Posts Tagged: ootheca

Find the Praying Mantis! (Hint, She's Big!)

Find the praying mantis. That's not too difficult, considering this Stagmomantis limbata is gravid (pregnant) and about ready to deposit her ootheca...

Find the praying mantis! This is a female gravid Stagmomantis limbata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Find the praying mantis! This is a female gravid Stagmomantis limbata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

In this 2018 image, a praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, deposits her egg case in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

In this 2018 image, a praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, deposits her egg case in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Little Brown, Carefully Wrapped Package in the Garden

The predator and the prey... Or the predator-to-bee. Currently, honey bees are foraging on our tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii, in our family's...

A praying mantis egg case, ootheca, on the tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A praying mantis egg case, ootheca, on the tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee steps over a praying mantis egg case, an ootheca. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee steps over a praying mantis egg case, an ootheca. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A praying mantis dining on a honey bee in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A praying mantis dining on a honey bee in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Praying Mantis Was Here

You never know where a praying mantis will deposit its egg case, the ootheca. In and around Vacaville, we've seen them on olive trees, honeysuckle...

Find the ootheca! It's on this barn-themed birdhouse. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Find the ootheca! It's on this barn-themed birdhouse. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of the praying mantis egg case, ootheca, on a barn birdhouse. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of the praying mantis egg case, ootheca, on a barn birdhouse. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A 'Star' Is Born and Then....

We rarely see an adult praying mantis until late summer or fall. Their offspring are out there, though. And sometimes we see life go full...

First-instar praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, as identified by UC Davis praying mantis expert and entomology student Lohit Garikpati. Photograph taken May 13 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

First-instar praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, as identified by UC Davis praying mantis expert and entomology student Lohit Garikpati. Photograph taken May 13 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

How tiny is the first-instar? This tiny. And that's a red spider mite that crawled onto the dime. Note the chunk of abdomen missing on the first-instar--probably due to sibling cannibalism. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

How tiny is the first-instar? This tiny. And that's a red spider mite that crawled onto the dime. Note the chunk of abdomen missing on the first-instar--probably due to sibling cannibalism. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This was a very gravid mantis, Stagmomantis limbata on Sept. 24, 2018. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This was a very gravid mantis, Stagmomantis limbata on Sept. 24, 2018. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Mama mantis, a Stagmomantis limbata, depositing an ootheca or egg case on a redwood stake. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Mama mantis, a Stagmomantis limbata, depositing an ootheca or egg case on a redwood stake. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Henrietta and the Ootheca

Talk about the unexpected. “Look!” says Jim. He pauses by the kitchen counter. "Over there!” he says, pointing. I don't see...

Henrietta, a Stagmomantis limbata, hanging out in a patch of Mexican sunflowers. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Henrietta, a Stagmomantis limbata, hanging out in a patch of Mexican sunflowers. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This is the ootheca that Henrietta (which means "home ruler") deposited before we released her. The species? Stagmomantis limbata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This is the ootheca that Henrietta (which means "home ruler") deposited before we released her. The species? Stagmomantis limbata. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of the ootheca, magnified with a Leica DVM6 microscope operated by Lynn Epstein, UC Davis emeritus professor of plant pathology.

Close-up of the ootheca, magnified with a Leica DVM6 microscope operated by Lynn Epstein, UC Davis emeritus professor of plant pathology.

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