These 2 praying mantis egg cases (ootheca) arrived Christmas morning in our stockings via Santa Express. I believe he ordered them from Carolina Scientific. They have been communing with our condiments for a few months waiting until it was warm enough to eventual release in the garden. The ootheca are cool, laid as a foamy mass that hardens as it dries. One was still attached to the remnants of a rose bush twig; the other had the bark pattern of its original suspension device embossed on its inner surface. We re-suspended them with a needle and thread because the emerging mantis babies prefer to hang upside down while their exoskeletons harden.
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