Oooo Whats That Thing?

Yesterday I was called by a neighbour who wanted me to come over and identify a mysterious growth that had appeared on her side door lintel.

Ootheca attached to door lintel.

It turned out to be a Praying Mantis ootheca. She had never seen one before, but she had seen a Praying Mantis sitting on her telephone yesterday. She'd put it outside, but obviously, as it turned out, not before the Praying Mantis had created her frothy ootheca made of hardened protein to protect the eggs she had laid.

A Praying Mantis with prey (a bushcricket) photographed several years ago.

The eggs will hatch in the spring and my friend can expect to have a kitchen full of about 150 tiny Praying Mantises once the temperature is warm enough (about 17C).