My neighbor called me in July and had enclosed what she thought was either a moth or butterfly coccoon stuck to the fence near her flower bed, and would call me when and if what was inside hatched. I photographed it that day, but didn't realize what it really was until soon later after pushing my bugology recall buttons.

When I stopped by the other day after she cleaned out the flower bed and removed the mesh encloser, I peeled off the now weathered egg case and dissected it to photograph and document what an old mantid egg case for the record.

The total length of the case is 1.5 inches.

Photo # 3 shows the residue left on the fence after removal. It was glued to the wood.

Here is the phenology of what I found in the share.

Jonathan

This is what eventually grows up from an egg.

Jonathan

Very interesting jonathan.So the one you took apart hatched out or did it not produce?

Thats some cool pics!
I had a mantis as a pet for a little while. Fed it raw hamburger on a toothpick.

That egg case was probably well over a year old when I saw it. The 2X4 fence rail it was on came from a stack of 2X4's that overwintered from a nearby open storage shed before used by the garden. The case was dead. When fertile a case like that houses multiple numbers of nymphs.

You can read more about their life history in this net link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis#Reproduction_and_life_history

Jonathan

Very informative link Jonathan. I've always found mantises interesting.

A few years ago a neighbor bought some egg cases and brought one for the kids to have.

We pinned it up in a bush in a good sheltered spot by our shed. I checked it quite often, and in early July I happened to catch it hatching!

I easily could have missed it, as it was over in less than eight hours. If I looked really hard, I could find a mantis baby in the bush somewhere. But that was no easy task, as they would fit on your thumbnail!

I got a few pics of course!

catch one and put him in an aquarium.swear my boys watched them as much as tv at times when they are little.with the short arms they always claimed they looked like a t-rex when eatin.

anyone else remember the greenhouses ad in ffg to buy egg casings??was always near the ad for mink pecker earings,

and don't put a male in with a female near fall.

When i did tree trimming work, we used to hang the pods up in a tree. They help control bag worms

huntrap247, Thank you for the share with those great photos!

Jonathan

Thank you both for the pictures.

Yes, thank you for the oothecas!