Perhaps it happened when I brought my ficus inside after it spent the warm months on the deck.Wednesday, as I was hurriedly heading into my downstairs bathroom, I noticed something on the wall right outside the bathroom door. After a few moments in the loo, I was in a more patient frame of mind to inspect the object.
It was the tiniest praying mantis I've ever seen; his body no more than half an inch long. So cute!!! I coaxed him onto my finger, and placed him on the ficus tree nearby.
There I noticed another weensy praying mantis. Very sweet; they each have a buddy!
Yesterday afternoon, as I was puttering around in the kitchen, I noticed a little praying mantis on the splashplate behind the kitchen faucet. Hmmm.
This morning as I was pouring coffee near the refrigerator, a miniature praying mantis was there on the counter. No doubt the one I had spotted the previous day near the sink, I reckoned.
I carried him over to the entertainment center in the den. When I returned to the kitchen, there was another little guy perched on the faucet. And then, behind him, another one behind the faucet.Even allowing for duplicate sightings, I have encountered five new tenants in my home. I'm no expert on insects, but I suspect that a pregnant praying mantis lays hundreds of eggs.
This could turn into something big.
There's a whole lot of praying going on in my home.
Good heavens, I just checked the ficus tree, and counted fifteen.
If you don't hear from me in a few days, please contact Animal Control in Henrico County.
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6 comments:
Hi Bill, haven't seen you in a while. The place looks great, by the way! Love the new picture.
Still loving that report. Does not the female mantis kill her mate after coitus? That just seems so harsh!
To bad you will have to kill these guys as they do good outside by eating the bad bugs. Last spring I was away for a few days and when I came back, a spider must have laid eggs in my TV and all the little spiders came out and made webs from the TV to every other piece of furniture near by, yuck!
Steven
Bill, sit down. I don't want to scare you. Praying mantis get very large. Their eyes are mean...MEAN I SAY.
They will follow you down the hall and stare at you while you sleep.
It's very difficult to sleep with big ass bugs staring at you with their mean eyes.
Wow, hilarious! A few months ago, I had gone to lunch and was walking to the door to enter back into the library. I saw what I thought must be a weird bird flying eratically towards me. Was it a bird, no it had to be a bat. It was getting closer, I shutteed and covered my head cuz it was freaking me out! It landed right by my feet. I couldn't believe it. it was the biggest praying mantis I had ever seen and it was a beige color. I never saw anything like it. I had to go get one of my coworkers to bear witness. She was amazed as well. Who knew they could fly? They can, but only when there is a predator or they are frightened, usually the male ones. I looked it up on the computer afterwards, cuz I don't think my boss believed me...ha! Anyway, keep us posted hey! How funny! Peace & Love, Jeanne Leigh
Karen, you haven't seen Bill for a while because... well, they were hungry, and there were a lot of them.
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