>>7972437>>7972438I posted these too quickly because I thought there was a third one.
Quick Story Tiem:
I was walking through a field near my house when I encountered this lady mantis. It was a late, cold October day in Pennsylvania, almost Halloween. By all rights, the frost should have taken her already.
Anyway, got several shots of her and these two were part of the pick of the litter. She watched me very intensely while I got in close to get some hi res pix. You'll notice she's pregnant with eggs, but only slightly. Given the late season, I knew she wouldn't live long enough to lay them. Praying mantises are cool and great to have around the garden, so I carefully captured her and zippied her into my coat pocket. Took her home and found an old 5 gallon fish tank in the attic, put some interesting debris & such in it to make it homey, placed it in a window that got some sunlight and a bit more indirect to keep it warm during the day.
For most of the Winter I caught crickets that live in our basement and dropped them into her tank every couple of days until she fattened up and her eggs matured enough that she made an ootheca (egg case, picrel isn't my pix), which I promptly put in a refrigerator until the Spring.
When the weather was warm enough I released her into the garden, one of the oldest mantises to ever live in my area, and never saw her again. Took her egg case out and placed it nearby. We have lots and lots of mantises around our house. It's always been fun for me to bring back mantises from other areas such as New York & Maryland, even North Carolina. I know we have an unusual and very diverse genetic pool around our place.
