Chinese Mantid

In my science/biology class, we decided to collect one of these as a class pet. We discovered it was a female, and she made a foamy eggsack thing in the corner of the terrarium. We have a somewhat strong lamp directly adjacent to the terrarium-the foamy eggsack turned brown and hard, and i thought we cooked it. I told my teacher, and she assured me it was supposed to be that way, but i'm not exactly sure. The mantis made another one, so i think we destroyed the first one.

Based on size I think the mantid I found this year in my garden must have been Chinese, it was at least five inches long. Supposedly only three species live in Illinois, and I have mixed feelings because it is an introduced species but is a beneficial insect. This is the first one I've ever seen here and supposedly the eggs (I assume they're somewhere) can survive through the winter. This one was on my pear tree and walked across the lawn, then quickly scaled my tulip poplar, up so high I could no longer see it. Being from southern California I was recently lamenting the absence of praying mantises, only to stumble upon this beast a short while later!

I have had a wonderful experience with these creatures of nature. I live in an apartment with large trees and I have an upstairs balcony as well as a downstairs patio. I have numerous plants on both that include Angel Trumpets, morning Glories, climbing roses, honeysuckle and even some Plumeria that I brought back from Maui about 5 years ago that I bought at the airport in one of those plastic bags that is only 1 stick per bag. This year it is finally going to give me blossoms on all three branches. Anyway, I just wanted to set the stage for what is next. At my local nursery, I have purchased egg cases of these wonderful creatures and happily watch them hatch later in the Spring and the little guys go scammering around finding shelter, always fun to see them all over the place. For th... read moree past two years I have not purchased egg cases because I now have my very own little happy family all over the complex. I once seen one on the front door of one of my neighbors two buildings away ;-) Last week I found one setting in the Preying position on my upstairs deck, keeping an eye out for two flies just within reach. He grabbed one quickly and I was witness to the munching of a big ugly fly..... Love these creatures and have always found them fun to have around....keeps lots of bugs away and now I just need to fine something to get rid of the many small spiders I have...
Sorry for being long winded but I really do like having my Mantids around to watch.
Kevin