These mantis nymphs are just babies hoping to grow up into the fearsome predators that their ancestors were.

My mantis egg case hatched! It’s a good thing I noticed it too, was just about to head out the door. Unfortunately, it was kind of a downer day for me (I know, boohoo for me), so I didn’t take a lot of pics. Plus I wanted to send the nymphs into the wild, i.e. my backyard. But I liked this photo enough to post. Anyway hoping this doesn’t backfire on me (my parsley patch is THE great bug gathering place; I hope I just didn’t turn it into the Old Mantis Buffet).