So you might remember me posting back in APRIL!!!! about Brenna getting a paying mantis kit for her birthday. We got the egg. Said it took 3-7 weeks to hatch. We waited. And waited. And waited. It NEVER hatched. Literally. The end date came and went...nothing. So I called the company and they said they'd send another egg. So we got the other egg and waited. And waited. And FINALLY.....FINALLY...!!! it hatched! And we were lucky enough to catch it 'in the act'. We were having lunch and they kept coming out one after the other. I have to admit. It was kinda cool to watch, albeit a little gross at the same time - haha. I was afraid that we'd have 300 little bugs. It says in the book that you can get 150-300 mantis could come from one egg. I think in actuality, we got about 35-40 that hatched.
They are so tiny!!!! The girls were so excited.
Now, since writing this post... we've fed them so fruit flies (that came w the egg) and several have died (or have been killed - they do feed on each other). We are supposed to separate them after a bit. I think some of it is natural selection, some is survival of the fittest - ha! But we will separate and let some go live in the garden. The girls each want one of their own to keep. We'll see how that goes....
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