Just Deserts

This praying mantis has earned her fly. Yesterday she built a large, messy ootheca (egg case). See first extra. It looks as though she made a false start a bit further up before working on the main case. The case is not compact and doesn’t have the regular 8888 pattern of cells on the top, but for the last couple of weeks she has lived close to a male so I’m hopeful.

I found yet another female on the large red pepper plant. Her wing cases are grossly damaged and I would have remembered her had I seen her before. When I looked at this photo on my computer screen I spotted yet another ootheca, probably belonging this same female. It is small, but well formed.  See second extra.

The greenhouse tally now is one male, five females, and four new ootheca and one that came in with the pots.