a peek inside the fishbowl

I thought I should share an update to this post. Our praying mantis babies actually hatched soon after I wrote it. It was all very exciting and there was much yelling and merriment by yours truly.

After they emerged from their ootheca we kept them indoors, in the jar, for two days before releasing them in the yard. I was worried that they’d start eating each other but that didn’t seem to happen. During this two-day period I tossed a tiny gnat in there to see what would happen and got to see the lucky recipient chow down on his (her?) first dinner.

As I said, after a couple of days we decided to introduce them to their new home outdoors.

Mark placed a few babies in buggy areas of our yard (there’s one that’s prone to aphid infestation every year). I took a few out of the jar with a stick but there were so many that it was just easier to take the cloth off the top and just leave it outside.

They all scattered within a half day of opening the jar but a dozen or so seem to be sticking around the general area, which happens to be a part of the yard that’s shady and moist a.k.a. Ideal Mosquito Breeding Area. I’ve been checking on them every day to see how they’re doing. They’re tough to spot at first. You know those pictures that don’t look like anything at first but if you stare at them long enough you can see an image hidden in there? Finding a baby praying mantis is the same kind of exercise. If I soften my gaze and take in the scene as a whole, the little guys slowly come into view. They’re holding on to the tops of the plants, swaying in the wind, waiting patiently until they can grab a tiny buzzing thing out of the air.