FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

A praying mantis egg case. Took it inside and put it in a mason jar with tulle on top. Hopefully they hatch. I'll post pics if I can. I plan on releasing them into my backyard and maybe a few in the greenhouse. I love these things...so aggressive.

I think these are chinese mantids from the lil amount of research i've done. Anyone with experience is welcomed to chime in.

Score!

When I used to work in my brother's greenhouse business about 20 years ago, I used to find those in the yard during the fall and I'd put them inside the greenhouse. When it would start warming up in the spring, I was always amazed by how many thousands of tiny mantises started hatching out of those things. (They're definitely proof that *all* baby animals are cute if something that tiny and cute can grow up into something that looks like *that*!) They really did help cut down on the aphids and whiteflies in the greenhouse, but when there's nothing left for them to eat, you should be prepared to see them resorting to cannibalism. They always kept eating each other until there was only just one huge one left, about six to eight inches long. It would always terrify any children of customers who dared venture in there "where the big monster is!"

We used to buy ladybugs through the mail too whenever we couldn't find any mantis egg sacs. Ladybugs are cuter of course, but not quite as innocent as everyone thinks. The larval stage looks like a tiny black alligator and they *do* bite at that stage. I was often sitting at the potting bench transplanting seedlings for hours on end, and there were so many ladybugs flying around, they'd end up crawling all over me too. You could always tell there was a larval one on your arm, leg or neck because it felt just like someone was jabbing you with a pin when they'd bite. It was pretty hard to fight the instinctive urge to slap them and squash them instead of putting them back out on one of the plants where they should have been staying in the first place!

Neat... I love have they watch you with their little bitty head.

Looks like your plants might have some competition.

Leo-i can't stand the smell of ladybugs. Did you ever notice their distinct scent?

Dionae wrote:Leo-i can't stand the smell of ladybugs. Did you ever notice their distinct scent?

Smell? Gosh, no. Never even smelled any blood when their larvae bit me! What do they smell like?

Hope you get some baby mantises!

I'm not sure how to explain it. Id say the closest thing is poop haha. I have a friend that has ladybug infestations every summer and you can def smell it. I'll try and get pics one day. He had a swarm of hundreds on a corner of his kitchen ceiling once that looked unreal.

Dionae wrote:I'm not sure how to explain it. Id say the closest thing is poop haha. I have a friend that has ladybug infestations every summer and you can def smell it. I'll try and get pics one day. He had a swarm of hundreds on a corner of his kitchen ceiling once that looked unreal.

Yeah, I've heard of how they sometimes swarm inside people's houses, but I've never seen it in person. I guess those people would think we greenhouse people are crazy for *buying* swarms of ladybugs to release!