Once when I was a kid I was out playing in the woods(which is what kids did back in the day before over scheduling)and I discovered what I thought was a cocoon affixed to a branch. I brought it home and put it in a jar. The next day much to my astonishment hundreds of tiny praying mantises had emerged from the egg casing overnight. It was midwinter and I suppose the warmth of the house must have precipitated this praying mantis outburst. The poor darlings were so ravenous and having nothing else to eat in their little jar they were devouring one another. My mother wouldn't let me keep them in the house so I had to let them loose in the freezing cold. I've always felt sad about that.
