You’ve probably seen them. The weird, foam balls that suddenly appear
on stems and branches in the later part of summer. As a kid, you might
have taken a stick and stabbed it to see what, if anything, was inside.
Though, one doesn’t always have to be a kid to want to do that as my
husband proved just two years ago while we were pulling weeds and
readying the flower beds for fall. He started stabbing at the ball of
foam like an excited eight year old only to be blown away when I
screamed, “Stop!”
Don’t worry, he didn’t get in trouble.
So, what are they?!
If you haven’t already guessed based off of the title of this post,
those hard, foam looking balls are, in fact, praying mantis eggs. To be
correct, the foam balls are protective cases for the 100-300 praying
mantis eggs that are inside. The foam case is a protective agent
against predators, though this seems to backfire when it comes to
curious humans. It also insulates the eggs to keep them safe during the
harsh cold period in the winter.
Praying mantis typically lay their eggs in the fall, before frosts set
in. Usually, praying mantis lay their eggs about a foot or two off of
the ground, though I have found them at all sorts of heights, with stems
and branches being the preferred base. If you have vines growing along
a side of your house that gets more sun, try looking for praying mantis
eggs there. I have some poison ivy vines in this photo that I was
getting ready to tear down only to hold off because of the large number
of praying mantis eggs that I found.
Once spring begins, a few warm weeks are usually needed before the eggs
hatch. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell by looking at the foam
case if the eggs have hatched or not. That is, unless you are lucky
enough to see the younglings coming out of the foam case.
And now we know what those weird foam things are.