Every year, I get a few praying mantis egg cases, attach them to plants around the yard, and hope for the best. Other than about a dozen babies two years ago, though, I’ve never seen the anticipated explosion of little mantid babies running around, preparing for a summer of devouring nasty bugs and looking cool as hell as they do it.
So far this year, I’ve put two cases into the container garden we have on our patio. This morning, while I was watering, I noticed that one of them had hatched, and we had a flowering plant (I forget what it’s called, so take away all of my ranks in Identify Plants) that was covered with tiny babies.
I took some pictures. None of them are particularly good (I’m try again tomorrow) but here’s one of them:
In case you miss it at Flickr, I wanted to share this comment from Amanda Peckinpaw:
The Greeks attributed to them supernatural powers.
There’s also this, "The mantis comes to us when we need peace, quiet
and calm in our lives. Usually the mantis makes an appearance when
we’ve flooded our lives with so much business, activity, or chaos that
we can no longer hear the still small voice within us because of the
external din we’ve created."Chinese: strength and courage.
Because I have that thing in my brain that makes me an artist, I’m constantly looking for and often finding symbolism in pretty much everything in the world, but I didn’t know about this particular one. I’m so glad Amanda shared it with me, because what I need more than anything else in my life right now are peace, quiet and calm. I’m going to need a lot of strength and courage to get there, so I’m happy to take some inspiration from the dozens and dozens of little baby bugs in my yard.
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Cool.
I found a cocoon once that turned out to be Mantis. They didn’t hatch successfully though.
When I was a teenager I once saw a Mantis fighting a bird that was trying to eat it. The mantis successfull defended itself for about thirty seconds before the bird flew away defeated.
Then the mantis let down its guard and the bird flew back and bit off its head.
That is really cool, hope you get a good survival rate this year! Can we look forward to ‘mantis-cam’?
Oh, those might be the cutest little bugs I’ve ever seen.
I didn’t realize you could get mantis eggs… around here people buy bags of lady bugs and set them loose.
Wil your doing it wrong!!, all wrong…
You need to watch more “Bug Movies” !!!!!!!!!!!
Watch “Starship Troopers” for 3-days straight then take a day off and spend some time at the Discovery Channel, Then and “Only Then” watch this Movie:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108843/
If that one doesn’t help watch this one: http://www.feoamante.com/Movies/DEF/deadly_mantis.html
Now if your really tuned in:
Go get a few scoops of your fav Ice Cream and enjoy.
hehe
Keith
Perhaps you should send one or two pics to http://www.insectpod.com/ — an awesome picture of a bug every day. (If you tell Dave I sent you, I’m sure I’ll get extra geek points. 🙂 )
Aww. So cute!
This reminds me of a moment I’ve never forgotten, from when my family and I were living in India. My mother and I were in the middle of a conversation about something or other, and then suddenly, without warning, she just freezes stock still, grabs her dress, and turns it inside-out to reveal a (huge!) praying mantis that had been crawling up her leg.
Calm as anything. I would have FREAKED. OUT.
A beautiful picture and a beautiful post. I hope that you find the peace that you are seeking.
Mantises are also the basis for the style of kung-fu that forms the basis for the style of earthbending that one of my favorite characters from Avatar: The Last Earthbender uses.
Just sayin’.
I mean last Airbender.
I haven’t had my coffee yet.
Where does one get mantis egg cases from?
Awwwwww look at the cute little baby bugs. Awesome!
Wil, they’re beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing. I’ve never seen pictures of mantis babies before…so I appreciate your putting a little bit of the unusual into my morning!
Also, I’m taken with your phrase “I have that thing in my brain that makes me an artist…” Though I have a similar thing, I don’t think my thing is as well-developed as yours. As I try to exercise my thing daily, your writings are a continual inspiration and challenge to work harder. So thank you for that, too.
Reading back over that, I realize it could be amusing if misunderstood. Oh well. ;o)
Wil, they’re beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing. I’ve never seen pictures of mantis babies before…so I appreciate your putting a little bit of the unusual into my morning!
Also, I’m taken with your phrase “I have that thing in my brain that makes me an artist…” Though I have a similar thing, I don’t think my thing is as well-developed as yours. As I try to exercise my thing daily, your writings are a continual inspiration and challenge to work harder. So thank you for that, too.
Reading back over that, I realize it could be amusing if misunderstood. Oh well. ;o)
I CAN HAS READY FOR MY CLOSE-UP NOW MR DEMILLE?
Wil,
My wife and I periodically order praying mantis egg cases, lady bugs, etc. Most years there aren’t many that survive, but once in a while we get lucky. We had one that hatched what looked like hundreds of mantises, and for a few years thereafter, we would see several mantises wandering the yard or clinging to the house.
The best part was actually getting to watch with my kids as all of those little guys came pouring out of a case that you would swear hasn’t got anywhere near enough room to hold them.
Ken
Did you feel any sort of disassociation while you were taking the pics? They almost seem to be aware of your presence but chose not to acknowledge it…
Wil, I know you and I live close together but really…
I was in my studio and this baby praying mantis was on my photography make-shift, set-up to where I take photos of my work. He/She wasn’t going anywhere so I took a pen to try and navigate it back outdoors. It scurried up the pen, at lightening speed, with mandibles wide open, giving me a slight coronary. After I threw the pen, I’m not sure where it landed…but it all makes sense as to why there was a baby praying mantis in my work space.
Some people have phobias about snakes, some about enclosed spaces… I have one about bugs!! If I take myself out of my own brain (ouch!) for a while, I know that these mantises (manti?) are perfectly lovely creatures. But ugh! I can’t look at them! Bugs just creep me out! I won’t kill them- hubby has to collect them gently & put them outside- but I can’t share in the sense of peace the rest of you get when looking at the photos. I’ll just squint & try to only see the plant… Give me a reticulated python any day!! 🙂 But I’m happy for you, Wil, if it makes you happy. 🙂
-Alicia
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http://www.thewagband.com
Wow. I have never seen baby praying manti(?) before! I was, however slightly traumatized by an adult p.m. when I was younger. I walked up behind one-I only wanted to get a closer look-but it turned around and did this weird pose holding it’s arms?claws? out beside its head and, I swear, gave me a nasty look.
The baby ones are rather cute, tho ^_^
You want peace and quiet? Read “Wherever You Go There You Are” by Jon Kabat-Zinn. You might really like his book Coming To Our Senses.”
I once had a praying mantis land on my shoulder when I was in my back yard, growing up. Talk about scaring the s*** out of a kid…try turning your head and seeing this alien looking face two inches away. But I know it meant no harm, now. And I didn’t kill it, I don’t think, although I don’t remember exactly what happened. Anyways, I wish all your bug babies the best of luck catching their food.
When I was in 3rd or 4th grade, I found a nifty praying mantis egg case on a twig in the school playground. I thought it had already hatched but it looked cool so I brought it inside as a souvenir.
We had those desks where the top opens up and you store your stuff inside, so after coloring a pretty design all over it with crayon, I stuck the egg case inside the desk. It sat there all winter and then in the spring it hatched out about a bazillion baby mantises which crawled out of the desk and all over the classroom.
I thought it was pretty cool, but my teachers and fellow classmates (who were evacuated for the cleanup) did not quite feel the same way.
It gave the kiddos yet another reason not to play with the “weird nerdy girl.” Ahh, the memories!
@cyanne: hah, great story. Wish there was a similar awesome story behind all the kids shunning me at school.
Great photo! When I was 5 I had a pet praying mantis. My dad gave him away, thinking it might have been frightening his little daughter but apparently I bawled non stop after I learned it was gone! I still find them completely fascinating to watch.
Hehe, if you’ve read Tad Williams’ “Otherland” you’ll never look upon Grandfather Mantis quite the same way again.