How to Keep Praying Mantis Eggs From Hatching

The unusual creature known as the praying mantis is an insect with an oddly pyramidal head and a twig-like appearance. Despite the cartoonish nature of the bug, it has a predatorial nature, and some gardeners like to have some living in the garden to eat pests. A mantis looks awkward and clumsy, but has fast reflexes, can sneak up on prey and even outsmart fast-moving flies and moths. This spindly predator is native to the United States, and interested gardeners can buy a clutch of eggs from an online retailer to populate the garden, and terrorize the indigenous pests.

Things You'll Need

  • Refrigerator
  • Paper bag
  • Paper clip
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Instructions

    • 1

      Label the outside of a paper bag with the name of the praying mantis species, and the date you received the egg casing.

    • 2

      Place the egg casing into the paper bag, fold over the top of the bag and clip shut with a paper clip. Each egg case contains up to 200 mantis eggs and the bag ensures that all of the eggs stay in one place and do not fall out.

    • 3

      Plug in an old refrigerator to keep the eggs in. Alternatively, make space in your own refrigerator, but ensure the paper bag is in a calm spot without disruption.

    • 4

      Keep the eggs refrigerated for up to three weeks. Retailers may specify how long their specific egg cases can remain under refrigeration for, as various different species of mantis exist in the United States, or are legal to grow in the U.S. The egg casing is a protective measure for the eggs inside, to survive the cold winter. When the weather turns warm, and the environment hospitable to the baby mantises, then the eggs hatch.