Tenoddera Aridifolia Sinensis

We have two mason jars with an egg case in each. The case looks like a soft walnut shell. The first one hatched sometime overnight, probably before midnight, so it was on my birth day too.
The Praying Mantis has been an important part of pest control in China for hundreds of years. The female lays her eggs in the fall.
We put them out on our Japanese maple with some wet sponges, and then spritzed the area including the cheesecloth that was on top of the jar. The 'extra blip' is a no glass barrier, drinking shot.
And they are friendly like a pet, so they say, but since there are a few hundred in this first hatch, we may run out of names.