Praying mantis on the front porch one evening last week.

Praying mantis on the back wall this afternoon.

Praying mantis on the front window this time last year.

I was delighted to catch sight of mantises of two different colors in our yard this year, although probably both of a single species. The brown color and the lateral stripe, plus the fact that they are enormous, indicate that they are likely Chinese mantises. Mantises are excellent predators, and as I’ve noted in the past, our yard can use all the insect predation help it can get. It’s true that they will eat any kind of insect they can catch, so I’m hoping they’ll focus on the crickets and leave the other predators — cicada killers and ladybugs in particular — alone.

Now that I know what their egg sacs look like (thank you, interweb!), I’ll keep an eye out for it on or around the house and not mistake it for a wasp nest, which I think I’ve done in the past. Plants and insects are not my forte, but I’m learning. Now, if we had some toads to eat the hosta’s slugs, those I would know what to do with!