cumulus fractus: cumulus humilis ("fair weather clouds")In the beginning of May while cleaning the flower beds I came across a mantis egg case on a dried daisy stem. I plucked it and stuck it in one of my flower containers and hoped that one day this spring I could witness the birth of tiny little mantids.
Low and behold today, this shiny sunny day, the mantids came out. They are very tiny and exact replicas of adult praying mantis. There were about a hundred of them in the planter amoung the foliage. There were mantids on the egg case but I can't figure out how they come out as the egg case was not split. I did notice a tiny strand of what looked like pollen hanging from it, but there was no hole or split. A mystery!
Take a look! Click on the pictures to get a closer look at the mantids. I included the egg case so you can look for some on your own. I'm going to do a little research on them as I think the praying mantis makes the egg case in the fall and the mantids are the product of last seasons frolicking. I'll let you know.
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