The Vineyard Raptor

While working in the vineyard yesterday, my husband called me over to take a look at this thing that looked like styrofoam. My husband is great at identifying snakes, toads, frogs and other reptiles and amphibians, but this egg case was something he had never seen before. I knew that it was the egg case of a praying mantis from one of my childhood encounters.
One of the good things about the tall grasses that grew in our vine rows was that it provided a habitat for all kinds of insects, good and bad. My husband was seeing many praying mantids as he weed whacked the grass. I saw one too as I was leaf pulling. At first, I wondered what that florescent green leaf was and then I realized that it was a very well camouflaged praying mantis.

The praying mantis lays her egg case in the fall. Eggs are typically deposited in a frothy mass that is produced by glands located in the abdomen of the female mantis. This froth then hardens, creating a protective capsule. If this egg case survives our winter, the mantis nymphs will emerge in late spring or early summer. I also learned by reading Wikipedia that the state insect for Connecticut is the European mantis (Mantis religiosa)! Images of the Chinese mantis (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis) appear to be consistent with the photo on the right.¹ The praying mantis is an indiscriminate predator of other insects. They eat caterpillars, butterflies, flies, bees, wasps, and moths. Nonetheless, praying mantids are great for natural pest control. In fact, the egg cases are sold specifically for this purpose.²
References:
1. Wikipedia Entry for Praying Mantis.
2. Praying Mantid Information from the University of Arizona.