Pray for the Health of your Garden

Costco is currently taking pre-orders for a praying mantis egg case. The praying mantis feeds on the other insects in your garden and is supposed to keep your backyard free of mosquitoes, spiders, moths and whatever else you may find in the dirt. If you've got an insect problem, this may be a viable option.

I'm not a huge fan of introduced species since one can never take into account all of the consequences. On the other hand, if you're going to spray chemicals in your backyard anyway, then I supposed a natural species is a better option. It is also the case that they cannot survive a typical Toronto winter, which inserts a natural control.

I can't say that I've ever employed this method of pest control. The biggest pests around our house growing up were my sisters and I have yet to meet a mantis large enough that it could have been effective. We have been seeing some ants around the house lately though, so I'm going to do my research to see if this is a viable option. If you're interested, the Costco case contains between 40 and 400 eggs and sells for $18.99 but Costco is supplied by Natural Insect Control which sells a case for $12.99.