[LotuSeed]

A few days ago I found a praying mantis egg clutch in the horse pasture. I brought it home and put it in a jar on my back porch. I checked on it this afternoon and there were dozens and dozens of tiny praying mantises! They are soooo cute!! They have been released to various parts of my garden: can't wait to see them again when they're bigger 😁

[tosca100]

Ooo lovely. We have a few species here but rarely see them. Didn't you take any photos?

[LotuSeed]

Of course Tosca! I didn't get many as I wanted to get them out of the jar and into the garden as soon as possible. They'll eat each other if no food is around.

[tosca100]

Oh lovely

[Yorkie]

Wow, what do they eat in the wild?

[barley]

we used to keep stick insects when we were children 

[LotuSeed]

Wow, what do they eat in the wild?

Other insects ... and each other at times 😮. I was lucky enough to have quite a few take up residence in my garden last year. They're so fascinating.

Barley, I was almost tempted to keep one or two as a pet, but I figured they'd fair far better if left to their own devices in Mother Nature's care. 😜

[Mrs Bee]

Cute?

[LotuSeed]

Cute?

Yes! They are absolutely adorable, even when the get bigger  😄. The bonus is that they are great for the garden, as they eat caterpillars and the like. They sell egg clutches in garden centers just for that purpose.

[Beekissed]

What a blessing!!!  I haven't seen one around here for years but I'd dearly love to have some in my garden.  One reason I don't see them anymore is due to the chickens free ranging....they glean an amazing amount of bugs here. 

[LotuSeed]

A blessing indeed. I love seeing them in my garden. It never ceases to amaze me how intelligent they are. I've handled lots of bugs in my day but the mantis is the only one I've ever encountered that actually looked at me as much as looked at it. Does that make sense? And it's so sweet how they reach out their "arms" to climb onto my hand.☺️  When cutting the grass I'll stop the lawnmower just to move them out of harm's way. A neighbor of mine sees them in her yard a lot too, but she has cats that like to "play" with them😮 so last season, after I told her how much I like them, she started rescuing them from her yard and putting them in mine 😊. It's the simple things in life 💗