Looks like he's chowin down on some aphid sashimi, yummy.

Damon

Oh, I love them! I hatched some a few years ago and they really made a killing in the greenhouse. I plan to order some for this summer, but, then I kind of worry about them killing off the other beneficials too.

Yes my only worry is that they'll eat the other beneficials...but if they'll eat aphids then it's OK if they eat a few ladybugs too.

Mantids eat anything that moves that is smaller then them that includes benificalls. where did they hatch?

I had some egg cases (over a dozen) sitting in an egg carton next to the plants. It's in an aquarium now for the remaining cases to hatch. If some haven't hatched by planting out time, I might just put some cases right out in the garden.

Where did you the eggs?

I found them out in fields where dense weeds had grown and lost their leaves during the winter. They're actually easy to spot if you know what to look for.

Very cool catman! What types of vegetation do you find them on? Are they rather high off the ground?

Whatever annual/deciduous weeds grow out in unmowed fields - I can't name any in particular mainly because they're dead during the winter ;)

But I usually find them in the dead bushes and weeds that grew about 3-4 feet high and the egg cases are usually anywhere from 1-2 feet above the ground attached to a stem. Sometimes I find them higher up on twigs of young trees as well. They seem to like the open areas, I don't think I have found any in the woods.

Just go out into an overgrown field (and hope it's not overgrown with brambles) and start looking.

Catman -
Mantids will eat each other, so you may end up with very few out of the dozens that hatch. The first one out of the egg case stops to eat the next one or two.

The best way to use collected egg cases is to tie them to the stem of the plant you want them to protect and let them hatch out at the usual time outdoors. My mom would keep an eye out for egg cases when she pruned and tie one to each of her rose plants.

I'm aware they will eat each other, although they don't always. I have observed a few times two of them and they always would just walk away from each other...but still I don't expect to end up with nearly as many as the initial hatch amount. But still I've only had 2 cases hatch so far - one just hatched today, several dozen more from that case. And I still have a bunch more cases that haven't hatched yet.