Ghost Mantis (Phyllocrania paradoxa) is born!

I was taken by surprise by this hatching. I didn’t think this ootheca was fertile. I have 9 more ooth to hatch so maybe I’ll catch even clearer footage. You can see how the nymph is all balled up and hunched over with legs pasted to its sides as it descends from the egg sack on a thread. They then pump their blood to expand body and legs, then hang until their new shape hardens. When done if there is nothing to grab onto they drop. The whole process took about 15 minutes. Cute how they