Hatching Praying Mantises

The egg sac hatching.
(Please excuse the quality of these photos as they were taken a few years ago with an older camera.)

A few years ago I ordered a praying mantis egg sac, for my children, as a part of our life cycles science studies. We kept the egg sac in a netted butterfly habitat upon our kitchen counter.

While doing their daily chore of putting away dishes, my children happened to catch the egg sac just as it was hatching! It was so exciting watching one to two hundred babies (nymphs) climb out of the sac. There were so many quickly emerging. It was like watching a pot boiling over.

The praying mantis nymphs look like a miniature version of the adult. This one, on my thumb, is about a week old.

We released all but four of them in our backyard. The other four praying mantises, were kept in separate enclosures, where we fed them fruit flies from the pet store. It was so neat to watch the nymphs stalk and hunt the fruit flies. Plus we were able to see them grow a little and darken in color. After one week, we released these praying mantises as well. Every year we see at least one praying mantis in our yard. We often ponder could it be a relative of our hatchlings.

Seeing the nymph on my thumb gives you an idea of how tiny it is. I am sharing this post with CFFC: Size Comparison Of Objects.

If you haven’t done this activity with your children, I highly recommend it. But only if praying mantises naturally live in your area. It is a memorable learning experience that helps create a love and wonder for nature. Furthermore, the praying mantis will do wonders for your garden by eating moths, mosquitos, roaches, flies and aphids.

Here is a praying mantis egg sac I found in the wild this year.

Here are a few praying mantis activities for Pre-K through early elementary age:

Life Cycle Coloring Sheet

Praying Mantis Diagram

Printable Book: Praying Mantis

Praying Mantis Printable Pack

I am sharing this post with CFFC: Size Comparison Of Objects

It is so special to experience the wonders of nature through your child’s eyes. Go out and explore together and have a magical day.
With a grateful heart,
Heather

Published by Home Study from the Grateful Heart

Welcome new friends. I'm Heather, a homeschooling mama raising three children alongside my husband. I love to walk our two dogs, photograph nature, and write poetry. As a family, we love reading together, creating art, sports and all things nature. We also enjoy sharing our learning experiences with friends and creating co-op opportunities. I enjoy writing about our homeschool adventures, as well as nature and sharing recipes. My heart is grateful for my family, our homeschool, our friends and homeschool community, as well as the nature around us. In addition to following my blog, you can find me on Facebook at Home Study from the Grateful Heart. View more posts

4 thoughts on “Hatching Praying Mantises”

This does sound fascinating. I found a praying mantis egg sac once and didn’t have a clue what it was until I used my nature identifier app. I’ll have to keep them out of the house though as my husband it terrified!

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Home Study from the Grateful Heart says:

April 7, 2021 at 12:01 pm

Lol it is a bit of a strange thing to have in the house. With my love of nature and science, our friends have come to expect unusual things growing/living in our home😂. But yes, try it. Your children will be fascinated.

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