New backyard visitor

[justplugit]

I haven't seen one in years FT, either. We used to find their hard cocoons in the woods bring them home and hatch them in a bottle.
Funny how they like to hang around screen doors and screened porches.
They are really cool bugs.

[Jimbo]

I have seen a few this year. Interesting creatures. A number of years back I had a novel idea and thought it would be a good to buy a mantis coocoon online to take care of the Japanese Beetle infestation we had had the previous year and be a good learning experience for the kids. It came in a small box packed in styrofoam peanuts, with directions about storing it and when to take it outside. I had it in a seldom opened cabinet in the kitchen. About a week after I was supposed to have taken it outside and tied it to a branch I remembered. They were just starting to hatch and come out of the box (50 to 100 of them), all over the cabinet. I think I got most out safely onto shrubs and the garden. A month later very few were still around. I'm glad I'm not a praying mantis, because after the mating ritual the female bites the head off the male.

[Rockfish9]

been a long time since i've seen one too... cool find .. alot more dragon flies this year... love those mosquito eating helicopters!