Rise and shine everybody

Got a good buy on mantis egg cases so I bought 10. As they slowly started to emerge yesterday, I put most of them outside. I kept a few inside. This is what I found this morning when I got up. Frank

hey frank... they're making me itch... how wonderful, i think i could get into that sort of thing... i think Becky does something similar with butterflies...

what will they look like when they mature and what will they eat?

Colin, these have rapacious appetites when they get bigger, and they reach 5 to 6 inches. They make good window pets in the fall, when bugs come in the house and wind up in the windows. They are good for protecting plants from foliage eating bugs. They are just plain interesting to have around. If you are going to hatch them out inside for entertainment, you need to get a flightless fruitfly culture started at the same time you put the mantis pods out at room temp, so they hatch at the same time. A fresh fruit fly culture takes about 3 weeks to start hatching out and so do the mantis egg cases. Frank

I think they are so cute... itty bitty things...

I have heard that they are capable of catching and eating Hummingbirds! Seriously, crazy! Hopefully, that is a rare event.

I raise butterflies and ladybugs.

Becky, I think that is just some dropout's halucintion about them eating Hummers. Frank

I wonder how they got these photos? http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/backyardbirds/hummingbirds/mantis-hummer.aspx

The photographer replied to this forum:
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=2727

This message was edited May 30, 2009 9:39 AM

Cool Frank! Will you post some pictures of them as they grow please?

Joanne

Becky, those photo's are positively scary. Who would beleive it without the photos?

Joanne, sorry, too late, they have all been evicted.

I do remember having one in the window in the fall and feeding it hornets and pieces of raw meat. I can just see roadkill, now covered with mantises finishing it off. lol Frank

B movie material here....yuk!

Becky, what butterflies do you raise? I used to raise tropical swallowtails for a hobby when I lived in London. I got eggs from the London Butterfly House...I almost always ran out of food plants like citrus. Now living in Morocco, I have plenty of citrus but no butterflies...


Martin

Martin - Glad to hear that another fellow DGer has enjoyed raising butterflies, too! That's neat that you got the eggs/caterpillars from the London Butterfly House! Too awesome!!!

I raise the common butterflies found in my area. Such as Monarch, Gulf Fritillary, Sulphur, Cabbage White, Giant Swallowtail, Peacock, and several different types of Skipper butterflies. I ocassionally see Zebra Longwing and Tiger Swallowtails here but have never found any eggs or caterpillars. I used to get tons of Eastern Black Swallowtails, but haven't seen caterpillars for them in two years. (I still see them in my yard sipping nectar and I still plant their host plants, but I think predators get the babies before I find them!)

I have so many wasps here in my area and yard that they often will find the baby caterpillars before me and will literally carry them off to their nests to be devoured by the young wasps. I destroy wasps nests year round, but they far out-number my efforts. Even with that, I still get lots and lots of butterflies in my yard! I have many different host plants for all kinds of butterflies which does attract some to my yard that I normally wouldn't see such as the Red Admiral and Pipevine Swallowtail. And I have been known to raise a moth or two as well! :-) I wish I had Luna Moths here. There are no host plants locally for those gorgeous moths.

The really neat thing ... when the butterflies are hand-raised and released, they are not afraid of me and I am able to get very close to them in the garden to photograph. And believe it or not ... I've actually had Monarch butterflies follow me around my yard. They probably think I am going to feed them! LOL!

I am sorry to hear that there are no butterflies that come to visit you now. That would truly sadden me to not have butterflies in my yard. I hope some find there way to you!

Praying Mantis have always given me the creeps. I never see them here and that is fine with me.

I rarely see them here, too. But I HAVE actually on occassion. They weren't very big, but I did proceed to move them over to the vacant lot next to me. I don't want them eating my butterflies!!!

I really don't need Mantis because the wasps seem to clean up my garden pests. Probably why I have soooo many wasps. I have a pretty solid eco-system going on in my backyard. I have a nice variety of local birds, butterflies, and bugs ... along with rodents, snakes, turtles, and rabbits. Most are pretty tame. I am able to walk within 3 feet of most of them without them taking off. Probably because I feed them all and they trust me more than most humans. It's a virtual wonderland at times in my yard. I honestly don't think I would enjoy gardening without the bugs, birds, and other critters.

I could sit out in my porch or even in my backyard all day and just watch the action and interaction going on. It's quite fascinating, to say the least!!! I guess I am easily entertained. :-) LOL! What I wouldn't give for 5 acreas of land and a small house to live in! I am not a city girl at all... been there, done that! I love the country! Must be the farmer genes in me ...

Becky, you would love my place except for the long cold season. The deer love my wifes blueberries, but we don't see them much anymore.
A lot of unemployment. Recently saw a pack of young coyotes. The animal that turns yer head, are the beavers. Dams everywhere around here, 200 feet from my front door there are 2 or 3. I used to go down to the creek with a marker and mark the teeth marks on a chewed tree, and go back the next day. The next day the marks would always be gone. Then in the creek are crawdads, muscles and cutthroat trout, herons and cranes. We only have one kind of swallowtail, but we do have the tiny little blue that flutters around in groups at the wet places during the heat .
Frank

Frank - Oh that's really something that you have beavers! And coyotes! And deer! So with the high unemployment, people are hunting the deer? It's a blessing for people who need the food, but sad for the animals. I am so close to becoming a vegetarian. My biggest downfall is a big, fat jiucy hamburger that is loaded! And I also like asian chicken with rice. But other than those two things, I really could care less if I have meat with a meal. :-)

There is a butterfly/moth website to determine which ones are commonly found in your location by STATE and COUNTY. I looked up your county, Frank: http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/map?dc=4406&_dcc=1&si=38

If you click on any of the butterfly/moth names, it may show you a photo and give you all kinds of information about host and nectar plants that attract them.
Anyone can use this site, just click on your location information: http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/map

To attract the butterflies to your yard, plant their host and favorite nectar plants. Plant it and they will come!!!! I am proof that it's true! That's how I got hummers in my yard and all the different butterflies. My yard was bare 5 years ago, with no wildlife ... and now it's a nature-lovers paradise. Or at least paradise for me! :-) :-) :-)

This message was edited May 31, 2009 11:22 AM