We waited. And we waited. And then we waited some more.
And they finally came!
After the Fed Ex truck came by our house this morning, but did not stop, we were a little concerned about the welfare of our new biological arrival.
Ten hours later he came by again.
Come to find out, our package was in the back of the truck, and he needed to unload before he came back.
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't care.
But this package was one of those packages that you had to be home to receive. Otherwise they wouldn't deliver. So I ended up staying home all day waiting.
I'm a little bummed about that, but glad they arrived safely.
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| Our perishable package finally arrives and filler goes a flyin' |
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| Posing with the fruit flies, egg cases and caterpillars |
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| Gently placing the egg case on the bottom of the habitat. |
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| Another egg case goes into the habitat. The nymphs will not emerge for 2-8 weeks. |
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| Checking out the little caterpillars. They will form their chrysalis in 7-10 days. |
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| The egg cases. An egg case is called an ootheca (oh-uh-THEH-kuh). There are up to 200 praying mantis nymphs hanging out in there. |
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| Fruit flies: a hearty meal for a nymph. |
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| It is suggested that you hang the ootheca from a stick so that when the nymphs come out, they will suspend themselves on a silken strand and descend to the bottom of the habitat. It's just plain fun to watch! |
