I have been watching the ootheca closely, because it has been SO warm. I knew the praying mantises would hatch out soon. Well, I walked by it today and bent down to take a closer look. There were dozens of praying mantises falling from the ootheca. They seemed to be crawling on close-by branches and then just letting go and falling into the grass on the ground.
I ran in and got the digital camera.
In this one, you can see one mantis clearly on the left, and the silouette of one in the background on the right (hanging upsidedown), and the head and front legs of one in the center at bottom.
In the picture above you can see how small they are. Here's one on the tip of a blade of grass.
They were literally going everywhere. I wish I could have gotten more pictures! It was hard to even bring them into focus. They really jump around a lot when they first hatch out!
Lynn
Comments
Mar. 28, 2007 - yay!
Posted by Aligirl
That is so cool! I wish we could have seen ours hatch. I am wondering if we may have found the oothica after it had already hatched. What a great addition to the learning experience.
Ali