Mrs. Spadaccini, a teacher in the Infant Center, brought a few Praying Mantis egg cases to school for Mrs. Hammer to share with her Ecology classes. The Praying Mantis babies have now arrived!The children had a chance to see the tiny creatures and learn about the insects before they were released.
The praying mantis female attaches a sticky egg case to the underside of a leaf or branch in the Fall. The egg case will hatch sometime during late Spring and early Summer when temperatures warm up and the egg case magically comes to life after a chilly winter.
The offspring, called nymphs, pop out of the egg case in rapid succession. The case may hatch between 100-200 mantises. They are approximately 4 mm long at “birth.” and their overall form already resembles that of the adult. An full grown mantis can be 4 to 6 inches.
