow. Let's hear it for Preying Mantises!

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