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Mar 31 • 🪴 General Discussion
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Praying Mantis Ootheca!!
"𝑨 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘?!"
An ootheca is the protective casing that a Praying Mantis lays her eggs in to insulate them through winter. They usually contain anywhere from 50-200 eggs!
If you find one of these, you're in luck!
Praying Mantises are friends of the garden and act as natural pest control. They are predators with a big appetite and eat things like aphids, thrips, leafhoppers, grasshoppers, caterpillars and more.
But, with such a big appetite, comes a few cons as well. They are opportunistic and indiscriminate with their food choice, which means they'll also eat beneficial insects, including each other. (Yikes 😳).
This is why they live a fairly solitary lifestyle outside of mating season.
However, their benefits usually outweigh their cons. 🤷♀️
Have you seen one of these before? Do you have any in your garden?
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