SouthernMaple
Chumono
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?
What the heck is this?!!?
- Thread starter SouthernMaple
- Start date
Potawatomi13
Imperial Masterpiece
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.
. Moth/butterfly cocoon would have very "regular" shape. Definitely not gall.
SeanS
Omono
- Messages
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- USDA Zone
- 9b
Looks like praying mantis egg vessel. Get ready for thousands of little transparent mantisessesi
SouthernMaple
Chumono
Will the leaves falling off break open the egg? Should I try and remove it and preserve it somehow?
Shibui
Imperial Masterpiece
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.
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.
penumbra
Imperial Masterpiece
Leave it be. It is not soft and fluffy as it looks. It is designed by nature and will do best on its own.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
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
SouthernMaple
Chumono
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.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
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.
queenofsheba52
Chumono
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.
I like that you are concerned and want to do the right thing.
