Take it with you.

After the hatch, you will see the tiny exit holes in the case.

When the mantids hatch, they'll be tiny - maybe about the size of a typical mosquito. They need to eat bugs, and they won't be able to catch anything very big. Fruit flies are the thing. If you want to raise these (or some of them, for a while), I'd suggest putting some fruit or fruit peels in a bucket outside right away, to get a nice bunch of fruit flies breeding!

The mantid egg case is going to have a LOT of baby mantids in it. Probably too many to raise. I'd suggest keeping half a dozen, and letting the rest go in the meadow you mention.

I'm envious! Even if you only keep them for a few days, watching baby mantids catch fruit flies would be pretty interesting I think!

lcpw

I was at a local greenhouse (I live in Southern Ontario, Canada) called Colasanti's and they were selling Praying Mantis casings. A teacher was in there buying up the last two packages. I thought it would be awfully creepy to be gardening and then to look up and see these creatures peering down at me from somewhere. I have the tiniest yard and there would be far too many of them for the size to not creep me out. But they would be so fascinating to watch. My three year old son would think it was amazing! Have fun with them! Maybe you can keep us updated. Maybe I should try it out!

Interesting....today I went into the GH...and looked at the egg casing. I noticed a funny almost saw dusty like debris on the egg casing. I wondered if I had missed it before. So I picked it up and slowly and carefully examined it. It almost looked like it had hatched long ago. But I didn't recall that saw dusty like stuff on it.

Anyway, I pulled out a plastic baggie and set it down on it and went about the other things I needed to do.

It got a bit warm today...rain...sun..typical WA weather...and I went back out into the GH and looked at the egg casing again. WHAT IS THAT!!!!!!! It looked like a micro grasshopper...but with Praying Mantis legs....

OMG...it was hatching and a frog was sitting right there, slurping any he could get...

But I did manage to rescue about 6 of them. It still isn't done hatching either.

here are some pics...

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I hope that you let them finish hatching outside so that they can begin to find food. If not, they will devour each other. Mantids don't care who they eat....as long as they eat.

Just a little additional to rhizo's comment. After they breed the female generally eats the male. One younger woman I worked with had been watching two mate thinking it was very cool.. That is until the female bit the head of the male off. You could have hear her shreek across the whole floor.

You want to keep the mantis apart, they will eat each other. My wife used to work at a science museum that house an exhibit of praying mantis. By the end of the day, only one was left. My wife had to tell the little kids that the others to a different museum :-)

Paul

Interesting - We've had three hatchings from this same egg case since last Saturday. They stop hatching as it cools a bit. In the heat of the day, they hatch...and then stop and then start the next time it gets warm. Those that have survived the anxious frogs beneath the case, I scooped up yesterday after it hit about 70 degrees and the third hatching came out. They quickly scatter and begin foraging. I clipped a bunch of grass that is covered with aphids and placed it in with them. They are in heaven and so far, they are not feeding on each other, but on the aphids. There are plenty more where those came from. We will be turning them loose soon, it's just interesting to watch them. I'm not much interested in having a greenhouse filled with another 4 or 5 hatchings from these wonderful creatures and it has only partially hatched.

I think my frog patch is nervous and they know what will happen if these tiny creatures become big lol. When I went out this morning, there were three frogs surrounding the egg case. I know what they're waiting for lol. BTW...we probably have 50 or more frogs in our GH and 4 or 5 times that outside the greenhouse. You can't walk from the front porch to the greenhouse without having to walk around the little hoppers. They serenade us all day and all night too.

Well thank you everyone for all the info...it has been a learning experience and we enjoyed watching these little guys hatch.

There are live mantis for sale on ebay. You can get two for one auction, and if you want, the seller would give you a "sexed pair." I thot that was a great idea, until I saw this thread. Would it be better to get a "sexed pair" or not?