A Gray "Death Cloud" over our house;-)

There was a death in the hosue last night...we are all in mourning...well, not really.

Yesterday, on our way home from the community center, we found another preying mantis. We thought for sure this was a female and we thought we had a male. So we brought it home to "make friends" with each other.

They just kinda hung out together for a few hours, andwe talked about what could possibly happen...you know, the birds and bees...

The conversation went something like this...(x-rated conversation to follow...parental warnings)

You know, if the boy likes the girl, (if they are boy and girl) then he will get on top of her and their "tubes" (I couldn't remember the name of the organ) will connect and then the female will lay the ootheca (egg sac)

Then I went on to tell them that after they are "done" the female will attack the male, either to finish the act fully or to help nourish the 'younguns'...

After I described this act, my Princess (8 years old) says "Oh, so they are not that different from humans...it is all done the same way!!" To which I had to giggle...

So, I am pretty sure she meant the actual act and not the eating of the mate afterwards...;-)

Anyhow, we watched the new, bigger one eat all kinds of crickets and it seemed to be doing well. The kids headed to bed, and I just sat in awe, watching these two really interesting bugs and what they were going to do.

I got bored after a while and went on with life, and next time I looked up, around midnight, the new one was eating the old one.

We think they were both females, since copulation can last up to a day. They are normally solitary bugs, and get together to make babies and that is pretty much it.

We are still going to try to find a male on our next walk. I really was to see an egg sac and think it would be awesome for the kids to see the cycle of a preying mantis, from nymph to adult...

So, today we mourn the bug that lived for almost 2 weeks in our house. A moment of silence please...

Have a good day everyone.