We do not get many cold-blooded arrivals at the Nature Center in mid-winter and when we do, they usually fit into the DOA category. However, we had a lively exception to that rule arrive recently-actually about one hundred lively arrivals. Baby, or nymphs, praying mantises were swarming inside a peanut butter jar at the front desk. How can any ectothermic (cold-blooded) insect survive the freezing temperatures of winter? They cannot!

The life cycle of the mantid family goes like this: 1) Hatch from egg cases in early summer; 2) Eat and grow all summer; 3) Mate and lay egg case in late summer; 4) Die in early fall; and 5) Nymphs overwinter in egg case. So, explain the winter time mantid explosion. No, not El Nino or Lu Nima, but good try.

After finding a strong hardened foam-like object attached to a shrub branch, the interested party brought it inside their house for further inspection and identification. Well, before they got around to researching their find, the young mantid nymphs were tricked into believing it was summer by the warm temperature and decided to invade the world outside with big curious eyes and large appetites. If released, they would die from the either cold or starvation.

Nature Center to the rescue! The nymphs are exact miniature replicas of the adult mantids. Less than one-eighth inch at birth, they can grow to be about four inches - which is over thirty-two times their birth size- in four months. They have to eat a lot to grow that quick so we special ordered "pin-head" crickets. Besides cricket, mantises have a taste for one another, which substantially reduces their population. However, if you care to get a rare treat and view a live praying mantis while it is still cold outside, we have them in the Nature Lab. If you like to see what the egg case looks like, I left one in the display with the live mantis. Also, if you would like a close up view of a mantid egg case, there is a cross section of one in the microscope view specimens.