Back in March, I mentioned the praying mantis egg sacs that we had on our bushes and trees. One of those was in the weeping willow tree in the back garden. Yesterday, as I was pruning the tree, I felt a tickle on my left arm. I looked down, to see a teeny tiny praying mantis! Measuring no more than 3/8 of an inch long, I knew it hadn't been hatched for long. Several minutes later, I came across the egg sac, and there were still praying mantids emerging...
I noticed a couple of them on my miniature roses nearby a little while later. I was thrilled to see this, because earlier in the week, I found aphids munching away on the new flower buds. I used Safer's Soap on them and I've not seen any since, but I'll just let these natural predators take care of things now. Aphids are one of praying mantis nymphs' favorite meals.
"Bejeweled"
14 comments:
Wonderful, and I like that you pictured the egg sac so gardeners will recognize them in their own gardens and leave them alone. Praying mantis are our friends!
We found some last year when they were so small and cute, not like the ferocious warriors they become!
Oh what a truly fabulous gift! I'm still waiting for ours to hatch. There is an egg sack on attached to my peonies.
That is a really cool picture ... these mantis look very different from the ones here... although I've always assumed they are preying mantis and perhaps I am wrong. It wouldn't be the first time ...
Cool - let them eat bugs!
That is so interesting! I've never seen one of their sacs before; I had never even thought about where they came from. Thanks for sharing.
Fantastic! I'm waiting for some to hatch out as well. What a fantastic picture!
And I just realized if I didn't spend so much time in my gardens, I probably would never have witnessed this event. Just one more reason I love gardening! :-)
Excellent pic but brrrrr praying mantis, not exactly very pleasing to the eye, are they? ;-) But of course they make up for it by eating loads of aphids!
Oh, Yolanda! I actually love how they look! Of course, I do always go for the abstract and unusual... :-)
Interesting comment here - Mom said an entomologist that spoke to her garden club said that praying mantids don't really eat all that many insects. At least not to a point that they can be used for control.
Still, I do love them and welcome them in my garden. They can't hurt!
It's nice to read about gardens from other parts of the country. Great photos!
How absolutely wonderful, Kylee! (Eat away, little mantis nymphs... *smile*)
I love cute little preditory insects that eat ugly parasitic ones:)We get mostly ladybugs and lacewings around here.
Oh, wow, what a cool photo! I think the praying mantis is such an interesting insect. I've never seen young ones, nor the egg sac. Very cool. Thanks for sharing this.
Post a Comment