What the heck is this?!!?

SouthernMaple

Chumono
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Western North Carolina
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7a
So im getting ready to prune back my winterhazel and I noticed someone put bubble gum on one of the branches...a buddy of mine thinks it could be a gall, another says it could be a praying mantis egg, what do ya'll think?



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The heck this looks like egg case for next Spring. Perhaps(most likely)Praying Mantis a GOOD friend😌. Moth/butterfly cocoon would have very "regular" shape. Definitely not gall.
 
Definitely mantis egg case. They have been doing it without help for millions of years. This one will probably manage without intervention too.
If you need to prune that stem just leave it outside somewhere. They don't care if the branch is alive or attached to a live tree or not.
Seeing the babies as or after they hatch is a treat.
 
Will the leaves falling off break open the egg? Should I try and remove it and preserve it somehow?
LET IT ALONE. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Praying mantids have been doing perfectly well without human assistance for hundreds of millions of years 😁
 
Definitely mantis egg case. They have been doing it without help for millions of years. This one will probably manage without intervention too.
If you need to prune that stem just leave it outside somewhere. They don't care if the branch is alive or attached to a live tree or not.
Seeing the babies as or after they hatch is a treat.
im just afraid that the integrity of the egg case will break open once those leaves fall off in 10 days and the flowers buds bloom in February. I wish it had laid the nest on one of my maples as Winterhazel doesn't have aphids on it in the spring.
 
im just afraid that the integrity of the egg case will break open once those leaves fall off in 10 days and the flowers buds bloom in February. I wish it had laid the nest on one of my maples as Winterhazel doesn't have aphids on it in the spring.
It will be fine. That entire thing is hardening for winter. It's technically called an "ootheca" Latin for "a place to keep." Messing with it can harm it more than anything it will encounter during the winter.
 
Definitely just leave it alone. If you want to prune that branch, leave the branch in your garden area like Shibui suggested. I have lots of mantises in my area and I also love to watch them. The egg case is very very hard.

I like that you are concerned and want to do the right thing.
 
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