Tiny praying mantis!

I would love to unleash baby mantises upon my fig trees!

It would be akin to D-Day - but as if done under the cover of darkness so casualties were low(er).

ATTACK!
 
Walking Sticks are cool too


I was reading to attract garter snakes build a wood pile, and late last fall I created a wood pile near my compost bins and yep, I have about 3 or 4 garter snakes now.
I had 1 living under a flower pot last year, I got startled when I moved the pot and it shot away.

I've seen 1 walking stick I think, was pretty wild!

And I nearly stepped on a tarantula at the grand canyon 2 years ago!
 
We removed all St Augustine grass in the front yard and put in Texas native plants. Tons of butterflies, moths, hummingbirds, and dragonflies stop by! We counted 20 monarch butterfly caterpillars alone on the butterfly weed last month! I love being a way station for pollinators!
I love that, I'd like to plant more things like that to attract hummingbirds especially
 
I hatched them in Los Angeles and New Jersey to keep the pests level down. But I already have green anoles at the current place, so I am not sure if the praying mantis would become lizard food.

BTW, what eats Rolly Polly? When I run a search, it came back with what Rolly Polly eats. :)
 
I hatched them in Los Angeles and New Jersey to keep the pests level down. But I already have green anoles at the current place, so I am not sure if the praying mantis would become lizard food.

BTW, what eats Rolly Polly? When I run a search, it came back with what Rolly Polly eats. :)
Rolly polly as I knew them as a kid are called Pill bugs.
 
I hatched them in Los Angeles and New Jersey to keep the pests level down. But I already have green anoles at the current place, so I am not sure if the praying mantis would become lizard food.

BTW, what eats Rolly Polly? When I run a search, it came back with what Rolly Polly eats. :)
Good to see you back on the forum. Been a while.
 
I actually saw a small greyish frog (smooth skin) jumped out from under the deck (we are quite far away from active water, if not counting my neighbor's pool) I am not sure if it eats Rolly Polly. If the green anole does, it is probably not on its favorite menu.

I also ran a search for ant predators: Ant Eater came up as expected, but Coyote and Sloth bear.. hmm and Human (under Cultural delicacy), Poison dart frog .. How am I going to keep a coyote or poison dart frog in the yard?? Oh, jumping spider is an active stalker (of ants, apparently)
 
Years ago I saw a praying mantis egg case and I removed it from a wooden fence post. I wasn't sure it was from a praying mantis and wanted to research it to make sure. I stuck it in my pocket and forgot about it. One day I looked on my dresser and saw all these baby mantis crawling around. Then I remembered the egg case and it must have ended up on my dresser when I emptied my pockets.
 
I normally see one or two every year but haven’t paid attention yet this year, have to look closely
 
Yay, the first time I noticed the praying mantis was when I threw out some yard waste into the recycled bin. I was hatching the eggs out in the yard and totally forgot about them. There were dozens moving near the top of the recycled bin. I had to empty out the content and chase them out before I put the green waste back.

Eventually, these babies grew to about palm size big. One day, I saw one sitting on top of a fig tree, which was in the parking spot. I extended my hand slowly to it and it actually walked onto my palm. I wasn't thinking about it would attack. I just wanted to move it to a shady spot with more bugs.
 
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