oh no! youre right! Well, it was a complete fluke that I found the mantids in the yard when I found those tent caterpillar bundles. Off to go crush them tomorrow! My fiance is a biologist that has a lot of experience with bugs, but realized youre right when I showed him this. Maybe ill leave them on till fall, and if there ARE mantis eggs, ill leave them on so the mantids have food? Not letting tent pillars setup shop in my yard! thanks all!

I've found them occasionally outdoors, but have not had the pleasure of finding one in my greenhouse. I'm hoping that changes! I also found a HUGE walking stick a few years ago when I was pruning some shrubbery and one of the "limbs" moved. LOL. Scared me at first until I realized what it was.

We've lived here 3 years and I've seen several over the years. They've mostly been spotted on the south patio tho. I looked this morning and he's gone, probably into the garden which is only about 15' away. I'm going to watch and see if he comes back and if he does I will take him to the south patio. We had placed some large stones there and I think some of them may be overwintering there. I just read an article about them on the DG newsletter I get. Apparently they don't live as long as I thought.

In my 1st year of gardening here, I ordered a couple of mantid egg casings. I got them around March or so, and they were sitting in my den when they hatched! I have never seen so many mantids all over the house. We tried to corral a few, but it was virtually hopeless. Never did that again. I try to move them to other plants if I find them on my butterfly plants. There is usually enough food elsewhere for them to eat. I used to find the mantid cases on my trellises. Took me forever to figure out what I was harboring. Great shots, Randy! Susan