Mass Hatching

A praying mantis egg case that I found on the ground last autumn hatched today. It was in a plastic container on my kitchen windowsill. Lucky I was there to take care of the large number of nymphs that emerged. They were very tiny and many of them came out all folded up. I thought there was something wrong with them, but they soon stretched their legs and got moving.

I took them outside and distributed them about the garden in suitable places.

Update: Next morning I could find only two of them. The tan stripe on their backs had turned black, which is the mark of nymphs in their in first instar.