Ootheca

Chers Amis,

My dh has worked hard to rebuild the steps to our front porch. The pre-paint construction is finished except for a small piece of molding that will run along the bottom. My job last night was to measure and mark the molding. Just as I was finishing, a small movement on the underside of the cedar-siding caught my eye.

It was a gravid female praying mantis laying her egg case, her ootheca. Isn’t she a beauty!  Now imagine this upside down.  I flipped the picture so you could see her more easily, but she was actually holding on to the wood and carefully sculpting her egg case upside down protecting it from wind and water during the winter.

We have found numerous oothecas around the moulin before on dogwood bark, between the slats on the deck bench, even stuck to Scarlett’s beach towel, but we have never seen it being laid!  Very cool.  I sat and watched her for several minutes.  She had two finger-like appendages on her abdomen near the ovipositor that shaped the foamy material in successive layers like a horizontal cake.  At first I was afraid my camera might frighten  or distract her, but she was single minded and intent on her precious duty.  How fascinating to see her craft this delicate package. How perfectly her future offspring are wrapped in weatherproof insulation. How anxious I am to see them emerge to meet the warmth of a welcoming spring.

–Marjorie