CLOSED: Friend or Foe?

I found this on the fence,is it a good or bad bug eggsack??

I think it's a mantis egg case

I tried to link a pic but it didn't work. Do a Google search for mantis egg case.



This message was edited Jun 16, 2004 4:47 PM

This could be interesting,I did a search,I found one that looked like this,I have four of these in the yard,I have three I ordered of the web,they do not look the same,if they are,I am going to have a ton of Mantis in a short time!

Here is a good photo of a praying mantis egg mass (and praying mantis as well) which looks like dried shaving cream. Click to enlarge it and then minimize it. I love this photo.

This is one off the Net.

we have them here as well

bootandall,that is a Mantis?

mantis eggs it is

pic of the mantis

The Mantis and Egg sack look slightly different,must be the pond,I will mark it solved,nice picture with the flower and eggsack!

I just took a pic of a hatched egg sack on my fence.
I think there may be a few species.this one here is Orthodera ministralis, and is common in Australia and NZ, may not be native to NZ

Ok Bootandall,do you think mine is one from last year?If so I will remove it,mine sure looks like an old one,and I did have Mantis last year.

I have one like that too, I'm not sure if the egg sack is incomplete or some have hatched.
I am leaving mine, as I have noticed they like to lay near the old sacks.
I have watched one hatching, there is no mistaking them ,miniature adults flat out running, once they out.


pic of old and new

Great pictures,I have no problem leaving my old ones,it will be interesting to see if they lay fresh ones close,I watch the ones I have hanging,I would like to get pictures of them hatching.

hope you get that picture ,It will be great too see

Root, if I had seen those things on MY fence, I woulda taken a fly-swatter to them! Or a can of Raid! LOL. (Can you tell I've never seen a mantis in my life? -- Do those things bite?)

they eat a lot of bad insects, and a few good, and the female will eat her mate unless he makes a great escape. (after the deed done of course )

I couldn't believe my eyes one am..was outside enjoying my garden and saw what appeared to be yellow foam from a distance, dropping from the underside of a fence board. Up close, this is what I found. There were literally 100's of them hatching from the 2 egg cases. They were about 1/4" or less and perfectly formed-baby praying mantises (sp?)

great picture, jcangemi!
would it be mantii?
i dunno.. but they sure are cute :)
i'd love to have some in my yard!

aren't they beautiful, great shot. I'm glad you where there at just the right moment.

I was just doing a Cat Patrol,gave a close look to see who was chewing on this one.

I found this guy on the Brug!! They are out here now,this is not from my Egg sacks,so he must be a local!!

FYI - just read yesterday on a garden page somewhere? one is mantis, more is mantid. Kinda different but that's what they said! What a cool picture of the babies - something I'll never see here. Apparently z4 is too cold for them most winters. Master Gardener guy said if we order them from a catalog, a few will make it over the winter but by the 2nd winter they'll be all gone. Bummer! We do have walking sticks, tho. Had one on the dining room window screen last year. They're kinda neat too!

Count yourself lucky, as they are clearly a beneficial, and sounds like you'll soon have a good population of them. . . Even with all the egg cases, they won't all make it.. cannabalistic as bootandall indicated. They eat their siblings when they first hatch out, as their first meal. Sounds gruesome!! There's probably alot more around, as they are experts at camoflauge.

I hope there are more,I need help with the bad bugs.
Kooger,Shirley just got some,she is not far from you.

Shirley? Brugie? She's in the southern part of the state. I am 13 miles from the northern border. Little too chilly for those darlings! :)

yes Brugie,I did not know you were that far north.