Update: Original starting picture here: https://pbase.com/isabel95/image/80087625
A member of my Digipets digital pet photography Yahoo group (now defunct) said her husband suggested she order a Praying Mantis Kit into which an egg case would be placed, so she could watch the emergence of the mantids and photograph them as they developed. That sounded like fun to me so I ordered a kit too. I really didn't know how involved this kit would become! First I had to order the egg case (ootheca). Then I had to order flightless fruit flies to feed the babies. I would also have to culture the flies so I would not run out of them. The egg case was ordered May 7. The fruit fly culture arrived a couple of weeks ago. The instructions said the mantis babies would start hatching in about 2 weeks. (Somehow I missed the part about it possibly taking up to 8 weeks.) The instructions that came with the fly culture said to start new cultures in the enclosed containers. There were no enclosed containers. There was no new food for the new containers I was supposed to start. On the phone again. Had to order the food. Meanwhile I'm watching the flies and thinking they're beginning to die off and the case hasn't hatched yet. Finally, today, June 6, the blessed event occurred and I have at least 100 baby mantids. I do not have 100 fruit flies. Hungry baby mantids will feast on each other. Normally my garlic chives outside are covered with tiny black aphids that would be wonderful food for the babies - this year - just about none. Insects are in short supply. I'm going to have to go out with a magnifying glass to find more food for my babies or order more flies. Oh yes, I forgot...yesterday I ordered fly culture food...another $12. I won't tell you how much this experiment has cost so far. My next hunt is for pinhead crickets - those'll have to be shipped in too. They're for feeding when the mantids get a bit larger. Internal flash used with camera in manual mode. Update: Found a neighbor with a motherlode of aphids. I stripped the leaves off the plant with their hitchhikers and placed them in a jar covered with a piece of stocking - hopefully they won't squeeze through. When the babies get a bit larger I will put a leaf in their environment. Can't wait to see what's going to happen when they start eating. (Supposed to wait a couple of days before I feed them. In the meantime they're just getting water from the cotton pads I put in the case. Please observe that I have used various cameras for these shots. The greater depth of field from digicams can be quite helpful. The lcd screen brightening function in the Fuji F30 is extremely helpful in bright sun.