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Molly the praying mantis

September 26, 2024 Posted by Kiwi Conservation Club

Sadie (6) sent in this story about her pet praying mantis – Molly.

At the end of last autumn, I found a praying mantis and kept her for a pet. Then she laid eggs in a foam called ootheca which I think is a cool word! We found out she eats flies, caterpillars and worms 🐛. She laid three ootheca and we waited for them to hatch in spring.

While Molly sadly passed away, her ootheca hatched – the baby praying mantises were tiny and we expected them to be green, but they were brown / transparent. We popped them in our herb garden because we have an aphid problem and we’re hoping they will help us control them. 

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