Praying Mantis Egg Case (Ootheca) - European

We offer the egg case of the Chinese (Tenodera sinensis), Carolina (Stagmomantis carolina) and European mantis (Mantis religiosa).

The European praying mantis reaches about 2.25 to 3.5 inches when fully grown, depending on factors such as gender and diet. This species ranges in a great variation of colors, from different shades of yellow, brown, green, and sometimes even black. This species can be found throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as North America, where it is considered widely "introduced".

Each case (ootheca) hatches over 100 specimens each and as many as 300! Mantis nymphs will hatch from this egg case after 3-8 weeks of warm weather. We recommend either hanging the egg case in a shady area of your garden among the plant foliage OR keeping the egg case in one of our praying mantis enclosures and raising them as pets. Please see our FAQ PAGE for lots of information.

It is important that you have food on hand when the egg case hatches (unless releasing them into your garden). Here at The Praying Mantis Shop, we stock a full line of living praying mantis food, from food for newborns to food for mature adults. Once you've added this to your cart, you'll want to order food soon after in case the egg hatches early. Better safe than sorry. Get the melanogaster wingless fruit flies to start with. Please note- the egg case may take as long as two months to hatch, and your fly culture may have expired by then.