Please help ID this pupa

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Maureen11 SALMON ARM, Canada May 30, 2022

We found this pupa inside a child's toy which had been left on the grass for some time. What is it, please. I live in BC Canada. Thank you. (It is about 2+ inches long and about 3/4 inches across.)

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Flapdoodle Minot, ND May 30, 2022

It's not a pupa, its an egg case (ootheca) of a praying mantis. I suggest leaving it in a protected place (where birds/rodents are unlikely to see it) out of the direct sun, and see if any of nature's little pest controllers emerge.

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Maureen11 SALMON ARM, Canada May 31, 2022

Your answer is very interesting, but pictures of praying mantis egg cases are quite irregular and foamy-looking. The one we found and photographed is very regular, with very symmetrical markings in a 'V' pattern from one end to the other. Instead of being a rounded 'mass', the one we found is flat and becomes very pointed as it progresses from the wide end to the distal pointy end. I wonder if it could be something else?

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Flapdoodle Minot, ND Jun 01, 2022

The images of oothecae you've seen before likely were those of the Chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis) which I do not believe occurs in British Columbia. Your example appears to be one of the European mantis (Mantis religiosa) - see http://www.lianginsects.com/timeline/mantis-religiosa-ootheca-rearing-notes-41017-417 for an example.

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