Finding praying mantis egg cases in the fall is easier after frost - Detroit News

No matter how many times I come across one, I always get a kick when I find a praying mantis egg case.

The tan-colored egg cases are somewhat common but hard enough to find that it makes them a bit of a challenge if you are actually out looking for them.

I often find the egg cases in places that are somewhat protected by other plants with an adjoining open area.

Grass or plants that are around 16 inches high that offers some protection from direct wind and weather seem to be a preferred environment but really the egg cases can be found just about anywhere.

Egg cases are easier to spot after the first frost causes leaves to die and drop off garden plants.

They're usually about a foot and a half off of the ground, which is high enough to be away from ants, ground beetles and other foraging insects, but low enough to be out the harshest weather.

When the female picks a spot to lay her eggs, it's always on a sturdy upright stem or on a structure such as a wall of a shed. The spot must be sturdy enough to hold up the female while she is laying her egg case.

Praying mantis egg laying occurs right after mating in late September through early October. It's not unusual for a mantis egg case to contain two hundred or more individual eggs inside.

Specialized organs inside the female's body make a foamy substance that is expelled while eggs are laid encapsulating the fragile eggs inside. The foam quickly dries and hardens giving it a packing peanut-like texture.

The egg case is water and wind resistant protecting the eggs themselves from being damaged by the weather and other insects looking for an easy meal.

Praying mantises are territorial insects so usually there is only one or two mantises per garden by the time mating season begins.

You would think that with an egg case containing hundreds of eggs that there would be many more adults around. But mantises have a hard life. Some get eaten immediately by their egg case mates during hatching. Mantis are not picky about what they eat even if it's one of their siblings. Anything of the right size is fair game, and their fellow egg case mates make the perfect single serving first meal.

After surviving their initial hatching, they have to navigate many more hazards through the summer, mostly being eaten by other insects, spiders, frogs or birds.

They are solitary insects that live on their own rather than living as a swarm.

Eventually one adult mantis is left in the general vicinity of the egg case and claims a territory where prey insects are most plentiful.

It's territory is not that big, usually staying on the same one or two bushes for the entire summer.

If you find an egg case in your garden, it's a pretty good indicator that you have a healthy ecosystem for your garden.

Praying mantises eat any insect they catch. It could be a plant pest, or a beneficial insect.

Also keep in mind, if you use an insecticide in your garden, it will kill both praying mantises as well as their food source.

Praying mantises are not endangered and not invasive so if you're looking for a praying mantis to set up shop in your garden, it's perfectly okay to move an egg case from one location to another.