Preying mantis egg case

What's a preying mantis -- a.k.a. praying mantis? Some of you remember when Steven had a mini-mantid situation. That's when an egg case he thought empty hatched its contents indoors. He spent hours trapping and transporting the aggressive but tiny hatchlings outdoors. Download What's Coming Up #149 from Ensemble Weekly Editions to read about it and see his photos of the hunt.

Or you've noticed photos of the mantid who lived in our rosemary plant one winter. She was honored on the Home page.

They eat everything they can grab, including butterflies and young hummingbirds. We're willing to put up with the collateral damage for all the other targets they take down.

"Willing"? Ha. We have no choice. Mantises have found our yard to be good hunting habitat and so they are well established. End of  story!