Sep 28, 2007

Mom's know everything...yea right!!!

Before you read any farther please check this out
This site has some beautiful pictures and I am
unable to produce with my camera!
Then read the rest of this little tidbit!
EWE WHAT IS THAT!

What is that thing???
EWE! It looks like a roasted marshmallow!
It's gross maybe it's poop!
No it can't be poop!
Mom what the heck is that thing!

Like how am I suppose to know???
My children always seem to think that I am the
genius in this family! They really need to go to
their father! He is a genius!

But I am not sure he would even know what this
thing is! So what is a Mom to do...
well a modern Mom that is computer savy gets on the
internet and does searches till we figure it out!
Now I have to be honest, I had help, you see in the, what has a habitat
for four toads and a tree frog is now the lone inhabitant....
A HUGE PRAYING MANTIS!

So I figured it had to be something to do with the bug!
I was right! Its a Praying Mantis egg sac! It is suppose to hatch in the spring I believe is what I have learned so far!
This info is from http://www.projects.ex.ac.uk/bugclub/mantids.html

The eggs are produced in an eggcase called an ootheca this may produce 30 to 300 young mantids depending on the species. The ootheca is a frothy mass created by the female, the froth hardens to form a tough case for the eggs. Hatching usually takes between 3 and 6 months. The young may hatch all at once or in batches over a period of several weeks.

My goodness what have we gotten into! Last summer and the summer before that we had hundreds of monarch caterpillars, from eggs to butterflies. We watched as the caterpillars grew and then formed its beautiful green crystalis and then watched as the butterflies emerged! It was an awesome sight!! One I had never experienced until I had my kids...especially Jaron our budding biologist or bug scientist! And now we have this...oh my goodness! My son is teaching me more about bugs than I really care to know and learn! Just give me a can of Raid! I love do love it though! My kids are teaching me isn't it suppose to be the other way around!


The above picture is from: http://pt.treknature.com/gallery/North_America/United_States/Midwest/photo76179.htm

My camera could not take pictures of our egg sac but this is what it looks like!

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