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Homeschooling in Illinois
Oct. 11, 2008
Pregnant Mantis
The kids found a pregnant praying mantis a couple of weeks ago. I never got a pic of it, but it had a very swollen bottom. The other day it finally laid it's eggs! I was afraid the boys were going to kill it before she got a chance to lay them. I had to keep reminding them to feed the poor girl.
The egg sack is alien looking. It's up near the top of the cage on the leftish.
And here is momma and eggs. Mom on right, eggs on left.
She is looking mighty thin. You would never know she just gave birth to up to 400 babies.
I have since let the momma go. She wasn't getting enough food with us. I opened the cage but she stayed for awhile. I thought she might not leave her babies, but she did. Now we just have to wait until next year for the eggs to hatch.
And on the mantis subject, I saw one mantis eating another mantis. My guess is they were just... ehem... because when I found them, only the head was missing. The legs were still kicking and the body was still wiggling.
That lady chomped away at that poor guy and ate him all up. Only the legs and wings were left. And she ate him pretty quickly, too. Imagine eating something the same size as you within 15 minutes. Talk about a stomach ache. The boys took what was left of him and put him in our nature jar with our butterflies.
We were so excited when we saw our first mantis. That was only two months ago. Now we've counted up to 9 at one time, seen a pregnant one and then her egg sack, and watched one devour another. I love the country.
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Oct. 14, 2008 - Untitled Comment