Christmas is the time of year that most of us get the spend quality time with our families, usually around the tree. We spend so much time and effort picking out the perfect ornaments and tree toppers. After all of the energy we put into decorating our tree, it would be horrible if our symbol of Christmas brought an infestation into our homes. That's why it's so important to inspect your tree, even if you've already set it up. You'll want to look for a little brown sac attached to a branch. If you do see it, remove it immediately or you could be spending the holidays with hundreds of baby preying mantis.

If you happen to see a walnut sized/shaped egg mass, on your Christmas tree, don’t fret, clip the branch and put it in your garden. These are 100-200 preying mantis eggs! We had two egg masses on our tree this year. Don’t bring them inside they will hatch and starve!

There's no need to be afraid, just move quickly to cut the branch the sac is attached to. Don't throw it in the garbage, you can tie relocate it to outside your home, a garden or a shrub works great,

You can relocate the egg sac to another part of your garden. Clip the stem with the egg case attached and relocate to another stem or crotch in a shrub about a foot or two off the ground where there will be cover to protect the 100-200 tiny mantises that will hatch from the sac. You may want to attach the stem/case with some twine or wire to make sure it stays in place. Do not put the egg sac on the ground because ants will consume the eggs.

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