Before you get too excited at my macro skills, let me say upfront that the close up of the mantis is from wikipedia and may be reproduced freely with the following information:
Taken by Fir0002, flagstaffotos.com.au
Camera Details:
Camera: Canon 20D
Lens: Sigma 150mm f/2.8 Macro
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2
I did, however, take the other pictures in response to this email sent by a kindergarten science teacher to the entire Lower School faculty:
Hi Friends,
Hope you are intrigued by this subject...
Over the last 2 months our class has been keeping and observing 3 praying mantis ootheas (egg cases) that were laid in our Lower School garden. With Robyn's help and guidance she taught us how to care for the cases and I put the cases into a butterfly net. I was scared that the cases would open while were on break and to our surprise... they hatched this morning right in front of our eyes at 8:15- it took about 10 minutes for over 150 to hatch.
I plan to release these creatures back into the garden but thought this would be a rare opportunity for us to see this so I will leave the net in the butterfly chair of the garden - at 1:00 I'll open the net and release these babies into their new home. So if you have time today please take a peek! I will also leave a model of a praying mantis that we have in our classroom so you can tell your children just how big these babies are going to get!
There are 2 more cases in there that will hatch soon, I am sure, so please be careful when holding the net!
Have fun!!
M
Praying mantis are beautiful insects with a voracious appetite, and a delight to have in the garden. Being strictly carnivorous, they'll eat almost any insect of a size they can overcome. Waiting in quiet ambush for hours at a time, when an insect comes wandering by they suddenly jump out and attack - always biting the neck first. At rest, they seem to be "praying", holding their "hands" together.
Each praying mantis egg case will hatch about 100-200 tiny mantises, all at once. In order to hatch they'll need several weeks of warm weather, so they can "sense" that summer (and pest insects for food) has arrived. Attach the egg cases to a twig or plant about a foot or two off the ground where there's cover to protect the babies. When hatching, the young crawl from between tiny flaps in the cases and hang from silken threads about 2" below the case. After drying out, the long-legged young disperse into the vegetation leaving no evidence of their appearance. This happens within an hour or two, and it's very difficult to know hatching has occurred unless the elusive, well camouflaged young are found. (The egg case does not change appearance in any way.) If you'd like to see when the mantis have hatched, place the egg cases in a paper bag, fold the top and seal shut with a paper clip or clothes pin. Place the bag on a window sill in direct sunlight. Periodically open the bag carefully, and when you see tiny mantids running around inside, take them outside and sprinkle them throughout the garden. Be patient - sometimes it takes up to eight weeks of warm weather for them to hatch.
I had a class at 1 PM, the time for the launching of the babies, so I slipped over when no one was around and took the other pictures. Each tiny baby is a perfect replica of an adult mantis. Isn't Nature amazing?
