Problem-Solving – Predator Bugs

On By TimelessladyIn Problem-Solving

Praying Mantis are a favorite of mine. They are unique and interesting in appearance. I have often carried praying mantis specimens around my yard and posed them on garden blossoms for photographs. What I love most though, is how efficiently they rid my garden of unwanted pest insects.

This past Autumn, two female praying mantises laid egg cases near my back window. I also was lucky enough to find a few pods in the fields near my home. Of course, I transported these lucky finds home. Two of these have been kept on my windowsill in a decanter. Yesterday the egg cases hatched.

I don’t know exactly when the baby mantids began to emerge, but a hundred or more were born within a matter of an hour or two. Most stayed on, or near, the decanter, but several escaped into the house. After I took most into the garden, I spent a good half hour capturing as many as possible from the area near my kitchen sink. This morning, I noticed a few strays still walking on my ceiling.

I think the outdoor pods hatched a day or two before those kept indoors. The babies I spotted in the garden are bigger, deeper in color, and quicker in movement than their newly hatched neighbors.

I shook several of the baby mantids out of of the decanter into my square foot gardens. I want to garden organically, and the mantis will help with pest control. Right now, aphids and other small insects will be their major food source, but in a few short weeks, no insect will be safe from the powerful arms and jaws of the juvenile and adult mantids.

Here are a few walking about the patio, trying to find a new place to hide. I am sure, as they grow, I will find them and pose a few for photographs. I’ll keep their progress updated here on the blog.

15 thoughts on “Problem-Solving – Predator Bugs”

  1. What an awesome article. I had no idea that Praying Mantises laid their eggs this way. I guess I really never thought of how praying mantises did their thing but now I know. We live in Idaho and there are a few praying mantises around but we don’t see many. Thanks for sharing. — Sulae

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    1. I do believe in taking care of the environment, but I draw the line against it when people are put second to the environment. The earth will pass away one day, but people’s souls live forever. I get upset when climate becomes the rule rather than doing good for people.

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        1. I’m not sure what you mean by DT. If it’s a pesticide, no, not in any case. I garden organic, and try to buy organic. I think the big companies are ruining people’s lives by the use of pesticides. They definitely cause cancer and other diseases. Whenever I see people using RoundUp I shudder at the consequences.

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            1. Now, I’m laughing out loud…and can’t stop. I thought it was an abbreviation for DDT…a terrible pesticide. No, leave the comment…it’s wonderful. Yes, I really support Donald Trump. I think he is doing a great job.

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            2. Susie, never stop commenting…I love our friendship. There are times I think of the day in heaven when I will meet all my blogging friends, and I am so thankful for the blog, and the way it has enabled me to have so many more people in my life. You are precious to me my friend!

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            3. Hi Susie, I missed the question about RoundUP, it is a weed-killer that is highly effective, but it is showing up in food. It’s a strange thing…men seemed to enjoy killing weeds with Round Up, the hardware store my husband works at sells it, and women tend to have a distaste for it. I think part of the appeal is the way the spray nozzle is almost like a gun, and men shoot the weeds that are infesting the cracks of the sidewalk, etc. I prefer to use boiling water, it works just as fast and does not harm.

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              1. Oh, thank you for letting me know. The gun thing might be true you know.
                I remember a while back, one of my husband’s colleagues was travelling to New Delhi and he asked his little son( then aged about 5), what he wanted him to bring him when he returned ?
                The little boy said, a gun.
                I remember the father lamenting to my husband, I don’t know why my son wants a gun- do you think I am nurturing a future terrorist ?
                Susie

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                1. I know…little boys love anything that shoots. My grandsons love to have ‘wars’ with Nerf guns…fun toys that pump out foam projectiles. Even their father joins in and they have so much fun with them. I think when they are little…it is all in fun. I remember playing at having pretend battles when I was young…we also loved the games of ‘Kick the Can’ on summer nights. We’d always break up into teams. It was fun and nurtured cooperation between the kids on the team. Have a great day Susie…I’m out in the garden today. It is finally warm and the yard and the porch are a huge mess…it will take me all week. I’ll be in and out of the house though…and on the computer. Kathy

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Thanks so much for your comments. They fill my life with sunshine.