Praying mantis

I like praying mantis, they are formidable predators killing and eating many pest insects in my vegetable garden.  They are also fascinating to watch.

I don't use any sprays, not even the certified organic ones, so I largely rely on predators to keep pest numbers low.  This is Integrated Pest Management, it is far safer than using certified organic poisons.

In autumn we saw a few different species of praying mantis.  Each species has a different preferred food, so I am happy to see their diversity as it means that more pests are being eaten.

Praying mantis eating a harlequin bug

A different species hatched on my deck.  There were a lot of baby mantids.  

Baby praying mantis 

Sadly they began to cannibalised each other, so we gently moved some to the garden where they would have shelter and be able to hunt for food. 

While autumn isn't really the time of year I would expect to see them hatch, I'm sure they know what they are doing.  Other than moving some off the deck into the garden I leave them to do their thing.

Hopefully some survive winter and help to keep pests under control in spring.