Keeping Mantis Egg Cases till Spring

I made a note on your shot - a piece of old pantyhose or other flexible strips of fabric cut up work well for tying them to things outside. I hope there's a tree, railing or some permanent structure you could attach it to. Like chrysalids, keeping the same orientation is important so they can drop out when they hatch. they come out the bottom, so don't obstruct that when you tie it. Usually I'll cut a bit of the plant either end and tie the stem, not the egg case.
I've known people to bring these in and have their houses overrun by tiny hatchlings at inconvenient times - they are hard to manage!

When I was in grade school almost 4 decades ago, I ordered a Chinese Mantis egg case from the California Bug Company. I couldn't wait for it to hatch, so I put the egg case under a warm light in my living room to speed up the process. It was in a jar with a piece of screen on top.

One day I came home for lunch and discovered- to my horror- that the eggs had hatched and hundreds of tiny mantids were all over the living room wall next to the lamp. My mom took a vacuum cleaner to them, so I rushed the egg case outside in a desperate attempt to salvage what few hadn't already hatched- but I never saw a Chinese Mantis on my property again.

My mom still still tells people about the incident to this day.

that's pretty funny!

Thanks

Now I know what I'm going to do and exactly where I'm going to keep them for the winter.

I have to take down the plants-so I'll cut a large part of the stem to keep the eggcase the right way-I have a big porch so there is alot of room to keep them outside.

Thanks so much

Jo

Are you planning on keeping these mantids after they hatch, or just letting them go. If you plan on keeping any of them I suggest you go to this site www.mantidforum.com and take a look around. You can find lots of info for raising nymphs. The people here have been raising and breeding mantids for a long time and most of them know there stuff. Good luck with the ooth.

I am planning to release them in my garden next year like I did this year. BUT I have a general fascination with mantids in general-so I'm going to go and check that site anyway. They have been one of my favorites since I can remember-that's a long time ago!

Thanks ^_^

Jo