Laying and Hatching
13-Feb-2019 08:55 AM IST:
When I reached office and was trying to fill in my water bottle, there were a couple of specks on the window glass near the water dispensing machine. I generally ignore such specks, but what made me curious was that there were two specks, one off-white or ivory color and the other one was green patch. The green patch was without a doubt a praying mantis sitting besides the speck as she was moving gradually. That is when it struck me that that the ivory speck that I'm staring at is the egg clutch of this green praying mantis. Waited till she was done and then picked up my camera to shoot the scene, by which time mom has abandoned her prize clutch.
13-Feb-2019 to 5-Mar-2019:
Everyday at office, once in morning and once in evening, check whether there is any movement near the egg casing. However, morning checks were very sincere as I've seen few other species preferring to hatch in the mild sun of the dawn.
6-Mar-2019 08:30 AM IST (21st Day):
Almost forgot about the eggs, thanks to the year-end March month priorities, which makes one forget about everything else in life. Was filling water and there were tiny little ants moving about on the same window glass on the outside. Sharpened my eyes to see that these were not ants, but black baby mantises. Ran back to get the camera and by the time I reached there, all but one or two have hatched. All kids conglomerated in a place near the egg case, as though that is the emergency gathering point during the fire drills. Two to four babies were still holding the fort and not willing to leave the place in which they were secure for 21 days. Captured a few nice photos from a safe distance without frightening the gathered crowd or the hatching-in-progress babies in any way. Finally, there were 27 black little stars with thin and bright yellow bands in their bodies.
Laying and Hatching
13-Feb-2019 08:55 AM IST:
When I reached office and was trying to fill in my water bottle, there were a couple of specks on the window glass near the water dispensing machine. I generally ignore such specks, but what made me curious was that there were two specks, one off-white or ivory color and the other one was green patch. The green patch was without a doubt a praying mantis sitting besides the speck as she was moving gradually. That is when it struck me that that the ivory speck that I'm staring at is the egg clutch of this green praying mantis. Waited till she was done and then picked up my camera to shoot the scene, by which time mom has abandoned her prize clutch.
13-Feb-2019 to 5-Mar-2019:
Everyday at office, once in morning and once in evening, check whether there is any movement near the egg casing. However, morning checks were very sincere as I've seen few other species preferring to hatch in the mild sun of the dawn.
6-Mar-2019 08:30 AM IST (21st Day):
Almost forgot about the eggs, thanks to the year-end March month priorities, which makes one forget about everything else in life. Was filling water and there were tiny little ants moving about on the same window glass on the outside. Sharpened my eyes to see that these were not ants, but black baby mantises. Ran back to get the camera and by the time I reached there, all but one or two have hatched. All kids conglomerated in a place near the egg case, as though that is the emergency gathering point during the fire drills. Two to four babies were still holding the fort and not willing to leave the place in which they were secure for 21 days. Captured a few nice photos from a safe distance without frightening the gathered crowd or the hatching-in-progress babies in any way. Finally, there were 27 black little stars with thin and bright yellow bands in their bodies.