Chinese Praying Mantis (Ootheca/Egg Case)

Gardens, meadows, and shrubbery; often attached to twigs or stems of plants like hydrangeas in sunny locations.

Carnivorous; as nymphs and adults, they eat insects like flies, moths, and sometimes other mantises.

The female lays the egg mass (ootheca) in late summer or fall, which hardens to protect the eggs through winter. Hundreds of nymphs emerge in the spring.

Highly beneficial to gardens as generalist predators of pests; poses no risk to humans, though it is an introduced species in North America.