Any idea what this is?
Last year we ordered the caterpillar/butterfly kit and watched the entire process. We loved it so much we decided to do it again. However, we didn't stop there. We also ordered what you see in the above picture.
That, my friend, is filled with itty bitty praying mantis's. It was a little larger than an acorn and similar in shape. I tell you, if I didn't know, and found that in my yard, I would have thought it was part of a tree! Who knew?!?
I got a little freaked out when I read the instructions and it said, up to 200 of these little guys can hatch from this thing. AND...they can crawl through very tiny crevices. Okay, and this net they gave me is in my school room. Let me tell you, the closer we got to the "hatching day" the more I watched that thing.
And then, it happened one Saturday morning. I walked into the school room to hear this small popping sound. Sort of similar to bugs hitting a screened window. Sure enough these guys were literally "popping" all over the place. I quickly took their "home" outside. ;)
They are so tiny, you can't even seem them in this picture. We were a little nervous they wouldn't survive so we let them out up on the hill at the back of our yard.
Here he has one on his arm...can you see it?
We tried to keep a few like the instructions suggested. It said to be sure to find small bugs for them to eat because they have voracious appetites but we were hard pressed to find any! We did find about 6 tiny ants. Most of the ants just crawled out of the holes in the cage but one actually tried to carry the praying mantis away!!! It was amazing. The mantis was about 3 times the size of the ant and yet he had the hardest time getting away!
It was so fun to experience this. Wonder what we will try next? Ant farm, ladybugs, tadpoles? Hmmmm...... stay tuned!
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