Mantis and Eggs 2950 - a photo on Flickriver

            Soon after mating, a female Praying Mantis will lay between 300 and 400 eggs. My two patios are favored by the Chinese Praying Mantis, and I'm glad to have them.

Nine years ago last week, I was headed to the grasslands, and this female had attached herself just below the front gate latch. I had no idea what she was doing, but what a nice way (for me) to start the morning. 

The eggs are laid like an extruding machine and, as she lays them, a case forms and hardens. I timed her, but I left her after 20 minutes. I returned almost three hours later. It took her 4 hours and 10 minutes to lay those eggs. Afterward, she stayed close to the egg "sac" and when it was hard, she dropped downward and then flew as best she could heading south ... maybe up to a mile. They really don't migrate. No species of mantis is known to live more than a year.

The male might get eaten by the female after mating. And the 400 siblings are known to eat each other, but there are enough survivors to carry on for another 80 million years.

When I left her to her egg laying, I thought I'd be able to "film" the process although I wouldn't have been prepared for four hours. It didn't matter. That afternoon, as I was raking ever more Japanese Maple leaves, I ran into our association's maintenance and landscaping crew manager. He was very excited, held out his hand and said, "Look what I found on your fence! I know this stuff interests you, so I scraped it off with my knife. I think these will be Praying Mantises." 

Change "will" to "would have been."

A little disappointing, but there's still hope. I think it was Jen or Jenny who said that she brought in a female mantis and "made it comfortable" in her laundry room. A nice warm laundry room, perfect for hatching! And she described what 400 tiny praying mantises being corralled looked like.

Taken in: United States / California / Cowell (show map)

Taken on: November 1, 2010

Tags:

Praying

Mantises

Ethan

Winning

Canon

Powershot

SD1100

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Sets appears in: • Insects and Spiders

Groups appears in: • praying mantis • Insect Photography more » • The Magic of Nature • California Wildlife • Nature, wildlife, and the great outdoors • Insects and Spiders • FLICKR INSECTS • The Beauty of Nature • Cool insect photos • Beautiful Bugs • Mantis Gallery • California Photographer • Insects - NO VIDEO • Praying mantids • Just Insects • Insects of the World • Insects, Bugs, and Butterflies • Realm of the Insect • Northern California Nature • Amazing Insects! « less

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS, f/8.0, 1/60 sec, 6.2mm, ISO 80 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS
Aperture:	f/8.0
Exposure Time:	0.017 sec (1/60)
Focal Length:	6.2mm
ISO:	80
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Auto, Fired
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	ACDSee Pro 6
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