This winter has been warm and drier than usual. As a result, things have been a bit out of sync. Take these little fellows, for instance. They should be snug in their ootheca for a while yet. Instead, they have emerged in the middle of January.
I wish you good luck little mantids, you're going to need it.
7 comments:
It's kind of scary. Thanks for introducing me to a new word! Ootheca. You notice the most amazing 'little' things.
karen,
Ootheca is a cool word. I like exuviae, too. ;)
Yes very early for these mantids, did you know their first meals are most often their own siblings.
Ootheca is a new word for me too. Unfortunately, I'll probably forget it by the time I have an opportunity to use it.
Unseasonably mild weather is yielding a lot of "out of sync" around here too.
Many years ago, while working in NJ, I came across one of these solid foam structures. At the time, I didn't know what it was, so I brought it inside and stuck it by my office window. Imagine my surprise to come in one day in late winter/early spring to find the window screen covered with itty bitty mantids! I saved as many as I could, but most perished. I've never found one of their cases since.
Randy,
They can be ravenous little critters!
Marvin,
Winters like this are worrisome. I hate the cold but I recognize that a period of cold weather is important in the overall scheme of things.
Ellen,
We had a similar experience when our kids were little. One of my sons brought an egg case in and stuck the stick it was on in a bottle on the windowsill. We had a few warm February days and the next thing we knew, we were overrun with tiny mantids. Took forever to gather them up! If you want to see plenty of these foam wonders, just make a trip down to our yard. They are everywhere.
Its pretty sad that these guys emerged as soon as they did. I'm not sure what the status of praying mantis'is where you live but I belive they are an endangered species here. It's really too bad they most likely will not make it.
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