Sunday, July 14, 2013

A Visitor of the Beneficial Kind!

Egg Case of the Preying Mantis!
A Bit Bigger Than the Last Time We Saw It!
It Turned Its Head to Watch Me!  Yikes!
Well, we almost pulled the egg case out in the spring.  Earlier in the summer, we spotted a tiny one on our fence.  This morning the praying mantis had made its way into the herb garden!  Yippee!  It was trying to look like the chives, but slipped on to the oregano!  Hopefully it will get all of the bad bugs and leave the good ones behind.  They tend to be nonspecific when eating (They eat their own as they are coming out of the egg case.  Survival of the fastest out!), but hopefully, they will take care of the stink bug nymphs!

It is hotter than heck outside!  Either we have rain and humidity or hot and humidity!  We had a brief bit of nice summer, but it didn't last.  Hopefully you are having a great day.  I'll talk to you later.

6 comments:

Lemon Verbena Lady said...

Thanks kathyinozarks! xo

Carol said...

I love finding the Preying Mantis in our gardens....we usually have a bunch...probably cause we also have lots of other critters for them to eat :(

Anonymous said...

Fantastic pic. Slightly scary that it has its eye on you!

Lemon Verbena Lady said...

Carol, the bad bugs are so bad this year! It seems like we have more and more!

Yes, Tracey. It actually pivoted its entire head at one point! They are fun to watch though.

Thanks ladies for stopping by. xo

Rosemary said...

We found an egg case on our lemon verbena plant, and were excited to witness the day they popped out. Amazing to see those little guys! I love finding them in the garden.

Lemon Verbena Lady said...

Wow, that is a pretty special event, Rosemary! Yes, on the wild escape from the case, they usually eat each other on the way down! It is a pretty amazing sight. Lucky to have seen it as well. Thanks for stopping as always! xo